That's OK......or is it??

I was watching a young Momma with her little one (about 3 years). The child did something wrong, Mom corrected him, and when the child said "I'm sorry", Momma said, "That's OK." What?? Why was it not OK before, but now it's OK??

I do know that the Mom was trying to tell the child "All is forgiven, and we'll not bring it up anymore." My question is.....why don't we say, "All is forgiven, and we'll not bring it up anymore."???

When I was a young Momma, I did the same thing. When my little ones wronged someone (usually their other sibling), I tackled that situation with an iron fist. 1) Here's what you did wrong. 2) Now you need to apologize 3) Remind the offended individual know they are supposed to say "That's OK" 4) Pat myself on the back for another job well done in the parenting arena!! I know it was a sight to behold watching me in action....

Thankfully, GOD sent someone to straighten me out.

First, while it is good to point out what my little ones did wrong, my reason for doing so was to remind them they served a Holy GOD who had standards. If the incident was against HIS standard, I wanted them to know that, so I started "discipling" them (imagine that concept). If it was an incident that went against our family standards, then I wanted them to know that as well. I didn't want them to become adults thinking that something was sin because our family said so. I wanted them to know that sin was sin because GOD said so, but at the same time, I also wanted them to understand that some things we do because that's what we like - not because GOD said so. (You know, no burping at the table unless it's BBB night)

Second, I did not want them to apologize. Webster says this about apology:

"An excuse: something said or written in defense or extenuation of what
appears to others wrong, or unjustifiable;"

Ummm, maybe I'm wrong, but I just don't think there are too many cases where you can make an excuse for hitting your sister because she took your toy away. Seriously, though, I do know I'm splitting hairs here, but it did get me thinking about what I was doing. Was I really teaching them GOD's way or man's way when I told them to apologize for something they did wrong? Did I want them to learn to justify their bad choices, or did I want them to understand what THEY did wrong and how to make amends. For me, it was as simple as teaching them to ask for forgiveness.

The Psalmist teaches us in Psalm 79:9, "Help us, O GOD of our salvation, for the glory of Thy name; and deliver us, and forgive our sins, for Thy name's sake."

He doesn't apologize and try to justify to a Holy GOD why they did what they did. No, he asks for GOD's forgiveness. I realized that's what I needed to do and what I wanted my children to do as well.

Third, I had to ask myself why I wanted the offender to apologize for something when I've taught the offended to say, "That's OK." NO!! If it was OK to begin with, then why in the world did Momma just say to not do that?? OK. So, I'm a redneck at heart and a little slow....but I eventually catch on.....

If the offense was wrong by GOD's standard....and the offender needed to seek forgiveness.....then it only stands to reason that the offended needs to forgive. I get it!! I didn't want them to learn to just walk away from the situation, but I wanted them to know that when we wrong someone, they can actually still love us, forgive us, and desire to be in a relationship with us. I wanted them to learn that lesson with each other because that's what their faith would be built on. I knew that my dear children would offend GOD during their lives, but that HE will always be standing there with open arms waiting to forgive them, to love them, and to be in a relationship with them - no matter what. Jeremiah 9:17, "...But THOU art a GOD of forgiveness, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, and abounding in loving-kindness; and THOU didst not forsake them."

Is it splitting hairs? I don't think so. I think there is a huge difference in apologizing and asking forgiveness. There are even times when you need to do both. "Honey, I'm sorry I was late. There was an accident on the freeway and traffic was stopped. Please forgive me for not being here when I said I would." Will that make a difference? You bet. How much nicer it is to have someone acknowledge that they've offended you. Then, how much nicer for the offender to hear, "I forgive you" instead of "That's OK" The offender knows it's not OK. So do you. If that's what we know as grownups, then why don't we start that lesson when they're little??

Take this to the next level.....how do we feel when we know we've offended GOD? Do we really feel better when we pour our heart out and 'apologize' to GOD and let HIM know WHY we did something - as if an omniscient GOD didn't already know. Or do we feel a relief and overwhelming outpouring of love when we repent and seek forgiveness knowing that GOD already promised to forgive us in 1 John 1:9. If that's how we feel, then let's help our children learn that feeling, too, because it's NOT OK......

History Repeats Itself

We have often heard, "those who forget history, are destined to repeat it".  Watch this video and ask yourself if you are ready to watch history repeat itself......

(age appropriate 14+)

Back again!! Hurray!

Hello dear friends!

I have been gone for a while, though not actually gone from my home.  I had said in the post below that I felt like I was spending too much time on the computer.  So, a week and a half of no computer period was what I needed.  I must say it was rather hard, at first, but by the end of my time I wasn't thinking about it all the time, and could really care less if I actually got on right away or not. 

Well, I am back and with news too!!  The Lord has blessed us richly this past week.  On Saturday afternoon, we got some rain.  For a good 30 minutes, it was just raining sheets and we couldn't even see the barn (which is about 130 feet away).  I would like you to try to picture what this might look like.  Towards the east, the pasture (known as Arena pasture because the Arena juts into it) has a slight valley.  There are gentle slopes close to the house that dip down, and then rise again for even higher slopes father away.  This little valley runs all the way across the pasture to the South. 

