Friday, October 21, 2011

In the Restroom on the Mighty Blue Ridge!


Just about a week ago and pretty much right after church, Scot and I gathered the kids and piled into the minivan for an impromptu trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains.  We traveled up there and we had a great afternoon.  The kids enjoyed getting out and running around at this one particular stop.  They enjoyed the freedom to run and play in the newly fallen Autumn leaves.

As time had passed, Scot and I thought that it would be good to set off on another adventure in the mountains.  So we collected our stuff and headed for a short hike.  Being the mom that I am and after spotting a restroom, I asked the girls if they needed to use the facilities before we continued on our journey.  Paisley indicated that she needed to go so she and I headed into the restroom.  As we waited inside for a free stall and an available toilet, I was busy doing what most mom's do when they are a germ-a-phobe like myself--scanning and evaluating the surroundings and its cleanliness, or lack there of, for which me and my little ones must endure and suffer through because well you know that I have some pretty high standards for my OCD frame of mind!  Well, as we stood there waiting, Paisley started to sing a song that she had learned in Preschool Quest earlier in the day (Sunday school essentially at our church during the first service).  I looked down at her and smiled.

As we entered the bathroom stall and while I planned out our plan of attack against the germs, Paisley began singing louder.  She started off with a song about the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost which included such sweet little hand motions.  She followed that song with "I've Got a River of Life" and then proceeded to stop mid phrase to say "Mommy, Jesus died on the Cross for us." 

"Yes dear, you are very right," I replied with a smile.

"That was a nice thing for Him to do," she continued.

"It was.  He died for our sins."

 As I replied to her, I thought about all those who were in the restroom with us and most definitely were hearing us.  I started to wonder what they thought of our goings-on in the bathroom stall and our topic of conversation.  I wondered if any one was blessed; and believe it or not, I became slightly worried if anyone was offended.  As that thought quickly rushed into my brain I then rebutted it by thinking about my rights as an American--Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Religion.

However, I was struck by the fact that those first thoughts had even entered my brain and how Paisley simply could care less of who was around.  She set an example of spreading God's love and the Gospel to me that afternoon as she continued on singing songs from church with out a care in the world who was hearing.  And I jumped in and sang along with her.

We were met with smiles as we came out and I prayed that through Paisley's innocence and excitement over the Gospel that somebody in there was blessed that afternoon. The river of life flowed out of her!  So much we can learn and gain from our children as I was reminded of that that afternoon in the restroom on the mighty Blue Ridge!

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