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Things are a bit hectic around the house these days. My wife and daughter are busy preparing for my daughters upcoming wedding. With all of this activity it leaves dad in charge of the younger gang and household a little more often than usual or is safe.

The older kids are no problem they can go on co-pilot with little trouble. Then there are the younger two, Caleb at 7 and Gracie at 5, they need a little more supervision, somewhat like dad. Kids I have had them for a while, I can deal with just about anything; dinner well that is another story all together.

My wife has never worked outside the home, thus spoiling her husband to the fact he has never really had to cook. Perhaps she had a memory lapse with this recently; I understand she has a lot on her mind. But her memory lapse left me, Caleb and Gracie to cook barbecue chicken and mashed potatoes.

She made it sound so easy; I thought surely we can get this done. First to be dealt with was the chicken, me and my trusty assistants went at it like Martha Stewart. We bushed on the sauce, the pepper, the spice and tucked it in the oven. As I put it in I thought ‘chicken done’ and we all smiled at each other with great satisfaction.

The mashed potatoes were instant and I mean how hard could that be. It was so easy I let my assistants head off to watch a little television, no need to trouble them on this one. They were more than glad to head out of the kitchen.

As I began I realized that Kim had not walked me through this so my only course of action was to read the instructions. Not a strong point of mine I might add. I filled a good size pot full of water, remembering how I had seen it done in the past. After I filled up the pot I went to the box, by the way what is an instant potato anyway? On the back were very clear instructions that even a 49 years old rookie could follow.

I read the instructions starting at the point just after how much water to put in; I thought I had that down. I went right by the letter of the law on the back of the box. I added some milk at the end and started pouring the little flakes into the pot thinking soon we would have some delicious father made mashed potatoes. Not so.

The more I poured in the more it looked like flake soup. I stirred as the directions instructed but soon noticed that there was way too much water in the pot. So I just poured in the whole box hoping to overcome the excess water. Much to my disappointment this did not work. My hopes of doing a bang up job were going up in ‘flakes’.

As Kim arrived I stood there next to my mashed potato soup and waited for some help. Without laughing too hard she went to the cupboard and pulled out some instant potato reinforcements and poured them in, while instructing me that perhaps I had put in too much water. When she finished we indeed had mashed potatoes; as a matter of fact we had enough for the whole block.

The whole instant potato disaster could have been averted with a few simple fixes; often that is how we are in life as well, we are close but not close enough.

Fixes to our Problems:

· Read and follow all the instructions. I started too far down the box thinking I knew the first part of the process, obviously I did not. We do the same with God, we think we have it all together but when we get to the end of the day we realize that we missed an easy first step in His directions that lead us to unnecessary trouble. Follow all His instructions, take nothing for granted!

· When I found the problem I just started throwing more flakes at the problem, I never went back to the instructions which would have clearly showed me the problem. When you find yourself in trouble don’t just start reacting, pause long enough to go back to the instructions (God and His word) and see where the problem started; take nothing for granted. Often we get ourselves in more trouble by making quick decisions without consulting God.

When you find yourself going down the wrong road pause and remember the instant potatoes; better to have none or to start over than to waste a lot of time and throw the entire box away.

Same with life, before you get too far out of Gods will it is better to stop and start over instead of throwing a whole life away. The great thing about God is that He even has instructions on how to start over!

Scripture: Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him; And He will make your paths straight.”

Prayer: Dear Lord, Help us to learn from you and to live out our days according to your Word. When thank you that when we fail you still love us and provide a way out of even our failure! We ask these things in the name of Christ, Amen.

Simple/truths 176 written by Richard Harris for more simple/truths go to simple-truths.net. You can now follow me on twitter at RAH_OHHH.

I have been watching my kids play for some 26 years and if the Lord is willing it looks like I will be doing it for some time to come. Lately I have noticed something interesting at these moments.

I play different roles when I watch my children play, let me give you some examples. There are times I am an observer. Over the years I have learned to just keep an eye on them and let them run and romp without any words from me. At these moments I am letting them use their imaginations or find new friends. Dad is not all that needed.

There are other times that I am the referee. These are times that they are playing with siblings. I have to make sure that no one is getting an unfair advantage, especially when an older one seems to be roughing up a younger one. When a dispute arises I have to be mediator; giving out instruction or discipline however the case may warrant.

All of that may be interesting but it is not what I have observed lately, I knew the above point’s years ago. So what you might ask have I noticed, glad you asked.

When the kids go out to play in public and I am fulfilling my role as either observer or referee there is a group that sees things very different from what I do; senior adults.

They love to watch my kids do the most simple of things. When my children run and laugh; they laugh right along with them. Almost always I am sitting and watching making sure everyone goes by the rules or does not get hurt.

