#14 What Motivates You?

One of our little patients, let's call him Scott, age 5, said, "I love my friends Alex, Mary, Emily and Timmy. They are really nice to me at school. I hate Michael and Patrick. They were mean to me."

This comes from a five-year-old. Adults do the same thing.  We naturally love or hate someone because of who they are and because of the things they have done to us. We love our spouse or significant other because s/he loves us, and because s/he consistently do things that support this notion.

God is different. Max Lucado in Come Thirsty wrote, "Some people love you because of you. Not God. He loves you because he is he. He loves you because he decides to. Self-generated, uncaused, and spontaneous, his constant–level love depends on his choice to give it. “The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you” (Deut. 7:7-8 NIV).

You don’t influence God’s love. You can’t impact the treeness of a tree, the skyness of the sky, or the rockness of a rock. Nor can you affect the love of God.

Do you do wonderful things to others because you want them to return the favor, or do you do nice things because of who you are? Do you smile, greet, and do lovely things only to the people you care about at work, at church, on the road, at home, at family reunion....or do you smile, greet, and do great things to everybody around you daily because God's love is radiating out of you that it's hard for others not to notice?

#9 Must Read Books

You have already known "Goodnight Moon" by Margaret Wise Brown since you were not even two years old.  You also knew Max Lucado's Hermie the Caterpillar really well.  Also Dr. Seuss' books and the Big Red Barn.  You always finished mommy's sentences when she was reading the book outloud to you.  In most cases mom already had these books memorized as well.  During our frequent road trips, we all would be chanting the words of these books for fun.

There are other books you should read while growing up too.  These ten are just the few that we can think of.  There will be more to come when we can think of their names :).

1. The Bible.
2. Steps to Christ by Ellen G. White
3. The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
4. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (guess who's favorite is this?)
5. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
6. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
7. Life on the Edge by Dr. James Dobson
8. The Care and Keeping of You by Valerie Schaefer
9. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
10. The Jungle Books by Rudyard Kipling