Misspelled Blessings

One of the neat things about Pastor Appreciation Month is that I get to hear from the kids as they send handmade cards.  Since I was sick last Sunday, I got some combination Pastor Appreciation/Get Well cards.  Here is how a few of them from Kindergarten/1st grade went:

"hay paster tim hope you feal better."

"thank you for teching us."

"Hi Bastor tim it is me"

"thank you four being our paster and four being in ferunt of the cherch"

Now what did I do with those cards?  Did I get upset over kids spelling these days?  Should I have marked the misspelling with red ink and returned them to the class asking that they be corrected and then sent back to me?  Did I write a letter to the parents saying their kids should spell better? 

Of course not, their imperfections make them more precious.  These are heart felt expressions from kids who are not trying to put on a show, just tell me thanks.  I would be poorer man without them.  I know someday they will send me letters that are correctly spelled or maybe text messages that have even stranger spelling.  Either way they will grow.  What they did, where they are is a blessing.

Too bad a lot of people don't see that God sees us that way.  Our first stumbling prayers for someone else, our first faltering attempts to witness to someone, our mangled attempts at scripture memorization, our poorly worded prayers of repentance or thanks are a blessing to Him.  He finds great pleasure in them despite the imperfections. He meets us where we are.

Too many times I have heard people say they just can't pray, can't witness, can't sing praise as if their efforts at these would be met with lots of red ink correction and the indignation of a perfect God.  He is perfect but not unreachable, even by the imperfect.  He delights in our stumbles in the right direction.  Trust Him.  Join His work.

The mission of Northside Baptist Church is to meet people where they are...

Can you finish the rest?  Will you stumble in the right direction?

For the journey...
Tim