How Did “That” Happen?

Which is worse: trusting a five-year-old or not giving full attention to said five-year-old? Being a great aunt is one of my best joys. I have two littles that ultimately have my heart. One of the littles was with me for a few days this past week while visiting the mountains. Of course, she and I had to check out the local toy store. She purchased a kit containing a beautiful purple, antique-looking handheld mirror. Also in the kit were stickers and four tubes in shades of pink, purple, gold, and white. Every little girl’s dream, right? I for sure loved getting into my sister’s makeup and wobbling around in her high heel shoes back in the day.

“Little,” and I take the newly purchased makeup next door to my sister’s shop. We were hanging out there a few hours before we went fishing. “Little” decides it is makeup time, and she will beautify Aunt A. First up are the sticker earrings. Y’all, I thought she would squeeze the earlobes right off my ears! No matter how hard she presses, she cannot get those earrings to stick to my ears like she wants. Lipstick is next. She takes out the pink sparkly tube and paints my lips with precision. “My turn,” she said. “Paint mine with the purple sparkle.”

Preparing to create my masterpiece, I notice my lips feeling weird. That should have been my warning sign right there—nope, not this fifty-year-old brain. As I continue painting “Little’s” lips, mine feel really dry and tight. Finally, the menopause brain is alert, and I question “Little” about what we are painting our lips with. After digging the wrapper out of the trash, I discovered she was supposed to decorate the pretty purple mirror with the stickers and the sparking glue. Yep, those weren’t stick-on earrings, nor were those lipstick tubes! 

“Little” had been with me for only a few hours, and I had painted her lips with glue. I grab a water bottle, soak a paper towel, and scrub the glue off her lips. I am the one who should be embarrassed, but “Little” is instead. The more I scrub her lips and laugh, the more embarrassed she becomes. In the end, all is well, and we didn’t have to make an Urgent Care trip. But once my nephew and his wife hear about this, I’m not sure I will ever get to kid-sit again. I think I crashed and burned on attempt number one!

I was responsible for noticing the details about the mirror. My sister always tells the girls at her interior design shop and myself, “Details matter.” Details absolutely mattered with “Little” and the mirror! Yet, I took someone else’s word instead of seeking the details out for myself. I think a lot of us do that with God’s word. It’s easy and convenient to listen to what someone else tells us. Yet, ultimately, we’re each responsible for knowing God’s word. 

“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming; even now it is already in the world.” (1 John 4: 1-3) 

Sometimes I like to check out and compare different translations, and this one was good. It’s from the Christian Standard Bible and does a good job relaying the apostle John’s words for us to understand. Just because someone says something is in the Bible does not mean we believe them. Biblical scholars, preachers, and anyone sharing God’s word should always be held accountable for relaying the truth about God, including myself. Just because I’m quoting Biblical scripture does not mean anyone who reads this should believe it.

We are each responsible for checking the info we learn about God with His Word. And Christians have the Holy Spirit living in us. We should check everything we are told with God and His Word while allowing the Holy Spirit to speak His wisdom to us. 

We must know God’s word to help us live now and to prepare us for eternity. We should never take the task lightly. If we do, we could find ourselves wondering how on earth we wound up in the predicament we find ourselves in. And we could all very easily paint our lips with glue instead of feeding our souls with the truth. Things happen when we aren’t alert and prepared.

FUN FREEBIE TIME! I picked up this cute book a few weeks ago when I visited Apex, NC, with my sister, Teresa. While Teresa worked, my niece Bridget and I had lunch in town and checked out some shops. Shout Out to Bless Your Heart Boutique in Holly Springs for stocking such cute items! Please share this post and comment “Done” to be included in the drawing for this book. I will draw the winner on FB Live next Friday, July 17, 2023.