Linking up with Five Minute Friday today over at Heading Home.
Today’s word:
It’s been a tough day.
Red had just cut fringe in my table cloth. All around the entire table. I asked him WHY?
“Because…” he stared at his handywork. “Because, it’s pretty. Look? Mommah? See? And, well, da scissors were there.”
Blonde had a moment of total meltdown when I asked him to help with the folding. I asked him, WHY?
“Because I can’t DO IT. I can’t make the squares! I CAN’T!”
Red decided to slug his brother. I asked him, WHY?
“Because he hurted my feelings! And I needed to tell him so!”
Hubs is late again. I ask him, WHY?
“Because.” (heavy sigh). “It’s been a hard day.”
I keep looking for reasons for things. For all things. The “because” should fit in, logically and clear, like the last puzzle piece. But so often, the because is veiled with hurt and irrationality and random scissor attacks.
Becauses often leave me cold.
Whys are loaded with expectations.
Good heavens this world asks a lot.
Asking a toddler WHY after he tries to flush his matchbox car is kind of silly.
Asking your husband why he is tired after a 14 hour day is just goofy.
Needing the answers is not the answer, BECAUSE I want them to be tidy, neat, and fitting my expectations.
Sometimes people do stuff that doesn’t fit my plan. Ok. Maybe not sometimes. Pretty much all the time. My answer to this?
Because we are all broken. And yet, we can ask for grace. And GET it.
Why?
Because He loves us more than, and despite of, and through all our brokenness.
That’s the only solid answer I know.
Dana Bowman 
Hang in there!
This was perfect. I loved reading it. Each of us can totally relate to feeling that exasperated need to ask “why” and not really feel satisfied with the answer. You are right. None of us are perfect but we are perfectly loved by Him. Thanks for sharing.
– A Friend From FMF
Thank you! I have a HARD time writing these in five minutes (I think i took a bit longer) so I always wonder if it makes any sense! 🙂
And then lowering expectations is alwaays very helpful too. 😉
This is excellent. It’s so hard sometimes when the words that follow “because” don’t line up with our expectations. I have definitely heard some of the “becauses” that you shared. In particular the one about slugging your sibling. In my case, it’s usually, “Why did you hit your sister?” And one of my older two girls says, “Because she was in my way/wouldn’t give me what I wanted/etc/etc/etc…” From one momma to another, God bless you and I’m sending a hug across the internet!
Aw, thank you. I needed a hug today! 🙂
‘Because we are all broken. And yet, we can ask for grace. And GET it.
Why?
Because He loves us more than, and despite of, and through all our brokenness.
That’s the only solid answer I know. ‘
Yep, it seems we all want answers to the ‘whys’, but sometimes there isn’t an answer and we have to learn to be okay with that, and learn to lean on the only solid answer there is – because He loves us, and that is answer enough. Loved your post, just thinking out loud in response to it. thanks for sharing.
Thank you Kath. Been struggling w/ a lot of Why’s lately. It was good to post. Thank you for reading!
Perfect. And, even when we do get logical answers to our “because,” they often don’t satisfy us anyway. Sometimes I just don’t want the thing to have happened and no “because” will do. Or maybe that’s just me.
Hang in there today, as always! 🙂
Nope, not just you. 🙂