TIME-OUT

I spent a few days at Courtney and Josh's while he was in Germany and of course was enriched by hanging with Rebekkah and Cyrus...(Grandkids #6 & #8)


One morning I got up and turned on the coffee pot and sat down, RockyJo (Rebekkahs nickname) said in a delightful perky voice :


"Grammu I maypor choiz"...I looked over at Courtney who is fluent in the RockyJo dialect and she said:


"She said -'Grampy I made a poor choice'"...and then she told me how Bekka had started out breakfast on the  new kids table in the game room, but part way through the meal had decided to stand on top of the table and was promptly informed of the bad choice consequence which confined the rest of the meal to the high security high chair in the dining room...


She had made a bad choice and at two years of age was ok with the consequences and frankly didn't seem to be to bothered by it.


I watched as all day long she made choices neither her mom or I could understand...she was confined to time out for not picking up her toys, after and very distinct decision was offered and agreed upon between herself and her mom...


"I go time out"...


"A spanking..."


Courtney was very clear in letting Bekka know these were her decisions, and bringing her to a specific point of ownership for each one of them...and then not hesitating in bringing the consequence...


The Bible says somewhere that because punishment is delayed iniquity increases...but in this case it was just a day of bad decisions...all day...


I was impressed with both the consistency of Courtney who was unmoved by the incredible cuteness of a tiny little girl smart as a whip, and then also the determined and unfazed ownership that the two-year old exhibited in each consequence...


It was clear she knew exactly what she was doing and was fine with it, while her mother and I seemed to be more concerned about her limited options than she was...


Sometimes...apparently...you just have to reach out and take the fruit of the tree knowing full well that bad consequences are coming down like a monsoon flash flood...


We have all been there to some degree...there is always a residue of the MOM voice of God inside us asking "Do you want to obey or do you want time out?"...and then we sit in time out watching our freedom evaporate...


I think the biggest casualty in the equation is our time...


The days we have spent in some sort of divine time out (prisons of our own design) are not normally days we  get back...


Time records it and moves on...


So there is this ongoing record of sin and bad choices...


But the good news is it is limited to time...


It IS a record...that someday God will roll up like a scroll and the record of sin will no longer be available for any to read, see or remember...


Sometimes...I think that is one of the primary purposes of time...to put a boundary and a limit on this disease we call sin...


So one day...God will take all of our "time-outs" and remove the record and the time out itself...


Seems like a good plan and should give us hope...especially on days we spend making poor choices right from breakfast til bedtime...


Selah.