Who Do You Want to Be?

"Mom, what do you want to be?” It was the question of the morning for my oldest Doodlebug. I kind of chuckled and responded, “I want to be a good wife, and a good mommy…” He cut me off before I could finish. “No, Mommy. I mean what do you want to be?” Okay, let me try one more time, “Well, I am what I want to be? What do you want to be?” I was so ready to tell him that being a mom was the hardest (although the best) job I have ever had in my life…EVER!

But somehow I could tell that my answer was not what he was looking for. He looked a bit frustrated and said, “See? Let me show you.” He pulled out his children’s bible and found the story of the Ten Lepers (Luke 17:11-19). He told me that Jesus healed ten people of leprosy that day, but only one came back to thank Jesus. He wanted to know specifically, “Who did I want to be…the nine or the one?”

Wow! I was shocked…such a savvy question for such a little guy. I proudly told him that I want to be like the one who came back to thank Jesus. He beamed with excitement and said, “Me too!”

 

For the next few minutes we started to review some of the things we had been praying for the past few weeks. We remembered together many of the wonderful answers and blessings that had resulted from those prayers. We confessed that although we wanted to be like “the one”, we had forgotten to thank God for some of these things. Finally, we prayed to God and thanked him for the wonderful ways in which he has shown up for us. It was such a sweet time for us.

I love how our children can challenge us to be better. Sometimes, if we are really honest…we can learn from them. So Mom, I am going to pass on my oldest Doodlebug’s question to you…”Do you want to be like the nine or the one?” Have you thanked God for some of the wonderful ways he has healed you, provided for you, comforted you, and rescued you? There is no better time than now to start. J

Prayer:

Heavenly Father,

You are so incredibly good to us, even when we do not deserve it. So many times we get so caught up in our prayer requests that we forget to come back and say thank you for your divine and awe-inspiring answers. Too many times, we simply move on to the next request. Please forgive us. Help us to take the time to say thank you. You are perfect in every way. All of your answers are for our good (even if we can’t see it at the moment). Thank you for loving us so much and for providing for us time and time again. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen