Acting like a 4 yr old

Last night I was tucking Sam in and he hugged me. It felt so good. He'd been a wild 4 yr old boy all day and it was good to just get hugged and not be disciplining him.

Tonight I was tucking Sam in and again he hugged me. Again it felt so good. This time I said, "Sam, I miss you." He didn't know what I was talking about. I told him that when he's wild and disobedient and ignoring me all day (literally ignoring me. He will hear me speak and just won't respond unless he wants to) all I get to do is discipline him all day. I don't get to really enjoy him. And then I miss him.

He was so sweet. He said, "Mom, I'll be good all day tomorrow." I know he meant it, but he'll still mess up and do something wrong. But it meant a lot to know he was sorry and wanted to be better.

It just really struck me how we do that to our Heavenly Father. We know His laws, mostly--at least the "Top 10"--but we don't really obey them. He tries to talk to us all the time, but we don't stop and listen unless we want to. And we're always so busy running around doing our own thing. He has to spend time disciplining us when what He really desires is to just spend time with us. Just being together.

He misses us when we act like that. The discipline hurts Him more than it hurts us. And our reaction is so much like my 4 yr old son. "I'm sorry. I'll do better." And He knows we mean it and He knows we'll mess up. But how sweet it must be to hear it when we truly mean it. And how much sweeter still when we do obey Him and we do listen to Him and we let Him just love us and not have to discipline us.

Lord, help me be good all day tomorrow.