Recently my son calls me Kate

I don’t always understand kid logic, but I do think they are the most pure of heart. Recently Hunter has taken to yelling Kate when he thinks I am not listening closely he yells my name , not my given name but Kate, mostly because that is what Clay and my family call me but I hear so much mommy that it just sounds completely foreign from his little voice that I find myself looking around startled!  I think thats how life has made me feel lately, we get so used to being referred to under a name or title that we forget who we were before that, we are routed in that identity, worrying so often about how others feel about our choices or what the world labels us that we forget about our greatest identity, the only one that should matter, the identity we have in God, as his child, as his servant.  I have to remind myself daily of a lot of things, one of them is the innocence of my children should be my mindset more often, if you tell my children that someone is lonely or sad, first response is “I will be their friend, take me there so they won’t be lonely.”  IS that my response? Likely as an adult it isn’t, what can I do that inconveniences me the least, text some money to the red cross and forget about it. (not that I am saying that is the wrong response for some it is an only option)  I watched the coverage of Houston, people brought what they had and came, I don’t think those people thought for one minute, well this is really going to mess up my week…..no God called and they did exactly that, they took what they had and went. Romans 12:13 says share with God’s people who are in need…… Guys that was my 3 year olds memory verse, how is that for being humbled, am I sharing what I have? Am I using whats available to me to lift up those around me who are struggling?  Or do I simply turn a blind eye? Am I loving the people who are hardest to love, am I paying attention to the world around me and seeing the needs? Or am I driving with tunnel vision purposely avoiding eye contact with the homeless man on the street…. God said share with his people who are in need…. I haven’t seen anywhere he says judge them and see if they deserve to have their needs met….check there mistakes you can imagine they make bad choices and this is their consequence.  He didn’t say only love the neighbors who think like you or only help people who really deserve it… God is plain and simple and he says LOVE ME, LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR, he even calls it his greatest commandment.  What are you telling people about your God by how you act, do they see you and know that God is merciful and gracious or have you shown your neighbor that God is judgmental and intolerant?

I am not saying I do all the right things and I see all the needs of people around me but I hope I am teaching my children this one thing, if you have something that can be shared with someone who does not ….share it, I hope it is instinct so embedded in their heart that they never give it a second thought.  I know someone will take advantage of that heart, I know they will be judged for that choice but I hope they serve anyway, I hope they continue to reach out no matter how many times a person falls.

I realize this means my husband and I have to practice it every day, I have to practice it with my kids and with the world , I am striving to be the kind of woman I want my daughter to emulate and the kind of woman I want my sons to seek out. God talked big to me today….and through shared tears and hearts I heard.