Baby Sam

He knows me for sure...but this was the first time I had taken him, on the insistance of His brother Blake....in my car to my house for a little afternoon outing.
I had invited Blake to just come hang out....we do that sometimes....but I hadn't thought about taking Sam....He is my youngest grand baby...almost four months...and one big guy....wearing 12 month old clothes. So we packed him up and he got to come too. No fancy plans...just a car ride...a little dinner and a familiar but always interesting place to visit "Sassy's"...especially if "Gramps" is home, and he would be a little later. There is something about a candy dish filled with M&M's that the older ones find intriguing...Imagine that! Sam will grow to learn just where that dish sits.

It was just a few hours....but I learned more about this baby and his habits and his temperament in just a few hours having him by myself, than I could have ever learned by just watching him with his mom and dad. You just pay closer attention, have more time to engage in watching for the little things...and learning. I look at Blake and think he has been around for just four years....but this is how our relationship began....and it continues to grow and we continue to learn from each other. Yes there are lessons to learn from a four year old....and one big one is they follow by example...almost more so than words. But relationships grow through time spent and stories told....stories we tell on ourselves, about our experiences, about how we perceive things etc. and in the case of this baby....he is learning by an innate sense of tone, of expression, needs met, making new recognitions each day.

I am learning, to an even greater extent through my readings during this "Bible in 90 Day quest" journeying through the old testament...relationships are the most important asset that any of us have in this lifetime. And a relationship begins the minute we take time to be involved. And how much we are involved....determines how much we get to know whoever it is we have chosen to know.

It isw kind of amiazinf to really contemplate that there is a Holy God who created us and knows our inner workings and our thoughts and sees our actions....every one of them. And what exactly do we know of Him? Well we know what we have been taught though Sunday School Lessons, and sermons and bible studies. But it occurred to me that that kind of knowledge is like me watching and listening and learning from Sam's mom about Sam...I can get it..and I see it....but until I venture out alone with this baby I am never going to really know him. Same way with God...until I make a concentrated effort to seek a relationship with Jesus personally, and I say Jesus becasue he is the reason that I am even able to come directly to God, I am confined to
arms length relationship rather than a hands on relationship.

We have all heard the highlighted stories of the old testament....but it hasn't been until I have begun reading it from cover to cover that I have truly seen the relationships that God has established and how involved each of his chosen ones were with HIm. Continually seeking his guide, continually seeking his wisdom, continually seeking his "yeses" and "nos" regarding war plans, and land placement, and rules of life's engagement, etc. Jesus was coming but most of the ordinary folks were only able to work indirectly through prophets and priests and animal sacrifices etc....to try to please God and obey him.

God has since given each of us a personal opportunity to be in an active relationship with him. Now seriously...think of Abraham, Moses, and Joshua and David, to name a few.... they were granted personal access to God....they were the chosen ones...
We have been chosen to be in that same situation....and we sooooo take that for granted. God knows us but for us to have a healthy relationship that is strong and intimate and persaonl....we have to make the effort to get to know God in a way that he knows us. IN a way that we expect guidance when we ask, and we expect wisdom when we ask, and we expect to live a life of joy and peace if we surrender our own agendas and allow God's agenda to prevail in our lives.

1 Corinthians 2:10-12

10but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.
I looked at baby Sam yeaterday and thought ...he is so small and so dependent, and is just beginning to learn about everything. And God has given him caregivers who love and adore this precious child. Well, we are children of God....he too is in the business of loving us and caring for us. Just as our relationship with our children grows...so does our relationship with Christ. Each of us are on the track of "knowing" about Jesus...some of us are babies in our walk others are a little further down the road but we are all growing in that knowledge. But it takes initiative, our own initiative to get to know Jesus....and grow according to His ways. He knows us....but it is what we personally learn about him, and embrace that bonds the relationship. The more we want to know the more Christ will reveal..and the more he reveals the more in awe we are that we have even been given the opportunity to be called one of His children. He has the time...we are the ones who have to decide how much time we are willing to invest in Him. The questions are "How important is that relationship to me"...and "Is it worth the time and effort and sacrifice to pursue it". Do we want arms length or hands on? It is something to ponder...for the decision will alter your life one way or anther.

Dear Lord...we all start out as babies...but as we grow older we learn that we begin again in baby faith once we have accepted your Holy name to be a part of our lives. Bring us up Lord to seek your face, to walk in your ways and to be humbled by our weakness as we embrace your strength....and accept your love. Amen