When my kid’s wave they are off the charts excited, when hugs are distributed those with more experience than me are first in line. What I see as routine, after all I watch my kids play all the time, they see as exciting, new and fun.

This week I had to say to God, “I get it!” Now I understand why my two younger children scream for joy and demand to get out of the car when we pull up to Papa or Grandma’s house.

It is because those older and wiser know that time is short. That there is no such thing as routine in life; they know that smiling and having a good time are times to be cherished, enjoyed and preserved in our memories.

Lesson learned: Life is short, if you are wishing for the kids to be another age, more independent or if you are just getting through the days. Be careful what you wish for, sooner or later your get it; they will be older, more independent or gone from sight. When you get your wish you may very well regret you did not enjoy life more and smile along at the simple things that bring a child joy.

Most of us are wound too tight, let us learn from the experienced; while watching kids, smile a little and laugh a lot! Children and their smiles are a precious gift from God.

Scripture: Ephesians 5:15-16, “Be very careful, then, how you live-not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil.”

Prayer: Dear Lord, guide us to relax and enjoy life, to live for the moment that you provide. Never cease to remind us that children are a gift and to treat them as such. You are a good God, great in blessings and we ask these things in the name of Christ, Amen.

Simple/truths 174 written by Richard Harris for more simple/truths go to simple-truths.net. You can now follow me on twitter at RAH_OHHH.

When I was 6 years old I spent most of my time outside like most children in the 60’s. One day I was running in my neighbor’s back yard, it was a little wet and I slipped. This would have been no big deal except for the fact I slipped on an old piece of wood. I ended up cutting the top of my foot badly enough to need quite a few stitches. If any of your know me well you know I tend to get a tad dramatic when it comes to pain; it started young.

Through the normal course of time the foot healed, stitches were removed and my life went on. One of my favorite things to do as a kid was to put hydrogen peroxide on any kind of cut or scrape. I loved to watch it bubble up taking care of any kind of dirt in an open wound. Strange yes but my strangeness is a topic for another day. Back to the story, months after my foot had completely healed I decided to put some hydrogen peroxide on it. But much to my disappointment there was no action. Of course the family got a good laugh out of me trying to clean an already healed wound.

What I did as a child many are trying to do as adults; Cleaning already healed scars.

Our lives are filled with failures and hurts; they cause emotional scars that last for years. As adults we spend much time attempting to clean already healed wounds. How we deal with our old scars affects much of how we handle our life emotionally and spiritually. Let’s use my 42 year old scar story and apply some lessons here.

· I could see my scar every day, I still can. Any time I put on a sock it is there, when I walk around the house bare footed it is there and it is not going anywhere either. Often we live with the visible scars of mistakes in our life; they come to us in daily reminders of a failure in our life. Chances are, like the scar on my foot the scar on your heart is not going anywhere either.

What to do? Yes my scar is still on my foot but I never pay attention to it. That is old news. Yes that reminder may be there but if you have taken it to Christ and asked for His forgiveness then it is old news to Him. Let it be old news to you as well. Here is what the Bible says, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1. Don’t let an old scar continue to condemn you!

· I tried to clean a scar that had long since been healed, funny for a 6 year old but not so funny when we as adults keep beating ourselves up for something that was put away long ago. The devil loves to remind you of your old scars by the way.

What to do? Once again seeking God’s forgiveness makes all the difference. He is a far better cleanser than even hydrogen peroxide; when he cleans us up it is a done deal. Stop trying to clean a scar that has already been healed; you’re wasting time and insulting God. The Bible says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9. Leave the old scar alone!

· There can be lessons learned for example I always kept my eye open in my neighbor’s back yard after that day. I made sure I did not make my way back to the emergency room for more stitches. I learned my lesson that day and to this day have not returned for that reason. We need to learn our life lessons; when we do God uses our scars for good.

What to do? Instead of dwelling on that last marriage, foolish decision, word misspoken, or angry fit of rage keep in mind the pain it caused, may still cause and use that for motivation to not open up any more wounds. Do you see the scar, feel the pain? Move forward with it not backward. Say no more angry words, make no more foolish decisions, I am not going back; and with the help of the Holy Spirit don’t! The Bible says, “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16. The time of need is when you are tempted to return to an old scar, we need to learn our lessons!

Lives hurts; clean them up, stitch them up, let them heal, give it to God and watch them fade away.

Scripture: Psalm 103:11-13, “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.”

Prayer: Dear Lord, speak to hearts concerning the things we are holding onto. Help us to release them to you, help us to accept your forgiveness and allow healing to our sinful and broken hearts. We are thankful that you love us completely and we ask these things in the name of Christ, Amen.