We have a grandson and a granddaughter staying with us for three weeks and I am enjoying the grandfather thing. This evening while my wife was teachingI was in charge. It’s hot and muggy so I took them to an air-conditioned bookstore. It was most interesting to watch them split up and head for their areas of interest. In just a few minutes I found Josh curled up on a chair with a book about monsters. Definitely a male thing! Rachael spread out on the floor surrounding herself with cookbooks filled luscious pictures of food. We had a great time.
When we finally headed for the car I asked if they wanted to eat. “Nope,” they said, “not hungry. Too hot.” Naively I took them at their word. We went home and got something to drink and were having a great evening and then grandma got home and found out I had not fed them. Wow, had I ever messed up! I quickly discovered being a grandfather wasn’t quite as easy as I thought. Next time, if I am permitted a next time, I will do better.
Do you ever have the best of intentions backfire? Most likely we all have. Fortunately God knows our hearts and intentions and treats us accordingly. While I certainly do not want to under stress the sometimes bad results of our good intentions gone wrong, I do want to point out how wonderful it is to have a lovely heavenly Father who can read our minds and who knows the truth about us. In the eyes of heaven intentions are of greater value than actions.
Written by Roger Bothwell on July 9, 2008
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org