"Grace, look at my eyes."

Psalm 32.8-9
"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.  Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you."

I know.  I know.  I never blog on my blog.  Almost every day I think about how I should be blogging.  But during Grace's nap time, which is usually my only 'computer time' during the day, I have so many other things to do. Like browsing Facebook or trying for the millionth time to beat Level 350 on Candy Crush.  So today, I used my 5 lives to see if I could beat Level 350.  And shocker...I failed again.  So I deleted the app off my phone!!!  Ahhhh...I can breathe again, and I will have so much more time...hopefully.

So here's the real reason for this blog:

I came across the above Bible verse in a parenting book I'm reading.  The part that really stood out to me in the verse is the phrase:

"I will guide you with my Eye."

Because of my limited mobility I cannot physically move Grace a certain direction, or hold her hand, or even point in a direction.  I used to solely rely on my voice to give her instruction.  But anyone with a stubborn toddler knows how good their "selective hearing" is.  

So if she ignored my voice I would say, 

"Grace.  Look at me."  

This worked for awhile.  But then she started kind of looking past me- over my shoulder- or facing my direction, but looking at the ground.

But now I say, 

"Grace.  Look at my eyes."  

When I can lock eyes with Grace, then I know she gets it.  I can 'point' with my eyes.  I can tell her I love her with my eyes.  I can scold her with my eyes.  I can instruct her with my eye. 

I can guide her with my eye.

She has learned this so well that she has started saying it.  If Aaron or I do not respond to her calling us, she will come and grab our faces and say, "Looky my eye."  

In the book I'm reading, "Loving Our Kids on Purpose" by Danny Lee Silk, he writes about having a heart to heart connection with our kids.  To be so connected with our kids that when tough times come our kids will want to stay connected with us, to please us, to value their relationship with us.  

The second part of the verse is the opposite of having a heart to heart connection:  

"Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you."

I don't know hardly anything about horses or mules.  But I think there are probably two ways to get a horse to do what you want.  You either harness it so that you can control it, or you have a way of communicating with the horse so it responds.  

I can't "control" Grace.  Ultimately.  She is her own person.  She is learning how to make decisions.  But...

I can guide her with my eye.

God won't "control" us.  Ultimately.  We have free will.  We are learning how to make decisions.  But...

He can guide us with His Eye.

Let's keep our eyes locked with Jesus' eyes.  Let's point out Jesus to our kids with our eyes.

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith."  Hebrews 12.2