Sunday was my first day back in the pulpit and it felt good! It felt good to exercise my calling through pulpit duty. I even got to baptize a few precious babies. It was wonderful! Despite my thrill to be back in the number, my mind stayed on K. My younger sister came with me to watch my little one while I served. A couple of times, I left the pulpit to give her instructions on what to do, and I even changed a diaper during offering time! LOL! I can truly do it all—through Christ who strengthens me of course!
However, despite the good feelings that I had about being back in the pulpit, I couldn’t help but reminisce about the days of old. I thought about those Sundays when I spent most of my time preparing merely me for service. It used to be a huge ordeal. In addition to spending time in reflection and prayer, I would make sure that my black and white suit was pressed to the nines. My stockings, hair and shoes had to be perfect. Now, I could care less about how my suit, hair or shoes look. I’m happy if I make it through a service without K pooping or throwing up on my lap! I laugh at the thought of those days now. In hindsight, I can hear Jesus gently saying, “Daughter, you were more concerned with the outside of the cup than the inside” (Matthew 23:25-28).
In Matthew chapter 23, we find Jesus rebuking the scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy. They concerned themselves more with religious practices than with actually living what they preached. And nothing makes you think more of your own hypocritical tendencies than having children. Children are always the first to point out their parents’ shortcomings. Having K has made me take a magnifying glass to my own life. I never want him to ask why Mommy’s so much different at home than at church, and I never want to be the kind of Mom that says “Do what I say, not what I do!” I always want my behavior to be Christ-like whether I’m dealing with poo poo or the pulpit.
A few weeks ago, K had one of his famous poop explosions. His diaper was filled with liquid, green poop! I mean literally FILLED with liquid, green poop. While I changed his diaper, poop splashed into the air and landed in my mouth! Of course, I immediately ran to the bathroom and washed out my mouth with soap and water, but, I was traumatized for the next few days. I had green poop in my mouth! However, the Lord spoke to me about this situation. He said it’s not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth (Matthew 15:10-11). Many times, we concern ourselves more with what goes into our mouths than with what comes out. In other words, we’re more concerned with formalities and religiosity than we are with really walking this Christian walk. I had poo poo in my mouth, but it’s the poo poo that comes from our hearts that does the most damage. After all, Luke 6:45 says out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. I think it’s time that we start cleaning up that poo!