"Mom Likes Tootsie Rolls!"

Years ago while still in high school, I can remember struggling with something in my Christian walk. It really annoyed me when someone started to talk about “having to praise God, or tell Him how good He was.” The way it was coming across was doing that just so you the person could get blessed and I didn’t get it. It sounded rather manipulative to me. Also I kept asking God, “Why do I have to tell you how awesome you are? Surely you know because you’re God! Really God, do you have an ego problem that you have to be reminded of all of this?” I suppose that me being this honest about struggling with this is making some of you laugh, but follow me for a moment here.

Then one day as I was setting in World Harvest Church in Columbus, OH, I can remember I felt as if the Holy Spirit whooshed over me and suddenly my issues with this seemed to fizzle away and disintegrate before my very eyes. It was as if I could feel the Holy Spirit drop deep down within me, “It’s just like a parent. Your parents want you to come back and say, ‘I love you, and you always know what is best for me’. That’s why you are praising God like this. You’re being His child, and loving on Him. Your gratitude just bubbles up and bubble over.

Truthfully this story has stayed way back in the files of memory of my mind for years, until the other day. Some years ago my oldest started giving me tootsie rolls. She knows I like them, and if she got one here and there, whether it be through school, or a random treat, she started to save one here and there for me. I find this absolutely sweet. I’ll usually only take one at a time and make her take the rest. Then recently my youngest started going through her stash and doing the same. I don’t ask them to do this, it’s just something they started doing on their own. They know I like tootsie rolls, so because they want to bless me they give one to me randomly. They don’t do this out of obligation. They do it because their my kids and they love me.

Isaiah 12:5“Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth.

When we praise the Lord and give Him thanks we shouldn’t do it out of obligation. But because we are so grateful, so thankful, so bubbling over with love for our daddy in heaven that we have no choice but to let it out. My kids know I like tootsie rolls so they give me tootsie rolls. God loves to hear ‘thank you’s’ and praises to Him. So because we’re His children it should be on the tip of our tongues. We should be like my girls with the tootsie rolls. We should constantly be looking for ways to bless God. Not because we feel obligated but because we just love Him so much. If you are His child, you will want to thank Him.
He’s a good God! Let us praise Him and thank Him for how good He is.

Here’s a video of a song I grew up singing……
http://youtu.be/hXBxImes110
Just like with my kids and the tootsie rolls, when they do something so precious for me, I want to bless them. This isn’t manipulation, but this is the relationship of a parent to a child. Remember He awesome plans for your life. Thank Him, and Get Excited!