My three-year-old snuggled beside me in the overstuffed family room chair, eyelids drooping. She stretched her mouth, drew a long breath of air, then exhaled a sleepy, guttural sigh.
“Was that a yawn?” I turned my face to hers and smiled.
“No.”
“Yes, it was. I heard you yawn. It must be time for bed.”
“No, it wasn’t a yawn.”
“What was it, then?”
“A hiccup!”
My husband chuckled. “Silly, that was not a hiccup,” he said. “You’re tired. Come on, let’s brush teeth and tuck you into bed.”
“No, Daddy! I’m watching Dora! I just had a hiccup.” She yawned again.
“Say night-night to Dora. You’re going to bed.” My husband scooped her into his arms and carried her to the bathroom sink.
Kids are funny. My girls think they invented bluffing, but I’m so onto them—because I can play that trick, too.
When I want to hide my weaknesses, I simply rename them.
I’m not anxious. I’m productive.
I’m not impatient. I’m punctual.
I’m not judgmental. I just hold people to a high standard.
Uh-huh.
It’s not a yawn! It’s a hiccup!
I tell myself this because, like my daughter, I don’t want to face what a yawn might mean. You, too?
“Surely you desire integrity in the inner self, and you teach me wisdom deep within,” (Psalm 51:6, HCSB).
God wants us to be honest with ourselves. We might fool the people around us, and we might even fool our own ego for a while, but we can never fool God. He made us. He knows our issues before we do.
And yet he loves us.
Sound familiar? It should. As parents, we’re experts at loving imperfect people—our kids. I knew my daughter was flat-out fibbing about that yawn, yet I didn’t scold her for it. I didn’t love her less. If anything, her little “hiccup” endeared her to me even more.
And so it goes with God. He doesn’t condemn us for our inner struggles. He wants to guide us through them—even as we spend a lifetime trying to figure ourselves out.
“Good night, sweetheart.” I leaned over my daughter’s toddler bed and kissed her cheek. “I hope your hiccups are gone now.”
“Yeees.” Her voice stretched with another yawn. She smacked her lips and shut her eyes. “I’m tired.”
“I know you are,” I whispered. “Sleep tight. Jesus loves you.”
Linking up with: The Better Mom, Playdates With God, Momma Notes, Titus 2sdays, Grace at Home, Wedded Wednesday, Thriving Thursdays and Things I Can’t Say.
Oh..I love love LOVED this post! So sweet!
I have been struggling with my struggling recently. 😉 I know God doesn’t expect us to be perfect, but sometimes I feel so guilty about not being enough for Him. I needed to read your words this morning.
This line right here: “He doesn’t condemn us for our inner struggles. He wants to guide us through them—even as we spend a lifetime trying to figure ourselves out.” brings me so much peace!
Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful words with us!
Thank you for reading, Kelsey. I’m so glad you found encouragement here today. You are not alone!
Oh, you are so right on! Thank you for putting to words what God is speaking to me over this weekend! It is so true. I spent a weekend with someone that would say “I’m not prideful, but my way is superior to all others.” It gives me insight on how to pray for this person I love and new insights into my pride as well.
As I say to my girl often – stop justifying your sin and this is what we do when we bluff.
Why does justifying our sin seem easier than facing up to it? I suppose we all have blind spots, and I’m grateful for the Godly people in my life who will help me see them, speaking truth in love. Love is the key. 🙂 Thanks for reading!
Why, oh, why is it so easy to pretend that we are “hiccuping” when we are “yawning”? I faced this challenge yesterday when my husband and I had a conflict, Becky. The easy thing to do would be to at least half-disguise my bad attitude. And thankfully, I didn’t choose that–I confessed and found freedom in being real. My husband would’ve known that I was “yawning” and not “hiccuping.” So I saved us a lot of trouble by just being real … and apologizing too. 🙂 Thanks for another thought-provoking and smile-provoking post, my friend!
For some reason, my comment that I left earlier went away, Becky. But I’m back saying that you’ve ministered to me with your wisdom once again. I had a conflict with my husband just yesterday and I wanted to disguise my guilt and sin. But I chose not to–I confessed and sought his forgiveness. It would have turned out so differently if I hadn’t. It’s a great gift we have in our Lord–to be freed from the sins we commit through confession. Great thoughts, as always, my friend!
It encourages me to hear that you took the hard way out of your conflict, Beth, and that the result was so much better than the alternative. It’s why your blog is so relevant – this stuff actually works! Praise God!
How adorable…and how “relatable”! Think I just made that word up!!! But you nailed it, so like us to disguise our inconsistencies and our faults…love how you pulled this all together. It was an “ouchie” but a goodie! 🙂
nannette
hopeinthehealing.com
I like that word, Nannette! 🙂 Thank you for stopping by today and sharing your thoughts!
{Melinda} So much truth in this. This morning I confessed something to God and started making rationalizations to Him (as if I could actually get away with THAT!) And then I stopped myself, “No, God, there’s no excuse. I willingly and consciously made a choice that I knew was wrong. And I’m sorry.”
It always amazes me that He continues to extend His grace and offer me new mercies every morning. Heaven knows I need them. 🙂
Oh, I get that, Melinda. As if God is really buying our arguments, right? Thanks as always for reading and sharing your thoughts!
Smiling, Becky. I just love your stories about your kiddos. They way you keep your eyes open to what God teaches through them is a beautiful thing. And, yes. Guilty here.
God uses my kiddos to teach me in ways nothing else could, I think, Laura. I’m grateful!
Yes, yes! I so relate. I try to spin what is going on into something that sounds so much better, but I’m not fooling anyone.
Sometimes I imagine I’m fooling myself, but not for long.
Yes, we are so good at renaming our weaknesses and struggles!