Commands, Covenants, and a Case of the Crankies

Please forgive my lack of typing out all of the reading today. Post-Remicade infusion ickiness has set in. Insert your favorite version of the Ten Commandments in the appropriate space...

God, our God, made a covenant with us at Horeb. God didn’t just make this covenant with our parents; he made it also with us, with all of us who are alive right now. God spoke to you personally out of the fire on the mountain. At the time I stood between God and you, to tell you what God said. You were afraid, remember, of the fire and wouldn’t climb the mountain. He said:
Deuteronomy 5:2-5

 ***Insert 10 Commandments here***

God heard what you said to me and told me, “I’ve heard what the people said to you. They’re right—good and true words. What I wouldn’t give if they’d always feel this way, continuing to revere me and always keep all my commands; they’d have a good life forever, they and their children!
Deuteronomy 5:28-29

It was nearly impossible for him to get out of bed. Ten minutes before we needed to leave for church, I admittedly lost my cool and all but threatened to ruin his life should he not drag himself to the shower. He had made a promise, had a responsibility that morning at church, so not only did he need to fulfill that promise, but I couldn't have mercy on his poor, tired, teenage self. 

A large coffee later, he was acting human again. Not only did he show up for church, but he went above and beyond delivering his Advent message presentation during the beginning of worship. His angry teen mood meshed well with the given text and his mood seemed to change with the change in tone in the message he was offering to the congregation.

When I found myself blessed with a successful pregnancy after two losses, I promised God that I would do everything I could to raise my children following His commands. I made a covenant with my first child and those to follow that I would do my best to parent with patience, love, and understanding while laying the ground rules for living.  As I had more children and my children grew into their teenage years, parenting in the way I knew I should became more challenging in many ways. 

Who would have thought that an overtired teen could unravel my promises to God and my children so quickly? It wasn't the teen so much as my own state of being at the time that was my undoing. I was frustrated with him and disappointed in myself in the end. I knew I let both of us - and God - down.

Sometimes we get lost in all the rules God has for us and for our living and miss His covenant of Love. Sometimes we get lost in all the rules we have for our children and miss the love. God knows we mess up sometimes and always offers forgiveness. I know my kids mess up sometimes and I always offer forgiveness. I've been blessed with children who know their parents mess up sometimes and always offer forgiveness. 

And always, we love God and we love one another. Always.