Food for Thought

As much as I am enjoying my time with no kids (technically Swaid is HERE, but is in his bed playing) I do miss my Bebe. One of the things she asks us daily is "Do I make you happy?" I know, it's sweet, right? And every day we reply, "Yes, baby. You make us very happy" and her little face lights up brighter than all the stars in the sky! She doesn't stop there though. No. She puts forth effort to make us happy. She actually TRIES. She dances for us. She obeys us. She's sweet to her brother. She sings for us. Basically, she's our entertainment, but she does it with such a sweet and loving nature that it's almost wrong to consider it "entertainment"- it's more like we watch her in amazement as any loving parent would. In every thing she does, she stops and asks, "Do I make you happy?" She strives to please us and it makes her happy to know that she's made us happy. I was thinking about that this morning and was struck with the thought "What if I put forth that much effort for God?" What if I stopped every day and asked Him out loud "Do I make you happy?" How much more self-aware of my actions would I be? Answer: A LOT. How often would I yell at people for poor driving? A LOT LESS. How much more could my "good" behavior make God smile? A LOT MORE. Do you see where this is going?

Then I got to thinking what if all believers put as much effort into making God happy as Brogan does to make me happy? I daresay it'd be better than 3 birthday parties and a Wildlife extravaganza at Disney World on a tax free weekend. How awesome would this world be?

I can honestly say that I've never given much thought to the question "God, do I make you happy" until now. When I am praising Him in song at home or church or in the car, am I making Him happy? Yes. I think I do. When I show kindness to strangers for something as simple as holding an elevator? Does that make Him happy? Absolutely. What about just being obedient and putting your shoes like I've told you for the 1000th time! or calling that person that you know He placed on your heart, even though you really don't want to? What about that? Without a doubt.

I can't help but think that He watches us in amazement every day. We are His entertainment and to think about how much greater is His sinless, perfect love than our sin-filled, selfish love is astounding. It almost leaves me speechless, which is saying something spectacular. Think about it and today, in all that you do, stop and ask Him "Do I make you happy?" I think you'll find that if you are conscious of it, you'll hear a lot more "Yes baby. You make Me very happy." And then your face will light up brighter than all the stars in the sky.