Day 99- A Rough First

Joel is getting bigger and tougher.  As a result, our wrestling matches and play fighting is getting a bit rougher. He has a greater potential for bodily harm to the old Dad. I know that the day is coming when he is probably going to leave a mark.

Tough guy

Tough guy; but still pretty sweet

So, it finally happened.  We were goofing around and he caught me with a good one. He said he was sorry and I was kind of proud and assured him as he got bigger and stronger, he was going to be able to leave marks on people.  It's OK if it is Dad.

All right, so that's not true.  Hannah Grace has been bugging me for days to let her put a fake bruise on me.  I've said no every day.  It truly has been amazing how much she has wanted to use her make up kit to put a fake bruise on me.  She thinks fake bruises are very cool right now. So, for my first, I let Hannah Grace put a fake bruise on me.

The real Bruiser

I asked Hannah Grace why she wanted to put fake bruises on her (and me).  She said it makes you look tough. I told her I'd rather be tough than look tough.  If you look tough and you are not tough someone might want to get rough until you say enough.  Boy, that last sentence is either really cheesy or slightly clever. I told her that if you look tough someone might want to see if you really are.  She does not follow my line of thinking here.  She loves a fake bruise for some reason that Dad just can't quite get.

Our culture does seem to be pretty hung up on appearances.  People want to appear smart, tough, strong, cool, refined, unrefined, hip, or whatever.  If we are not careful, that attitude can spill over into the church.  We might want to appear spiritual, godly, like a great family person, prayer warrior, etc. without actually being any of that; especially without paying the price to be any of that.  Of course, God knows exactly how spiritual, godly or whatever we really are.  Our family has a pretty good idea of how great a family person we are, too.

We need to be people of authenticity.  A.W. Tozer wrote, "The world is big, tangled and dark, and we are never sure where a true Christian may be found. One thing we know: the more like Christ he is the less likely it will be that a newspaper reporter will be seeking him out."  We are not to try to appear like something before other people. Truly loving God with all our hearts and being unaware of how people see us is much better.  The people that are "famous" in the Christian world may be very godly or not at godly at all. Appearances count for very little in God's eyes.  Why not live for an audience of One? As Tozer wrote in another place, "A deed without a name is better than a name without a deed.”

Contemplating the abundant life
Barry

3 things I thank God for today
1. People that treat other Christians like real family
2. How the words "thank you" affect hearts
3. The hymn "Heaven Came Down and Glory Filled my Soul"
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