17 June 2020

“Frederick Daniel spelled, F-R-E-D-E-R-I-C-K “says my eldest grandson as he greets me at the front door.

“Where’s Mum and Dad?” I asked. “In the car,” he called back to me as he had already run inside the house.

Full of beans, a friendly, helpful five year old boy is our Freddie. He is a delight. Within half an hour he had tried to do wheelies with a little indoor bike used by the two year old granddaughters. Close to taking out a glass table, and not listening to his Mum, the bike was taken off him and he was put into ‘timeout.’

A few minutes later he was trying to play with his younger brother Emmett who is two but was taking over all the toys and then annoyed his little three year old sister Mackenzie, so another ‘timeout’ was put into place.

His Dad then went and had a talk to him. I noticed the serious tone and the nodding of Freddie’s head.

One of his aunties kindly went and played handball with him on the back veranda. This kept him busy for a while. He then went to the room where I keep toys for the grandchildren and found a nerf gun. It looks like an archer’s bow with large foam pellets which you load into the trigger. The pellets are propelled a long way and the older children enjoy trying to hit targets. The problem was Freddie decided that inside the house aiming at figurines and a vase was a good idea.

As his Mum spoke to him again and warned him of a ‘timeout,’ and we redirected him to shoot down the hallway, I smiled behind my hand.

Firstly, how to keep an energetic boy contained is difficult when it was raining outside and secondly, I thought – How long with ‘timeouts’ will it take for Freddie to make wiser choices?

As he matures, he will know playing nerf gun inside the house is generally not a good idea. Annoying his little sister or taking control of the game from his little brother is not a good idea. Repercussions and consequences occur when we make wrong choices.

So too for us. If I eat too many sweets, candy, desserts and carbs, it will not be good for my health, my teeth and my weight.

If I always complain, find fault with others and am unkind I may not be invited over to that party.

If I am always late, never give back things I borrow, don’t follow through with things I say I’ll do, I should not be surprised to not be trusted.

If I gossip, laugh at and are mean to people, don’t be surprised that I have no close friends.

Is this just like firing arrows or pellets of meanness, arrows from a nerf gun that annoy and hurt others? Am I just like Freddie?

Repercussions or consequences have to eventuate when we make wrong choices.

For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he had done, and that without partiality. (Colossians, 3:25)

But so often Christ comes along and blesses us and delivers us from those bad choices or consequences. Ultimately, Christ dying on the cross has saved us from the consequence of eternal death. He has breathed new life into all of us again if we accept Him and the gift He is giving to us.

And so too an example of a time that Christ delivered us from our bad choices can be seen in the gospel of John, Chapter 8.

One day Jesus was talking to the crowd when the Pharisees brought a woman to him who had been caught in the act of adultery. The mercy that Jesus shows this woman is an act of mercy that time and time again is shown to all of us though maybe for a different reason.

“Let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone.” Jesus states. The only ONE who has not sinned in this situation is JESUS! And he asks of the woman as he lifts his head and sees no one left standing there accusing her. “Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”

“No LORD,” she says. She knows who is to be respected. And Jesus says, “Neither do I”

Often God may encourage us to take a time of reflection, a type of ‘timeout’ to teach us how to behave as Christians, followers of Christ. To be reminded of our behaviours, our language, our thoughts. Different seasons in the Churches calendar helps us with this too. Lent – a time of reflection of who we are and what Christ has done for us. Advent – a time of preparation for the Lord’s birth. It could be a retreat, a few days you take yourself away and reflect upon where you are at with Christ.

The time of examination of conscience before Reconciliation could be this reflection ‘timeout’ time. Even your morning prayer could be a ‘timeout’ to listen to your heavenly Father. His patience is way greater than any human parent. His mercy is abundant. His Grace is abounding. He does NOT condemn but tells us to sin no more. Don’t make the wrong choices. Choose the right ones. Choose the way that leads to LIFE, LIFE EVERLASTING.

The blessing of knowing Christ is that we are forgiven every time for stuff if we are sorry. He can change US and the situations we are in.

Thank goodness we have such a loving patient parent like God the Father.

Thank goodness Freddie has loving, patient parents who teach him and form him but allow him to be that bundle of energy that puts a smile on everyone’s face.

Do we go to God like Freddie and say, Hi I’m Rosemary – R-O-S-E-M-A-R-Y just so you don’t forget about me God? And God replies, “She’s such a delight!”

May these jottings from my journal inspire you to believe in and fall in love with Christ- the hope of the world, as stated in Jeremiah 17:7, ‘Blessed is the man who believes and trusts in and relies on the Lord and whose hope and confident expectation is the Lord!’

Love

Rosemary

Every week groups of ladies meet together to chat about the things I raise in my weekly blog post and to chat about life in general. We call these ‘Heart Connect’ groups. If you would like more information please click HERE.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

How do you use your ‘timeout’ to reflect on God in your life?

Is God saying something to you about who you are and where you can become more like Him?

Are there moments in your life currently that you could take more time to reflect on?