Kept By HIS Hand - Part Two

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Wow!  I love when the Lord does this...

On Friday I shared here just a little bit about being kept – by God!  I certainly was not planning to say all of this with my kids, the other night, but again it is when and what the Lord chooses to use to “speak into my children’s life" than by all means… let me!

Use me.

Unintentionally, this is a part two...or an addendum, if you will, to this post.

As is our usual routine – at bedtime – we pray and then the kids want to hear a story of when either I or my husband was a kid, and this depends on who settles them for the night and sometimes they do get one out of both of us.  It’s not uncommon.

Often, I have a hard time thinking of something – but every now and then a memory will come quickly and I better hurry and run with it before I change my mind or pass it off… and think I can come up with something "much more profound”…

Anyway.

I took the plunge with this one.

{Source}

When we lived at the “green trailer” – I began – there was this big ole maple tree out in our side yard that had a big ole black tractor tire at its base for our sandbox.  My dad also built us (my sisters and I) a tree house up in that tree… so we played over there – a lot.  But there was a rule in our house that we ALWAYS had to clean up the yard - of our bikes and “toys” at the end of each evening.  And part of that, for sure, was to be certain that all of the sandbox toys were in the “tire” and that the lid was on.  The lid was a big ole piece of plywood.  My dad was a carpenter, at the time, and it was nothing for him to supply us with what we “needed”; leftover sand, from a day on the job, (the heavy red kind of sand) or the plywood with which to protect it with.

Very important!

I asked my kids if they knew why there needed to be a piece of plywood over the sandbox – at the end of the day or for when we weren’t playing in it.  They knew.  It was to keep the rain and leaves and sticks and yes! Even the cats from pooing in it… it was meant to protect.  To guard against whatever might get in there.

**My post from Friday all came flooding back to me, at this point.  Here was a chance to explain how GOD keeps us..

So just like our sandbox needed to be “protected” – so do our hearts.  Our hearts are just like that sandbox and God is like that piece of plywood.   If we don’t have a guard over our hearts (God as our shield; our Protector; our Guardian; our Keeper!) the yucky stuff will get in so fast.  Oh – we need to keep our “sandboxes” clean…

**

Different Bible verses came to mind as I was talking and I sprinkled them in there..

I also pulled in a few scenarios of things that happened throughout our own day, that day,  that I knew my kids would remember and could relate to or at least bear witness firsthand to– some of the “yucky things” that go on between siblings - and I used that to further tell my own story of when I was a kid.  Times of sibling rivalry and selfishness and moments of pride that me, being the “oldest” sister – I too, had to learn how to forgive and ask for forgiveness…

And pray.

My children?  I think by now I had nearly talked them to sleep (seriously!) as the tears fell down my cheeks and the lump in my throat grew so big I could scarcely talk.. I held on with a whisper.

These are my favorite moments of being a mom!

I’m so grateful I have been kept by HIS hand..

***