Why are you hiding?

Ellie-Faith is 3 years old. She attends pre school 4 afternoons a week. The rest of the time, she is home with Mamma, enjoying quiet time, cuddles, craft, children's T.V and sometimes we cook together.

 Her favorite program on children's channel is a program all about cooking. Every day she asks, "mamma, can we do some cooking?" Sometimes the answer is yes, other times the answer is "Not today Ellie, we will do something else nice"

 Today, I was on the computer setting up a personal message from Santa for both of the girls. I had finished Jessie's message and had just checked the finished product for Ellie's message also.

 For anyone who wants to give their child a personal video message from santa go to:

http://portablenorthpole.tv    Its very sweet.

 So I was calling Ellie so she could come and watch her special message from the North pole, I had no reply. I called again. "Ellie, come here a moment!" No reply. So I went to investigate where she was. My pleasant feelings of treating her to a nice Santa chat soon turned into sheer horror as I poked my head around the lounge door. On the table where the T.V sits, I found this:

For those of you who are wondering, it was a tub of olive spread, one apple, one crushed banana- mixed!

The tone in my voice changed. She was still no where to be seen and now I knew why! "Ellie! Where are you?" silence followed. I found her, hiding behind the craft cupboard door, with paint brush in hand, covered in spread. Her hands were a yellow sticky consistency and her face pale and riddled in guilt.

"Soooorrrrry"

She was sent upstairs to clean up and then given time out in her room, to 'think about what she had done'

Its funny how children hide when they know they have done something wrong.

It reminds me of Adam and Eve, when they hid from God, after eating the fruit thy were told not to.

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.  But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"

Even as adults we can hide away when we have done things wrong. We can hide from God, or distance ourselves from him, feeling ashamed or guilty for our wrong actions or attitudes. Yet  there is no point in hiding. God knows exactly where we are! Just as I knew that Ellie was in the house somewhere, He knows where we hide. He is also ready to pick us up, dust us off and put us back on the right path when we have said "sorry' for those wrongs. He is a loving Father who just wants us to learn from our mistakes and to try again.

Have a good day!