Just typing that title made me cringe. I try to make my older daughter go to the bathroom before we leave the house. Sometimes I forget or sometimes my daughter says, "My pee pees are not ready to come out." Well what can you say to that?! Sometimes after I have made sure to take her to the bathroom before we go, she will decide that she has to go "really, really bad" when I have a cart full of groceries. Ugh.
My experience yesterday was pretty typical. My husband was out of town and I had taken my kids to the DMV to get my Illinois driver's license. There is another topic of interest to me...the DMV! Anyway, my kids were so well behaved for over an hour while we were in the jam packed place that I told them I would take them to a pizza place.
The pizza place is one where you pay on your way in. After trying to pay while my son was half way across the restaurant and my daughter was opening and closing the soda cooler, I got them in line for the buffet. If I really stop and think about the buffet it grosses me out so let's not go there. I grabbed one tray while my son tried to grab twelve others. I managed to pick him up and balance him on my hip while I scooted the tray along the line. My daughter started conversation with the people in front of us as she often does. She was going on and on about our "dogs" which we don't have but she seems to think otherwise. I had to get her to stop talking long enough to pay attention to what sort of pizza she wanted. By this time, my son was kicking his feet into my hip and wriggling in a way that demanded I let go of him. How do they learn to do that stuff?! I put him down, grabbed a few slices of macaroni and cheese pizza (disgusting) and found a table. I got the kids situated and told them to stay seated on their bottoms. That lasted for about 30 seconds while I tried to get drinks. Of course, the whole time I was away from the table I tried to discipline them silently with facial expressions from across the restaurant. I made it back to the table to sit down and enjoy my salad only to find that both of my kids had dug the croutons out of it while I was getting the drinks. Most of the lettuce was strewn on the table.
We said grace and began to eat. I smiled as it was such great family fun...for about 20 seconds until my son's pizza got ranch dressing on it and he had to cry. I headed back to get him a new piece and of course they were out of the macaroni and cheese kind. I went back to the table with a slice of plain cheese and convinced my son it was just as good. He then whined about wanting it in pieces so I tore it apart. I took a few more bites of my salad and went to take a bite of my cheesy bread when my daughter said, "Hey, I want some of that. Can we split it?" "You can have it," I told her. I had already been back and forth from the buffet about 8 times. I was starting to get some smirks from people seated nearby. My son began to nibble on his pizza when my daughter proclaimed, "I have to go to the bathroom really bad!"
Now, this pizza place is on top of it when it comes to clearing tables. They don't have those signs that you can display saying, "be right back." So, we had to take a chance that our table would be cleared by the time we made it back from the restroom. That would mean we would have to start all over again, at which point I would opt for pizza at home. Anyway, we rushed to the bathroom as I lectured my kids about germs in public bathrooms on the way. I told my 3 year old son not to touch anything. We went in the largest stall, where I could at least move around and give my daughter the privacy she demands while going potty. I kept the kids aside while I laid out toilet paper on the toilet seat. (It never fails that as I set my daughter on the seat all of the toilet paper falls into the toilet or on the floor). While I am setting my daughter on the toilet my son decided to open and close and look in the sanitary napkin disposal box on the wall. Gross. I scooped him up and then got my daughter down from the toilet. She decided that she wanted to flush the toilet with her hands. Gross. My son had done that wriggling maneuver again so I set him down. He proceeded to the door of the stall and rubbed his face along the side to see if he could find a peep hole. I grabbed both their hands and went to the sink. I realized that if I didn't hold my son then he would touch every square inch of the restroom from ceiling to floor in about 2 minutes flat. So, I washed my daughter's hands holding my son on my hip and then gave my daughter paper towel and told her not to touch anything. I washed my hands and my son's hands and dried them both. I used the papertowl to wipe my sweat and it was back to our table. Yipee. By the way, both kids touched the door handle and about 18 other dirty things on the way back to our table.
I had lost any appetite that I once had for lukewarm pizza. I coaxed my son into eating a few more bites and we were ready to go home or at least I was. The whole bathroom thing exhausted me so much that I was ready for bed! Of course, you know the drill, the kids are starving by the time we walk in the front door. Go figure. We burned so many calories in the restroom that it was like we had not eaten any dinner. We washed hands again when we got home and got ready for bed.
Having clean hands is a priority in our house. When we arrive home from being out the first order of business is washing hands. David talks about having clean hands in Psalm 24. In verses 3-4 from the NKJV it says, "Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully." David was talking about the fact that only Jesus in His righteousness can stand blameless before God. Jesus alone can give us clean hands and pure hearts. He gives us the only goodness in us and helps us to remain in truth. My prayer today is that my hands AND my heart would be clean. I want to give God my undivided attention and offer to Him the sacrifice of praise that He deserves. Germs and dirt don't scare Him or even gross Him out because He has conquered every last germ on this earth. Praise God that this life is not the end! Clean me up God, not just my hands!
Now a word about "not lift[ing] our souls to an idol." So many things can become idols in our lives, not just other gods. If something controls your thinking or exhibits power over you, it has become a god. (Take it from me, worrying about germs can become a sort of god!!) We can even make ourselves idols. I have realized in conversations the last couple days that we as women put too much emphasis on how we look. Our bodies can become our gods. My prayer is that God would so purify my heart that I see myself as God sees me and I would put more stock in my eternal value and less in those things that will pass away. I want to be more concerned about how I am looking spiritually than physically. If we truly want clean hands and pure hearts as women and moms we need to make sure that we are getting into God's word daily and praying daily. Even if we only find 10 minutes to do it, we are not going to make it or impact our kids or our world for Christ if we don't. We can't live without our "daily bread." We need strength to effectively deal with restrooms and tantrums. I love what Psalm 24:5 says in the NLT about those who have clean hands and pure hearts, "They will receive the Lord's blessing and have a right relationship with God their savior." I want right relationship with God and I want His blessing on my life. That only comes from taking our eyes off of ourselves and our bodies and putting them on Christ and His sufficiency! I want to be a vessel that God can use to impact my family and my neighbors! Let it be so, God, let it be so! Offer your hands and your hearts to God today, allow Him to renew your mind and bless your life as you walk step by (in my case stumbling) step with Him!
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