Spanked!

Abraham and I have a lot in common. Not the “Father of the Faithful” kind of stuff, but like him, I’ve moved around a lot. Like him I’ve tried to help God fulfill his promises to me too many times, instead of letting Him do what He does best. And like Abraham, I have sorely underestimated the character of my neighbors.

A couple of months ago a family moved into the vacant house next to ours. They are a big family; grandparents, parents, 4 kids, 2 cats, 1 yapping dog, and 4 or 5 cars. We met some of them a week after they moved in when we had a yard sale; they seemed nice enough, but I was a little worried.

It didn’t take long for that worry to be realized. Their kids beganto take a short cut from their front door to the corner by cutting across our front yard. Now for those of you who don’t live in Arizona, our front yard is gravel, which means they’re not killing the grass or anything, but it was leaving visible tire ruts in the gravel. I started to get a little aggravated and wasn’t looking forward to having a confrontation with my neighbors about their kids beating a trail through my front yard.

Yesterday afternoon, when Leisa and I came home from work their 3 younger children were out in their driveway playing. I waved. I sprayed some weed killer on the weeds growing up through the gravel. I went inside to take a quick power nap before heading back to church. The door bell rang.

It was the 3 kids from next door; Leslie about 12, Christian, about 10, and Ashley maybe 8 years old. “Yes,” I said. Then I got spanked! Leslie, holding a broom, said, “We’re sorry for making a mess of your gravel, we’ll clean it up.” I of course lied and said, “Don’t worry about it. It’s Ok.” I did encourage them to use their youthful energy and keep their bikes on the sidewalk; which they said they would.

I went inside, lay down but couldn’t sleep.

I wondered how I was ever going to show them Christ more powerfully than they had just shown Him to me. I know God was speaking to me about my own heart and attitude, and until I get that more in tune with Him, I would continue to be a pretty weak witness of His love and grace.

I'm still a little sore from that spanking.