Thankful Thursday

Well…I started writing this on Thursday.  Now it’s Friday.  Such is life with two little ones.

Today I am thankful for Elaine.  In a different sort of way.  Let me explain.  When I was in the teen group, my youth pastor preached a series called “Crowded to Christ.”  He used the lives of several Biblical characters to illustrate that sometimes God places people or circumstances in our lives just to “crowd” us to Himself.  The one example that I recall was Jacob.  His name means supplanter, yet he didn’t really face his deceptive ways until he came face to face with another deceiver – Laban.  When Jacob looked at Laban it was like looking in the mirror.

God has been showing me some things about myself through Elaine.  The things she does…the attitudes she shows…that bother me the most, are the very things and attitudes that I find myself struggling with on a frequent basis.  I guess you might call them my besetting sins.  Sometimes I try to gloss over them or make excuses for why they aren’t really that bad.  But then Elaine displays an action or an attitude that drives me crazy or makes me angry.  And it’s like looking in a mirror.  God is showing me again that these things are my problems too.  It is very convicting.

I’m sure that some of what Elaine does is because she has been watching me and interacting with me for over two years, every day, all day long.  I’m thankful that God brings people and circumstances into our lives to show us our sin, to crowd us to Himself, and to keep us “on the ascending plane.”  He doesn’t leave us alone to stagnate.  That’s a great God.