I just spent the better half of my morning trying to calm a 5 year old who is clearly struggling with the most basic component of our human souls...and I'm pretty positive this won't be our last discussion of the subject ;)
I sat and listened to my exhausted son sob over the fact that he would no longer be allowed to get a Lunchable because of the choices he had made earlier in the day. I watched as he admitted repeatedly that although the rules had been clearly set before him, he had chosen to ignore them, and the consequences, because "I just wanted that toy!!!"
No matter how I spun the conversation, he kept returning to the fact that he just "wanted it!!!!" After reminding him that he had just received MANY toys a mere 3 days ago at his birthday party, he sobbed, "but I just want to have ALL the toys so I can have more toys than anyone in the galaxy!" I have no idea where he gets his dramatics from. I blame Big A. ;)
Clearly I wasn't getting anywhere with my lengthy convo, so I resorted to visual aids. I must admit that I was pretty proud of my resourcefulness in choosing my characters, and feel that I truely captured my audience. Giant Donatello playing the part of our Heavenly Father?! Um, yeah, I nailed it.
T-man was played by a tiny jaguar. A very respectable animal, but significantly smaller than Donny. I showed him where God wanted us by having Donny hold the jag. Then I showed him how each complaint that he had thrown at me all morning moved him further away from the Lord, BUT God never changed. He just stayed the same. Never moved, never turned away. Just waited for he jaguar's return.
The jag, however looked like he was getting attacked by a bee- running back and forth, to and fro, trying to make the "right" choice. Thankfully, at this point, T-man new exactly what the jaguar needed to do to return to a close hug with Donny. He told me the good choices that he COULD HAVE Made that would have allowed him to be closer to God, which he admitted was where he wanted to be.
The knowledge was there, but let's face it. His little heart was struggling something fierce!!! As I summed up what I thought to be a home run in the "life lesson" department, I showed him Romans 7:15-25. Don't worry, I totally summed it up In kid version because SERIOUSLY, I have to read those verses about 20 times to get everything straight. Sometimes graphs are involved just to keep my thoughts straight!
Bottom line: I make bad choices. It's my sinful nature. I don't always want to make bad choices, but I usually do. I try hard to be "good," but it's hard and I can't do it on my own. So, PRAISE JESUS that he fights that battle for me!!!
Good stuff, huh?! I finished my epic presentation with a summery, at which point my son hit the harsh reality that he was REALLY NOT going to get a Lunchable...and began the fit again. :/
...this must be how God feels with us.
*****
I also used this book as a great learning tool, which is where the quote on my bible page came from!
