Sept 4 - Psalm 30:5a

For his anger

is but for a moment;

his favor is for a lifetime.

Psalm 30:5a

 

Have you ever had a bad day?

 

Have you ever had a bad day … with your kids?

 

Some days seem to be filled with disobedience and destruction. There’s eye-rolling and sarcastic replies. Someone’s in the corner for pulling the cats tail, someone’s at the table for refusing to eat their green beans, and someone has soap in the mouth for saying a naughty word.

 

Have you ever had a bad day with your kids … especially when they’re little?

 

Siblings are fighting.

 

Feelings are hurt.

 

And just as surely as one of them will wind up crying is the certainty that you’re going to wind up yelling … and screaming … and handing out irrational punishments in the heat of the moment. “Well if you don’t start flushing the toilet, I’m never going to let you go to the bathroom again!”

 

The anger is real.

 

But as a parent, have you ever experienced that frustration melting away as you’re tucking them in at night. They smell fresh and clean from their bath. They’re sleepy and cuddly and giggly. You read a story and say your prayers. And suddenly, you can understand the heart of God. The “anger is but for a moment; [a Father’s] favor is for a lifetime.”

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who had his first child or two in seminary

and kept saying throughout his pastoral education

that “all seminarians ought to be required to have children.”

They teach us so much about the Father!