OOPS....NEVER-MIND!

I remember playing Nintendo games growing up. When my game wasn't going how I anticipated, I would reach over and push the reset button and just start over! Never-rmind, I'll show you, you stupid game! Well that's what came to mind when Zach coined this comical phrase. He will start randomly calling out, "Hey Daddy..." "Yes, son," Dad replies. *Pause* *Pause* *Pause* As if he was thinking something really important, our anticipation rising. Then finally, "Never- mind!" "OOOHH goodness, you got me buddy," we have to reply as the anticipation drops to the floor. He even likes to change it up a bit to really catch you off guard. "Hey Mom," he hollers from another room. " Yeah," I say. I'll hear him come charging towards me and peek his head in, "Never-mind!" "GGGGRRRRR, I'll get you," I say, which is probably why he does it in the first place. He likes the response he gets, the little jokester!

While Zach likes the game, I mused at how I'd like to pull that card out of the deck of life sometimes. Like when I blow it and really fly off the handle at someone....OOPS, Never-mind! Or go shopping and come home with lots more than I really need.... OOPS, Never-mind that bill honey! Or when I commit to doing something and really don't have the time or ability to follow through.... OOPS! Did I say that?! Never-mind me! I sometimes encourage my kids to "start-over" when their question or answer had a funny twang to it that didn't sit right with me. But do I allow myself the grace to start over? How can I begin anew when I've really messed things up? When I've been walking down a road that I should've turned around miles ago? Where do I go? To the Restorer of broken dreams. My Kinsman Redeemer. The One who says, "I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten...Then you will know....that I am the Lord your God, and there is  no other; never again will my people be shamed" (Joel 2:25, 27) 

The times I mess up, the foolish choices I make no matter how big or small - God restores them. He's like a painter who find a beautiful original painting at the bottom of a rubbish heap. He identifies the painting for what it is, gently lifts it up out of the ashes and takes it home. After weeks, or months, or even years, he's cleaned it all up. He's touched up the color that was faded or chipped, the background that was torn. He takes His time, scraping away the ugly from years of misuse or tragedy and reapplying what is needed to finally present it restored, even beyond it's original beauty. He trades the ashes for beauty. And the best part is it's never too late. "Even now, declares the Lord, return to me with all your heart..." (Joel 2:12) He is the restorer of what the locusts eat. In other words what, comes in and devours my best efforts in one fierce swoop. What other god can match that? OOPS, never-mind.... NO ONE!!