Disciplined

We had charge of them for only a couple of nights while their parents went to Jon's grandmom's funeral in Florida. William, 5 Catherine alomst 4 and Molly 9 months. It was hardly even 24 hours for they left at 4:00 one afternoon and came back the next day at 9:00 pm. When you have the grandbabies without mom and dad, the dynamics change a bit. The older two messed around the house, and invited me to play a little kickball, which I gladly accepted, made jello, had sliders for dinner, splashed their way through the Jacuzzi bath, then readied for bed and I took them home. They all needed to be in their own beds, for they were really tired. Just days before the family had gone to Florida, for an event that Jon and Jenn had been invited to months before. Jenn dropped the kids off with their meemaw in Jacksonville and then drove to meet Jon in Tampa. It was kind of crazy that they were having to turn right around and go back but they seem to shuffle pretty well.

The kids gathered the books they wanted to read and we sat on the couch reading until Gramps joined us and tehn he took over. Before then, I sat quietly in baby Molly's room giving her her bottle. Bless her little heart. While everyone else gets to jump into bed and cozy up, she has to have her corrective shoes put on, and her cleaned helmet that she had gotten an hour break from at bath and dinner. And she just rolls with the punches. This is her norm. Mom is steady and the routine has been established for Molly's better good. But just holding her and looking at Molly, in spite of her sweet and precious demure, I just wanted to give her the freedom to sleep without restriction and cuddle her without all the hardware. But, I just kept thinking this too will end and Molly will be the better for it. Mom will be another unsung mom hero that children do not appreciate until they have children of their own.

The efforts that were being done for Molly were in her best interest. It would be hard for now but the effects of the discipline today would pay off in later years. Isn't that the way God is building each of us. We too have to go through some rough patches and sometimes they may seem like they will never end, but the process is slow. and just as there is a plan for Molly's improvement with a little hardware help, God has a plan for us with some of our own hard wear. Someone once said that nothing worth while is ever easy. And I am sure that many of you could attest to that truth.

Being disciplined is not one of my grandest suits. It may not be one of Molly's either, that is yet to be seen, but her mom is holding the baton of discipline for her, not in meanness but in love. God does the very same thing for us. When we are seemingly over our heads in life's trials and adversities, it is God who is holding us into account of our faithfulness, and teaching us discipline. It may not seem like discipline at the time, but if we seek his face and make our every effort to walk in his ways, we are conforming to His discipline, one step at a time, that will bring us rewards at the end of our journey.

After her bottle, I gave her her pacifier and just held her and looked at that beautiful face. She had done nothing wrong, yet she has been presented with adversities that would require extra love and attention., and she has a mom and dad who were willing on every front to do what was needed to help her. They are there, mom of course especially, at every turn. They don't quit because they are tired, or bale because they are weary. They keep on keeping on, because they love this child with a love that has no end, and they know that God has a future planned out for this precious baby that will make the discipline worthwhile.

But what about spiritual discipline? That discipline that comes from being a disciple of Christ. We know what bodily discipline looks like, but what is expected of a spiritual discipline? It is one that is not imposed by other people, rather it is a self discipline. A discipline that keeps us centered on Christ; his ways, his example, his commands, and his standards. It requires
1) self assessment, "Examine yourselves to test that you are in the faith" (2Co 13:5).
2) self application "Give diligence to present yourself approved before God" (2Tim 2:15).and
3) self accountability,"So then each one of us shall give account of himself to God" (Rom 14:7).

Nobody likes being confined to duty and obligation and strict discipline. Where is the fun in that? Oh but the rewards that discipline reaps will far outweigh the folly that is lived without it.

Hebrews 12:11
No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Discipline is all about the training. Just as baby Molly's feet are being trained to turn in a different direction, and her helmet is guiding the growth of her head, we are to be trained in mind and body and spirit to accept the discipline of living under the authority of Christ for our own betterment. It is for our best good, and ultimately for God's glory.

I love my grandkids with an overflowing love, and each time I am with them I am watching as God is growing them and disciplining them along the way, through their parents. Oh what joy each of those little souls brings to my heart. But then I consider the love of our God, and my love is only a tiny extension of a love that has been given to me. Our heavenly Father loves us with a love that is so overwhelming that we could not begin to imagine the intensity of that love. He is growing us, and disciplining each of us through our trials and adversities. For we are his children, loved, adored and planted in this world for a purpose that only he knows. His will will be done. And we who submit to His discipline will be the benefactors of His blessings and His ultimate reward of everlasting life.

Dear Lord, Discipline is not fun, oh but the blessings that come from it are filled with peace and an overriding joy. Help us to be empowered by the discipline of living under your authority. Amen.


Praise God wherever you are and whatever situation He has allowed you to be in . . . His glory will shine through!

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