Mom, Why is God Torturing Us?

That was the question that my sweet daughter asked me on the way to school this morning. Kind of a strange question. I sort of just brushed it off. I just told her that God wasn't torturing us. I said it kind of lightly. Seemed like an odd way to look at a rain storm.

The Portland area has been inundated with rain and high winds lately. As we drove by the park on our way to school this morning, it looked like there was a downed tree in the park. The creek running through the park was definitely at flood levels. When the rain and the winds are so dark and furious, it can definitely feel as if God is throwing a little bit of a temper.....or something. Yesterday, when she asked me a similar question, I simply said that God was showing Himself to still be in control.....that though man seems to think he knows a whole heck of a lot....really God is still the Almighty.

God must have had a sense of humor today. Right around lunch time, today, the clouds broke and sunshine poured through. As I was walking to check the mail, I sent a few Thank Yous up to heaven. I thanked him for the break in the rain. I thanked him that the wind had calmed. I thanked him for the warmth of the sunshine upon my face. It felt so good.

It wasn't too long after I had walked in the door that I got a call from Daria. She had slipped in the mud during recess. I was really hoping that it wasn't very bad. But...nope. Down one whole side of her, she looked like she had slid into home base for the winning run. Ugh. It was a little amusing. Though, she had this poor little sad-me face on. Poor girlie. Even though it was amusing, I must admit that I was a little disappointed. She had on fairly new, light khaki pants on and a pale pink shirt. As she was changing her clothes, I was disappointed that these clothes were now stained. Try as I might, I never seem to be able to completely remove mud stains.

So, God had a good chuckle on me. I couldn't help but think of Daria's question today. Why is God torturing us? Made me laugh a little as I thought about her little slide in the mud and my frustrations with mud-stained clothes. Maybe He is torturing us after all!

Well....her clothes are now soaking in a tub of Simple Green and Oxyclean. We'll see how things go. Just a little reminder that things are not nearly as important as people....and that God is still in control.

Definitely.