“Another knot, Honey?”
I knelt in front of my frustrated preschooler to undo yet another nest of knots in his uncooperative tennis shoe. Oh, he had tried to follow my instructions. With a determined scowl on his little face, he would bite his bottom lip for concentration, and repeatedly practice:
“loop, cross, tuck, and pull”…
“loop, cross, tuck, and pull”…

Honestly, if effort were the means to shoelace success, my little man would have been at the top of the bow-tying Dean’s List. But in spite of his best endeavors, he could only manage…yet another knot.

So there I was on my knees again, untangling the web of good intentions, so he could — once more — start all over. That was fifteen years ago. He’s a grown man now. As a soldier in the U.S. Army and a veteran of the Iraqi war, he has long since conquered the battle of the shoelaces. But he’s still tying knots, and I’m still kneeling to undo them.

Isn’t motherhood the ultimate contradiction? For eighteen years, we train them to live responsibly on their own. We look forward to the days we have no more kid-messes to clean up. Yet they go off, tying a mass of knots in their inexperienced lives, and we kneel in front of them - once again - to compassionately do the unraveling. We’re mothers. It’s our nature. We simply cannot help ourselves.

Tied any messy knots in your own life lately? Relational knots? Self-preservation knots? Financial knots? Knots with far reaching tentacles? Then join the well-attended party and take heart, Friend. The same mercy that a mother instinctively shows her child is available to you. Jesus, Master of Mercy, is so willing to kneel at your undeserving feet, patiently unravel your web of good intentions, and let you start all over again.

Imagine it with me. The totally perfect, all-powerful, majestic King of the Universe locks eyes with you for a split second, then stoops down to untangle your knotted shoelaces. That kind of mercy is hard to take, isn’t it? Such intense, unmerited love actually hurts when received. After all, you’re the one who should be bowing, right? Yet the invitation is yours.

“…for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I committed unto him against that day.” (IITim. 1:12)

“He is able”…”He is able”…”He is able”… No matter how high the mountain of knots stretches. No matter how old and frayed the laces. He is able. So I encourage you to plop your sad-looking sneakers right at his feet, just like a preschooler unable to master a simple bow. Lock eyes with Love for a moment. Watch Mercy kneel. And stand amazed as Compassion transforms your knotted world.

Too good to be true? No, Beloved. He’s your father. It’s his nature. He simply cannot help himself.

As the scriptures say,

“The person who wishes to boast should boast only of what the Lord has done.’” IICor. 10:17

God doesn’t want his love kept secret! » Continue Reading

One of my favorite women in the Bible is the one known as “the woman with the issue of blood.” We don’t know her name, but we know she lived a life of isolation and pain — both physical and emotional. For twelve years, this woman was not allowed to socialize, to be intimate with her husband, or even to worship in the temple. » Continue Reading

I hate confrontation. The only reason I volunteer for it, is because I’ve learned - the hard way - that the long term results are much better than sweeping the conflict under the rug. It’s amazing what strange and ugly things multiply in the darkness under that piece of carpet! » Continue Reading

Everybody is looking for purpose. Why am I here? What was I created to do? What is life supposed to be about?

I’m never rattled by such questions. They are not reflections of ignorance, but of determination! A determination NOT to live just any old life, but THE life intended by God. I’m more rattled by people who lay back and let life happen to them, never asking what their true purpose is. » Continue Reading