What Did You See This Weekend?

My good friend wrote a lovely post today about her wonderful weekend, and ended with the question "What did you see this weekend?" I was going to leave a comment on her blog to answer, but as I know she checks in here I thought I'd post my reply instead.

This weekend I saw my 88 year old grandma, who is doing pretty good for an old girl. She loved on my little ones with hugs and kisses, new colouring books and homemade brownines ("because one or two won't hurt them"). She cuddled my baby, marvelling at the blessing of having 13 great-grandchildren (almost half of whom are mine!) who are all in perfect health, beautiful and bright. She told me about stories I'd heard before, and mentioned again how much she still misses my grandpa, even though it has been 11 years. So in her I saw a woman who is living everyday of her life the best she can, with love, and was humbled by her praise of my parenting in light of her years of expertise.

Then I saw my husband patiently loving his wife and children even in his fatigue. Listening to one more child's account of our day, giving one more tickle and zerbert. I saw him praise them for their spontaneous act of service in 'weeding our garden' and setting our our patio furniture for our first bar-be-que of the year.

Then I saw our church family rally around each other in love, worshipping together in Spirit and in truth. I saw the heart of our pastor as he confessed a weakness of his from the pulpit. I saw my own sin come before me as he challenged us to love one another (I mean really love, even those we don't like) and I realized the biggest challenge in that for me was to start with my self. So I saw my heavenly Father patiently scratching away another layer of hurt and sin in my life to 'un-dragon' me. And I didn't feel condemned by him,....just loved.

And then I saw my children fast asleep in our car....peaceful....with out fear....secure in our family's strength and our Lord's covering....and in that I saw that despite my failings and my fears, the Lord is having His way with our family, both immediate and extended. I cannot fix all our problems no matter how hard I try. Only His hand of love will push and pull us onto His path. And wouldn't you know it....He is doing it.