Do you desire to hear from God? He may be speaking to you and you're just not paying attention. Since I've had children, I have found that God is speaking to me much of the time, if I will just pay attention and listen. My relationship with my children is much like that of God's relationship to myself. God has always been good about giving man a physical picture to explain the spiritual.

Recently God was working in our church about not being appreciative of some great truths He has given to us. God reminded me of an experience with our children this year at Christmas. My wife, Temple, had gotten our daughter a special doll and I had spent several hours stripping and painting some furniture for her. We were so excited about giving them to her on Christmas morning. Temple and I brought Lydia into the den brimming with anticipation. We knew she would just adore the doll and furniture. You who are parents probably know what happened next. She looked at the doll and furniture and passed on to the next present. She said, "Thank you," but we could tell she really wasn't very appreciative. If she had been, she would have played with the doll and furniture. Temple and I were so disappointed. We had given her these great gifts, ones in which we had invested great time and effort, all for her enjoyment, and she did not even use them. It made me not want to give her anything else.

God said to me, "I've given you some great truths which were meant to be practiced. Truths which I have spent many months and years teaching you, and all you've done is say, 'Thank you.' If you really were thankful, you would be 'doing' them and not just 'hearing' them."

I knew how God felt. And I did not want God to withhold any more of His blessings from me, because I wasn't playing with what He gave me. So I repented and told God I was sorry for not playing with my toys. And like the good father that He is, He keeps giving me more.

So watch and listen to your children, God just may be trying to talk to you. You may not always like what you see. Sometimes He corrects me, but other times He shows me just how deeply He loves me. By the way, Lydia finally did play with her toys and likes them better than anything else she got.

-Mark Harding