For a couple of days before the Resurrection Day celebration, I had the privilege of having one of my granddaughters spend the night with us.
I thoroughly enjoyed her being here; if I had known grandchildren were that great, I would have probably skipped having children and went straight to grands!
Thankfully, that’s impossible. You see, children come along and, while we are still young, we often shelter them too much, thus putting enormous pressure on ourselves. As my children were growing up, I would take them to a store, make them behave and be quiet, and I would not tolerate any type of outbreak.
Along comes a grand. She is in the grocery store; I am in sporting goods. She yells at the top of her voice for Papaw. I yell back across the store, happy to hear her calling for me.
What a change!
I wonder sometimes how God reacts to us as He raises His children. He is definitely more mature and experienced than we were, and yet He still wants us to follow His guidelines for behavior.
He allows us to go along, obediently or disobediently, and then rewards us or punishes us to keep the right behavior in tact.
As all good parents know, to correct a child is to show that you love them, and God is the same. He keeps touching our lives in the hopes that we will one day wake up and realize just how deep His love is, and then we can assist Him in leading others to become His children.
If you were in the store, in the grocery aisle, and He was in the garden center, and you yelled out for Him, do you think He would respond?
If I, a simple man, loved to hear that small voice calling for me, how much greater shall be the Father’s love when one of His children call out to Him.
The Rev. Richard Helms serves at Miracle Acres Ministries, 3187 E. James Lee Blvd., in Crestview.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: HELMS: Reflections from a grandparent