Aren't you glad God isn't like Santa Claus?

I used to commute... and a lot of people say that commuting is terrible and such a waste of time but I have to admit that I have never really minded driving to work.  The last commute I had was about 45 minutes and of course now that my job is 6 minutes - literally, 6 minutes - away from my house I do enjoy saving the gas money but I miss my commute.  You see, I used to use that time to relax, think about my day and most importantly, pray.  I am now in my second year at my current job and really struggle with 'finding time' to pray... in silence...without being inundated with thoughts of what else I should be doing.  Well, recently I've started taking Kwesi to daycare and it happens to be on the other side of town which means that it takes me about 10 minutes to get there and then another 15 minutes to drive to work.  At first I thought it was a waste of time but then I quickly realized that I got my free time back!  And even more exciting is that I've started listening to this wonderful pastor out of Lee's Summit, Mo on my iPhone podcast -- okay, he's my brother-  but is really the best speaker that I've ever heard.  (If you have time, I encourage you to check out his podcast from iTunes - just look up Journey Church International.) Anywho, what I've really taken away from the last couple of messages that I've listened to is the love that God has for us.  I'm not sure why but I've always kind of felt like God was more disappointed in me than anything else... and not for anything in particular, but for my lack of doing anything perfect.  But the other day when I was listening to one of Christian's sermons, it clicked.  I've always kind of treated God as if he were Santa Claus... you know, the whole mentality of 'keeping a list and checking it twice, gonna find out if you're naughty or nice.'  I think some of us figure that God keeps track of everything we do and instead of being happy the majority of the time, he's up there shaking his head checking off boxes that say "bad attitude", "smartalic", "not thankful enough."  Having Kwesi has really changed my view on God's love as well and really made it sink in how fully you can love someone else... no matter if they are naughty or nice.  If God loves us anything like I love my son (and of course it's much more) then not only are we extremely blessed but also have nothing to stress out about.  Anyone who loves you this much always wants the best for you.  As we move into this holiday season, I encourage you to thank God daily that he's not Santa Claus  - he's not keeping a list - he's just loving you daily.