Without Spot or Blemish

Isn't it great that the Lord promises to work in His people, releasing us from who we have been and how we thought, until we are truly without spot or blemish? I had a long day of shopping yesterday in Lincoln. Errands that should have been a snap became laborious, traffic in little ol' Lincoln, Nebraska was more like Dallas/Fort Worth at rush hour, a headache pounded from the inside. It turned out to be a stressful day in which I said and did some things I wish I hadn't. At one point, I got stressed over $1.50, a dollar-fifty, for Pete's sake! I overreacted to something else, and landed too hard on someone I love. Yuck!

The Lord's mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning. Don't hang up yet--the Lord's conversation with us is not over. When He's finished, every spot and wrinkle will be gone, and we will be free to reflect His glory rather than our own sinful natures.

Speaking of spots.........they tend to come around when you have children. The last time one of my kids had spots, I remembered opening lines from The Catnappers by P. G. Wodehouse:

My attention was drawn to the spots on my chest when I was in my bath, singing.....They were pink in color, rather like the first faint flush of dawn, and I viewed them with concern. I am not a fussy man, but I do object to being freckled like a pard.....

"Jeeves," I said at the breakfast table, "I've got spots on my chest."
"Indeed, sir?"
"Pink."
"Indeed, sir?"
"I don't like them."
"A very undrstandable prejudice, sir. Might I inquire if they itch?"
"Sort of."
"I would not advocate scratching them."
"I disagree with you. You have to take a firm line with spots...."

One time last spring the GeorgiaGirl called home, feeling sick with a fever. I just happened to be reading this tale when she called, so I quickly flipped to the opening and read her the bit about Bertie's spots. It made her laugh in her sickbed, which warms the heart of a mother.

Wodehouse was a prolific and very funny writer. If you haven't already read his books, you should. They are great read-alouds for a family with older children.