It was a Sunday morning and our crib aged daughter wasn’t feeling good. Trey offered to stay at home with her so I could still attend church. As I was getting back into the car to head home, I called to check in and his response is one I will never forget (as I am sure he won’t forget either). He started sharing with me what had aspired over the last hour and I wasn’t sure to gasp or laugh out of disbelief.
He heard Addie wake up in her crib, but she was happy so he left her alone. When he walked in later he was immediately hit by a ghastly smell. He knew he was about to have the privilege of changing a pretty nasty diaper. But then his eyes caught up with his nose as he realized Addie had indeed gone to the bathroom. However she then decided to play in her diaper by spreading the poop EVERYWHERE within the confinement of her crib – crib, wall, sheets, blanket, stuffed animals, paci, her hair, toes, EVERYWHERE!!! It was honestly one of those moments where you question why you thought being a parent was a good thing, ha! But the best part was Addie and her response. Until she saw Trey’s face, she was having the time of her life. Until his expression caused her to hesitate in her play. Trey shared with me that he didn’t even know where to start as the whole thing was overwhelmingly nasty. So he just paused for a few moments.
But when our daughter’s face started growing more and more unsure, Trey went and scooped her up and held her. In this moment, his objective was to get her, and her room, cleaned. Restored. Refreshed. The nastiness of the incident didn’t push him away from her, but instead he drew closer to her. He plopped her into the bath and began the cleanup process.
Some may be asking, “Why did I just share a poop story?” Because how many times are we like my daughter, filled with mess yet unsure if we should take it to God, our own Heavenly Father? God is the greatest Father of all and can scoop us up to restoration better than anyone else. There have been many times where I was too ashamed to go to The Lord. I think it may be too much to ask for His forgiveness again. Or since I am not able to spend the time with Him that I would desire to, at some point His mercy will no longer be extended. Then this dreaded poop story came to mind and Trey’s response to our daughter gave me fresh perspective of how God views us.
Trey was not excited about what he saw, but NOTHING would have kept him away from her. God is the same way with us. I love the verse in Lamentations 3:23, “His mercies are new every morning”. Every morning we have a new chance, a fresh start, to live our day for the Lord. Even on the days where we mess up, we only need to turn to our Father asking for help and His grace is there. God isn’t calling us to a legalistic, “check the box off” life. He WANTS to spend time with us and in return, we have an opportunity to grow with Him, serve Him and always be secure in His arms of grace and love. Do you have a mess that is causing you to hold off from talking to The Lord? If so, I challenge you to think of a father’s love and to be reminded that God is waiting patiently to scoop you up for forgiveness and restoration.