When we get large rains during this season (all of the hurricanes and tropical storms along the coast bring us moisture!) we typically have little 'ponds' in certain places.  We kids have named them all.  We have Arena pond (very original, don't ya think? ;-) ), which is at the bottom corner of the arena; Tadpole pond (behind the corrals towards the north), Banana creek (this floods the banana curved road behind the old adobe, which is north of our house), Trailer Gully (this is a spot where the waters made a small canyon of sorts right on a road leading into Arena pasture.  We got a trailer stuck in it once, thus the name Trailer gully), and many more little ponds that don't stick around long enough to get a name. 

So, Tadpole pond, as you can imagine, must have tadpoles.  Yes, indeed it does.  In fact, right after a rain, you can just step outside and hear all of the frogs croaking to one another.  Caleb and I got to run outside when the the rain had let up to a slow drizzle and got to see the frogs.  It was amazing to watch their little throats bulge out as they made the neat little rumble noise.   Tadpole pond usually get only to above our knees..  this time we had it flooded all across the road and into small Tadpole pond (that is across the road).  The pond was obviously very full..

Arena pond was more like a lake.  The whole valley was FLOODED all the way down to where it ended.  All the water started to run down to the end of the valley Southward.  This wouldn't have been a big deal except that it then decided to run across our road..  We have a fence on either side of the road as we have pastures on either side.  Well, as the water moved swiftly towards the road, it picked up any debris that might be lying around.  This then built up on one of the fences and eventually knocked it over.  The fence on the other side was totally uprooted and pulled backwards.  The wire was broken, so we had to strings of fence just lying inside the pasture where the current had pushed it.. 

Now, this is NOT a normal occurrence in New Mexico.  Rain does come, but certainly not like this.  How many inches? FOUR!   Compare this to a usual 1/2 inch a month!  Quite a different experience, I must say!

Alright, enough talking, lets get to pictures.  Unfortunately my camera doesn't take great pictures, and I can't imagine why Rebecca didn't want me to take her nice Nikon out in the rain... hmm. =D lol!

The flooded Arena Pasture:

Trailer Gully:

There was a little rock in the way of water flow that made the H2o jump over it...

Banana Creek:

A new little gully (and a little sarcasm "and they said the grand canyon was formed over millions of years... hmm")

Tadpole Pond:  If you look to the Right of where Caleb is standing, you will see this pipe coming up.  Now, only about a foot of that is showing, if even that.  Usually, and this is when we THOUGHT it was full, the water only comes half way up that pipe cage thing... so yeah.

TP flowing out into the road and over into little TP and even into the pasture beyond..

Then we have some pics of the frogs.  They had come out for mating and were making such a loud racket (though a very neat racket!) I got a few pics when their necks were bulged out...

Aren't frogs amazing??  The fact that they just hibernate under the ground until ENOUGH rains come for them to lay their eggs.. it just fascinates me!!  Just another show of our wonderful Creator!!!

Hope you enjoyed the pics.. we certainly did because it meant we got rain! Then, the next day we had even more rain.. a whole other inch!! Praise GOD!! We really need some rain for the grass to get greened up.. even now, after only a day or two after the rain, it is getting green!

Praising God,

Sarah

Home again, home again, jiggity jig... ;-)

Yes, we are home!!  We left for a three day weekend to attend a family reunion (My Dad's side).  We had a pretty good time, though family members can often be rather interesting.. ;-) lol! We have some pretty crazy family members, but I guess that makes us crazy too!! lol!!

Sometimes the trip can be stressful, trying to get over there and whatnot, but we enjoyed ourselves and got to catch up on relatives.  Also neat and interesting to see everyone come together. :-)

My Grandparents house was where everyone mostly hung out.  It over looks Ute lake, which is the Canadian river.  However, because of the dam in Logan, the river has been backed up and is now considered a lake. ;-)

The views are simply stunning over there!!  If you beg enough, I am sure we can get Becca to post some pictures of our fun time. :-)  Not that she has to be begged, but it is sometimes a pain to upload photos, so she needs some encouragement. ;-) lol  There are red rocks that glisten in the sunset, beautiful gold shimmers on the water as you drink in the view from their upper deck.  The sunsets are so vivid and just add to the glory.  Last night we were able to enjoy watching a lightning storm that was miles away.  We couldn't even hear the thunder, but we enjoyed the lightning show while we visited, or simply watched with awe at God's awesome power.  He is amazing, isn't He?  I just love seeing His awesome power displayed in Nature.  You know what it reminds me of?  Have you ever seen a young couple who are dating/courting?  Have you ever noticed how the young man is usually doing things to show off to his girl? Opening the car door for her, carrying heavy things, lifting weights, arm wrestling, etc?   Well, it is almost as if God is showing us His awesome power to show off, though in a Holy way, if you follow me.  You know, the Bible is His love letter to us, so why wouldn't He show off some with His awesome nature?? Just a thought.... ;-)

Any way, we are off to watch the first movie of LOTR (Lord of the Rings).. looks like we will be up late for a few nights! Lol!!

Talk to all of you soon, and looking forward to your comments!!

Love,
Sarah