I've had so much swirling through my mind over the last week and was just settling in to write, when I took a moment to read something that my husband, the brilliant Steve Chamblee, wrote earlier today.  Maybe the moment he describes gripped him so because of the precious one that slipped through our fingers and we buried twelve years ago...I'm not sure, but thankful he took the time to communicate it so beautifully.  I love him more than he could ever know, second only to the very One that gave us to each other.  This is a small glimpse as to why he has my heart the way he does.  Enjoy...

Thank God for smeared screens…

 

I just got through washing the lenses of my reading glasses from my children’s smeared fingerprints for 137^th time.  I don’t know if it really is the 137^th time, but its probably not a far-fetched estimate.  It may be even far short an estimate.   As I was cleaning my lenses, tempted to be frustrated as I thought about how many times a week I have to clean my glasses and clean my lap top computer screen for the same reason – my kids, its as if the Holy Spirit whispered into my spirit – “be thankful for smeared screens & lenses!”

Of all the questions that I am asked in the course of a normal week, one of the most frequent is: “Dad, where is your Mac?” My kids love to get on my wife’s and my laptop to play, watch movies, etc.   And, I know… most responsible parents don’t let their kids play on their laptops… whatever.  Even as I type this, I’m having to strain through the gross, caked on smeared crud that is covering my screen!  Sometimes I get a little frustrated when I open my laptop and I am greeted with my smeared screen.  But, thankfully, God is changing my perspective.

I am thankful for my children!  They are completely human.  That means that, like their father, they are not perfect and have their share of…. Hmm.. how to put this?... issues.  But my kids are the best things about me.  Actually, my wife and my children are the very best of me.  I can’t imagine life without my kids. 

I know that one day my last child will fly away from the nest, and it will just be me and Shari in our house.  Wow…that’s actually a pretty cool thought!  But I know we will miss them tremendously!  And I know when that happens, I will open my laptop (if we still have them) and my screen will be clean and clear…no smeared fingerprints.  How will that feel?

I remember when I lived in Alabama, I heard of a church down the road that had just built a new fellowship hall.  I heard that there were several people in the church complaining of all the little handprints that covered the new glass doors.  I remember thinking to myself, “How sad!  You should be thankful that there are children coming to your church to hear the gospel, and you want to complain about handprints.” 

So now when I open my laptop and see a smeared screen…and I will…probably tomorrow… I will thank God for my children!  I will pray for Drew, Abbi, Aubri and Kyle.  I can live with smeared screens.  I don’t know if I could live without my children.  So give me smeared screens for years to come. 

And when they are all grown & moved away, and the grandkids ask to play on my laptop, I’m going to tell them no… but they can play on their parents laptop!