OH HOW HE LOVES US! OH HOW WE DISS HIM!!!

The most amazing thing hit me in the last couple days.

We go to God, especially as parents, and ask Him to care for our kids and bless them with every good thing. Yet, we treat God's son, like crap on a regular basis. Many don't seek to know Him. Many don't really have a real desire to serve Him or tell others about how cool He is. We treat Jesus, God's SON, like someone it's best not to talk about because He's controversial and we want others to like us, more than we want Him to. After all, we can't SEE Him right?! So, who knows if He is really real, or there at all. We have a major faith problem in this country but that's another issue!

This morning I woke up and I was hit with a CNN blast about Hurricane Irene so I immediately checked on my girlfriend, Nina in NYC. She was OK although she woke up to the ocean at the back door of her beach house in the Hampton's. Since her house is 5 blocks from the beach that was a little scary. Then I checked on a basketball coach friend in North Carolina.

I was soon on auto pilot, with the day crashing in on what should be first thing first; morning time with God to start the day. I made a coffee, and began scanning the Restoration Hardware site for new furniture for our place in Kansas. Oh, then I had a thought about my mom, so I called her to chat.

Eventually, my husband called and we decided to say morning prayer. I begrudgingly turned the computer off and we began. Not, 5 sentences into prayer I asked God to bless my son's day and began my to do list of gifts that I expected from God for my child for the day.

And, it hit me. Deep in the gut.

I had totally ignored His son, yet I wanted Him to pay CLOSE and FULL attention to mine AND with an armload of victories and blessings for the day, of course! I basically told GOD that my kid was more important than His. Basically. Sugar coat it in your own life, if you want, but that's what's going on amongst believers DAILY.

Because I TRULY desire to please God, shame, regret, and fear flooded my heart. I almost stopped there but the Holy Spirit urged me to move forward and not get stuck THERE. I apologized to the God I fear, yet love even more. I expressed my shame, felt tears in my eyes, and asked, no begged for forgiveness and mercy.

I am pretty sold out for Jesus. I live a fairly full life of service and am trying and growing daily in my efforts to really SEE myself and my actions through God's eyes. I value my relationship with Him and I realize that the way to really see God is by gazing deeply into the life of Christ.

Yet, even I, at a decent level in my walk, make the mistake of letting the auto-pilot of the day occur and the cares of the world easily flood in and before I know it I am off to the races without saying; Thank you Father, Thank you Jesus. Thank you. I have so much to be thankful for.

In my case, thank you that my Friday night was spent with my 19 year old and his teammate and their 2 girl-friends in church praising Jesus and then driving around campus laughing as we picked drunk kids up and witnessed to them about the love of Christ before dropping them safely off at their sororities or dorms. A VERY different College experience than my own I might add. These passengers, on our first Friday night experiment, were shocked that 2 Kansas basketball players were picking them up, not drunk, filled with the light of Christ, and helping them out. It was like Mick Jagger driving by and offering you a lift and then telling you about a really cool dude, whose our Savior! My son and his teammates are seriously rock-stars on campus, because they're on the team, and I think the weightiness of this really hit my son squarely last night. I saw the lightbulb flashing in his mind, and the wheels spinning, and he was forever changed. In a world where most kids, and I was one of them, spend Friday nights getting drunk, high, and looking for love in all the wrong places, my kid and his friends were loving Jesus and laughing and hanging out having good, clean, fun...with ME, the mother.

God blessed me with this relationship with my son, in spite of the madness he has seen, and I KNOW what a miracle I have been given. I have much to be grateful for.

But, back to the point. We have to stop treating God the Father like we don't truly love His only begotten Son, whom He has given us salvation through. This is very serious. If you come to me, saying you know my son, I am gonna receive you and listen...but if you then charge off by ignoring my son in the room, and treating him like he is second to your desire for me to take care of your son, I am gonna kick you out! Fast. Thankfully, I am NOT God. I have yet to arrive at His level of mercy, forgiveness, and love. I am trying. But, you get the point.

So, not to beat you up, because by this point you should be feeling pretty small and horrible, but here's the question.

Shouldn't we show Jesus how much we love and respect Him for his gift of love to us? Shouldn't we adore our Heavenly Father and shower Him with love and gratitude for doing something we could NEVER do, tell His only son to die for us; a bunch of folks who would forget Him, not find Him very cool to talk about, and treat Him like a secondary friend at best? Second to the laundry, the emails, the telephone and the TV! Shouldn't we?

I say we should. And, after I came to this monumental reality this morning I dared not ask for anything today, except mercy and forgiveness, and the ability to live in love for Jesus.

The kind of love that makes Him first in my day and in my heart in a real way.

Seek first the Kingdom of heaven and all God's righteousness,' and He will do as He says and 'add all the rest' of your needs, wants, and desires, to your day. He will handle your business if you're about understanding His. It's a simple deal that He has NEVER not honored in my life, so I am diligent about these little lessons that show me what I do that in any way dishonors who I want to be before Him.

In His presence is where your true value is determined folks. And, in His presence I challenge you to ask yourself if you have valued Him enough to be there. We all fall short. Yet, when you care, you change. Be grateful if you're feeling rebuked right now. It's good to be lovingly chastised into realizing these seemingly minor, yet huge character flaws, for our father only rebukes those whom he loves as His children.

And, even we forgive our children and our friends and ourselves often. How much more does He forgive all of us?! What a mighty, loving, forgiving God we are privileged to know and serve.

This Hip Girl is off to lunch, happy that Jesus is my guide!