Making God's Kingdom Come

I am not one who believes that God has our lives all planned out ahead of time, and I really don’t think God directly intervenes in our lives all that often. That’s what we exist for: to be open to God’s promptings, and act upon them.

God isn’t hovering over us from the sky, giving us a little tap on the shoulder from time to time to get our attention. We already LIVE IN GOD. Acts 17:28 reminds us, “In him, we live and move and have our being.”

God is everywhere, always urging us on to make God’s kingdom come while we’re here on this earth. I would bet that we don’t even realize how intimately God is woven into our existence, and how many things we say or do at God’s suggestion without even being aware of God’s role in it all.

I had a truly memorable and unique experience of this last week. My mom’s side of the family is huge, and I’ve always been close with her sisters’ daughters. Those cousins have gone on to raise their children to adulthood, and two of them are even grandmas now!

About a month ago, I bought three copies of a children’s book to send to their kids who are now parents themselves. The book is called, “The Kissing Hand”, and it was my favorite book to read to my kids when they were little. It tells the story of Chester Raccoon, who is nervous about going to school and being away from his mama. Mama shares with him the secret of the kissing hand as she plants a loving kiss into his paw, urging Chester to hold on to it tightly. Then throughout the day, whenever he misses her, he can put his hand to his cheek and remember that kiss and feel comforted by her love, even when she’s not right there with him.

My son liked being with his mom a lot when he was little, and when the time came to start preschool, he wasn’t sure that was for him! I reminded him about Chester Raccoon in “The Kissing Hand”, and we soon took to exchanging kissing hands when he got out of the car at preschool drop off. Kissing hands became part of our nightly routine as he got ready for bed, too. I think I often needed the comfort of the kissing hand as much as Sam did. This went on into his double digit years, and is one of the most treasured, tender memories of his childhood for both of us.

I have given this book to every pregnant mom at every baby shower I’ve been to since then. The three copies I purchased for my cousins’ kids sat in my to do pile that never goes away at the end of the dining room table. I wanted to make sure I wrote each of them a nice note, and then of course, packing them up and taking them to the post office would take time, so it kept getting put off.

Interestingly, I ended up writing those notes, addressing the envelopes and stopping by the post office to mail them all in one morning on my way to work. This wasn’t the way I had planned to do it, but I just felt compelled that particular morning to get it done.

A few days later, I got a Facebook message from one of my cousins, thanking me for the book I sent to her daughter. She was uber appreciative, and told me how thoughtful this gesture was. I thought it was pretty kind of her to make a point of thanking me for what I originally thought was a small token of love.

The next day, more of the story was filled in for me when my aunt, the previously mentioned cousin’s mom, also texted me to thank me for sending this book to her granddaughter. Aunt Ethel told me that Aimee had returned to work that week, after nearly two years at home with her children, ages 4, 2 and 3 months. Needless to say, this was not easy for Aimee or her babies, especially when her 4 year old son said, “School’s fine, Mom, but I’d rather be home with you.”

So much of motherhood is spent with our heads trying to focus on a particular thing—like a job—while our hearts are firmly embedded wherever our children are. Something as simple as a story called, “The Kissing Hand” reminds us (and our kids), that even when we can’t be together, the love we share keeps us connected.

I had NO IDEA that Aimee was going back to work the week that I dropped that book in the mail. And she received it at exactly the moment she needed it most. That is the Holy Spirit at work!

God didn’t whisper anything audible in my ear. God didn’t poke me to get my attention. I think we allow God to work through us when we shift our focus away from ourselves, and outward to others. Seeing where needs are, and where encouragement can be offered makes God manifest to others.

People largely don’t have direct encounters with God ala Moses and the Burning Bush! People typically encounter God through someone else who wants to give instead of get.

That is how we make God’s kingdom come!