STUFFING AND SQUEAKERS

http://facebook.comWell, he's done it again!  We bought Hershey a new stuffed toy for Christmas and he has totally destroyed it!  He LOVES stuffed toys....especially those with "squeakers" in them.  He's had many, many of them.  And with each one, he has meticulously managed to open each one, remove the stuffing all over the house over the period of several days (I guess to give me the "pleasure" of having white carpet for a LONG time) and remove the "squeaker" from it, carrying the "squeaker" around in his mouth like a prize bird he had just caught!  After chewing on the squeaker for a period of a day, he manages to leave plastic chunks in areas I won't even talk about and then throws up in his bed at night. 

Well....his new Christmas toy, a BEAUTIFUL stuffed Baylor Bone was no different.  And I had managed to keep it so well hidden in the Christmas tree from him until Christmas day.  He didn't start on it right away.  But this past week....he went to town.  I have picked up stuffing ALL WEEK LONG!  Then...last night...THE SQUEAKER!  I saw it in his mouth and grabbed it before he could....well, you know.  I thought I was pretty smart.  Yep...that's me...pretty smart all right.  Yep...pretty smart....and who's the one who GAVE him the stuffed bone??????  Well, you can guess where that beautiful Baylor bone is now.

But aren't we like Hershey?  We take the beautiful things God gives us and yank the stuffing right out of them.  The fluff that God put in it to make it beautiful for us, we somehow seem to destroy or remove.  How often in our complaints and selfishness do we flatten the beauty of the gifts God gives us?  Then, we take the "squeaker", the "joy" he puts inside, and rip it out until there is nothing left.

I'm so thankful God is not like us...he doesn't throw it or us away like I do.  God restores, renews, loves us and returns us back to a state of rightness with Him.  He continues to shower us with His gifts and teaches us to to lovingly care for them and those around us.

Thank you Father for loving us enough to teach us the joy in the gifts you provide.