Playdough and the Holy Spirit



The past ten days I haven't left my house much.  I was busy with my almost three year old granddaughter who stayed with us while my daughter and son-in-law went on a glorious vacation to Cabo San Lucas.

Here, the weather was not so glorious, lol.  It was cold and windy.  The "warmer" days were rainy.  Add to that widespread influenza and stomach bug and you've got a recipe for lots of at-home activities. 

But Mimi was prepared with crafts, reusable sticker books, coloring books, crayons, hot wheels race track AND PLAYPAL!!  Translation Playdough.  lol.

Lexi LOVES Playdough!  We must've played with Playdough for hours and hours!  This incentive chart right here filled with stars earned her a Playdough cupcake maker!


Lexi proudly displaying her "cupcakes".  <3

Lexi's second favorite activity was making paper bag puppets.  I found a wonderful boxed set that contained five individual bags with everything you need to make each puppet.  There was an elephant, a cow, a frog, a chicken and a lion.

I confess that I struggled with guiding Lexi to make her puppet "like the sample picture".  But I was good and restrained myself and let her do it all herself.  And look at what a good job she did!!




 If I'm being totally honest here, I needed to use restraint when it came to the Playdough as well, wanting to keep the colors separate.  Suffice it to say I was good with that too as we now have tie-die Playdough.  lol.

And it was worth it!  To see the joy on her face with each new creation.  Creations she had ownership over to do with as she pleased.  With each puppet, she placed the stickers in her own orderly fashion, and with her Playdough cupcakes, she chose the colors and the shapes.

But now, O LORD, you are our Father; 
we are the clay, and you are our potter; 
we are all the work of your hand.
Isaiah 64:8

When God created us, He did so in His own orderly fashion, according to His perfect will and plan for our lives.  And when He was finished, I imagine He held each one of us up and said...

For this is my masterpiece which I created anew in Christ Jesus, so (insert name) can do the good things I planned for her/him long ago.

With our spots and tie-die streaks, we are God's masterpiece!

So why do we try to change to be like "Sally" OR worse yet, why do we try to change "Billy" to be the way WE want him?

In so doing, we are no different than my impulse of wanting Lexi to follow the puppet sample picture to make a "cookie-cutter" puppet or wanting her to create her Playdough cupcakes without mixing the colors.

How dare I/we try to change God's masterpieces.  He is Creator God.  There is NOO way WE can improve upon God's design for ourselves OR others.  It isn't up to us!  God works in each person's life in His own timing and His own way.   He will add the brush strokes here and there as He sees fit.

In Anne Graham Lotz devotion from Fixing My Eyes on Jesus, she said that her mom gave her great advice regarding her relationship with her husband.  She told Anne that "it was her job to make her husband happy and it was the Holy Spirit's job to make him good."  Anne closed the devotional by stating "What a relief!  I'm not responsible to make others good.  I don't have to judge others as to whether they're good or bad.  I'm free to just love and enjoy them.  So lets stop nagging and start praying!"

May we all trust in Creator God for our own lives and the lives of others.

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Comments

  1. We learn so much by parenting and grand-parenting, don't we? I admit I'd be tempted to influence my grandchild's choice of colors or stickers!

    And you're right; we are all guilty of wanting to change God's creations sometimes. Thanks for sharing Anne Graham-Lotz message of just loving our loved ones and trusting God to make them good! (We can't do it anyway, we can't even make ourselves good!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jerralea, Indeed we do! Lol. Glad to see I'm not alone.

      You're welcome.

      Thanks so much for stopping by!

      Delete
  2. Oh, it sounds like you had a wonderful, amazing time with little Lexi! That is just so wonderful that you had all of that time with her. SO many spiritual lessons God sent to you through that precious little one. I loved the way you applied this to our walk with Christ. I am going to cut and paste the part where you said, "For this is my masterpiece which I created anew in Christ Jesus, so (insert name) can do the good things I planned for her/him long ago." I needed this reminder. I always find so much encouragement here, dear, faithful friend. God bless you abundantly!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Cheryl, Oh I did!! Indeed He did!

      Praising God for His precious reminders. :-)

      Your visits are always so special to me. Sending you much love and gratitude!

      Delete
  3. What a beautiful analogy! Grandchildren teach us so very much, don't they? I missed a lot of the lessons when my children were young because I was so tired from taking care of them and working, but now that I'm not their sole caretaker, I get to learn those lessons all over again!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you!

      Indeed they do!

      Ohh, me too! I seem to have more patience as a grandmother. :-)

      Thanks so much for stopping by. :-)

      Delete
  4. What great bonding time for you and your granddaughter. I love the wise advice from Mrs. Graham!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Suzy, Oh it was!

      Yes, me too!

      Thanks so much for visiting. :-)

      Delete
  5. What sweet words and a sweet example! I'm a grandma and I understand your joy - and, also, perhaps your exhaustion at the end of a 'grandma day'. Thanks for tying it all in to God's creation in us. blessings!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Sandra, Indeed, there is a wide variety of emotions and all soo worth it.

      You are welcome!

      Blessings,

      Delete
  6. I love that advice! It does give one a sense of relief knowing that God is much better equipped to make my husband good than I ever could be. I have a hard enough time trying to make myself good. What fun to spend all that time with your granddaughter!! I teach toddlers and we say that things should be process not product.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, indeed God is much better equipped to make my husband good. Ohh, me too! Thanks be to God that we don't have to "make ourselves good" for Christ within us accomplishes that. :-)

      Oh it was!

      Oh, I like that! Great insight!

      Thanks for visiting!

      Delete
  7. What a blessing you are to your children! To have a safe and willing place to leave Lexi for 10 days is such a gift!!!

    God continues to grow us in every stage of life. Accepting ourselves and others with the unique bend in which He created is is challenging!

    Thank you so much for sharing hope alongside me at #MomentsofHope! ❤️
    Blessings and smiles,
    Lori

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Lori, Awe, thank you for your kind encouragement. It was a gift to us too! :-)

      I appreciated you sharing your thoughts here. Great words.

      You are welcome!

      Blessings,

      Delete
  8. Dear Karen,
    thank most sincerely for the lovely comment you left on ~ My little old world ~, I appreciate it so, so much ❤, and thank you for such a lovely post too, as well!

    Wishing you a great Sunday,
    I'm sending blessings on your way

    XOXO Daniela

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Daniela, Awe, you are very welcome. :-)

      You are welcome. Thank you for your sweet words. :-)

      You too!

      Blessings,

      Delete
  9. I love that quote by Ruth Graham. So needed by someone, like me, who tends to be a "fixer" of not just things and situations but of others!

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    Replies
    1. Elizabeth, Hello fellow fixer. :-)

      I loved that quote too!

      Thanks so much for visiting.

      Delete
  10. Oh the memories with play dough and my kids and then the grandlittlekins. Love how you say you had restraint and let her make her own creation. Love the comparison you make to our creator. Thanks for sharing at Sunday Scripture Blessings.

    Peabea@Peabea Scribbles

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pea Bea, Thank you so much for such a thoughtful comment. I appreciate it so much!

      You are very welcome! :-)

      Delete
  11. What a blessing to have time with your precious granddaughter. That's time that will impact her for eternity. And what wisdom from playdough! Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Hi Donna, Indeed it was! My prayer is indeed that I can be that example to my granddaughter.

      I know! Who knew! lol.

      You are very welcome.

      Delete
  12. She did such a great job with her picture! And wonderful that God knew what he was doing when he made us. You're so right....no need to compare!

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    Replies
    1. Joanna, I know! :-)

      Amen!

      Thanks so much for visiting.

      Delete

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