Because I'm the momma...that's why!

Lucy loves to assert her independence.  She wants to crawl up on the kitchen cabinet so she can open the door by herself and show me what she wants to eat, even though it's the same thing pretty much every day.  She insists on zipping up her own jacket, pressing "play" on the DVD player, feeding the cat on her own, getting the milk out of the fridge "all by myself," etc.  These are all good things for her to do on her own, but the thing that is often not good is the ATTITUDE she possesses while doing them.

"NO, Momma!  I want to do it myself!"

And, as a result of wanting to do things on her own, she often doesn't understand why she needs to respond to what Momma and Daddy tell her to do.  A simple requests turns into an, "I don't want to," or even just a "No!"  But the most common response is this: "Whyyyyy?"  Which leads to the age-old Mommy response: "Because I'm the Momma...that's why!"

I took the kids on a walk after church Wednesday evening to enjoy the weather before the crazy May cold front came in (seriously?!  It's MAY people and it feels like February!)  I pulled Gabriel in the wagon and Lucy rode her bike.  I told her she could be the "leader," which to her also meant that she should get to be the boss.  I had to keep reminding her to ride on the far left side of the road as she kept wanting to stray over to the middle or the right side of the road.  (Normally, I would be OK with her leaning towards the "right";-)  Her defense was this, "But I thought that I was the leader?"  My response?  "You are, honey, but mommy's still the boss.  I've lived just a little bit longer than you, so there are things that I know that you haven't learned yet.  So, when Mommy or Daddy tell you to do something, it's not because we are trying to make up rules that are not fun--it's because we love you and are watching out for you.  We want to protect you."  As the words exited my mouth, I immediately thought of my Heavenly Daddy, and how so often we view the Christian life as a bunch of "rules" that keep us from having any fun, when, in reality, God's "rules" are actually loving boundaries.  He is able to see so much more than we can, and because He loves us, He wants to protect us.

I'm still trying to plow through Leviticus in my daily Bible reading, and let me tell you--it's a struggle many days to read so much of what seems like the same thing that really doesn't seem to pertain to life today at all...except, if I allow God to really speak to me through His word like He wants to, He always reveals sweet truths to me, even in Leviticus.  In my reading this morning, I found myself almost nodding off as I questioned why in the world I needed to know what Aaron wore into the Holy Place and how much of the bull's blood he needed to sprinkle.  But then God gave me a little "holy nudge" that woke me up.  In Leviticus 16:34, I read this:

And Moses did as the Lord commanded him.

But why?  Why did Moses do what God told him to?  Well, we get that answer in chapter 19...over 12 times!

I am the LORD your God.

Just like when I tell Lucy, "Because I'm the momma, that's why!" God tells His children the same--not to be domineering or mean, but because He LOVES us and wants what is best for us.  Before Jesus came and paid the ultimate sacrifice for our sins, God had to create another way for His children to be able to draw close to Him.  Moses did what God told him to do because He knew Who God was and the love that God had for him.  Do I allow myself to see God's true intentions in the daily happenings of my life?  Am I stubborn and set on asserting my independence, or am I allowing myself to recognize Who God really is and how much He really loves me?

If you can get past all of the bloody bull sprinkling, Leviticus is actually a pretty beautiful picture of God's love.  And why you ask?  Well, because we are reminded that He's our Heavenly Daddy--that's why!;-)