A few years ago, a seasoned parent and dear friend taught me to say ‘yes’ to my kids as often as possible. “No” is every parent’s invaluable weapon against injury, back talk, obesity, apathy, and just plain rottenness, so we’re going to have to use it plenty… but I try to surprise with a “yes” as often as I can. This is precisely why Ben is still in his pajamas in the video below. And it’s also why I’m wearing one of the Slugs & Bugs T-shirts from our merch closet. “No” is like a sword, and “yes” is like a bouquet of flowers. Both are handy, but you don’t want to mix them up.
But about the song… God makes messy things beautiful, and I wanted to find a simple way to sing about that on the new Slugs & Bugs CD. I fiddled with different words and turned phrases around until I was dizzy. I was searching, thinking, “God makes messy things beautiful… but how can I put it simply and succinctly? What would be a good way to sing it so that kids would understand but parents would appreciate?” I was like Dora the Explorer waiting for the kids off-screen to point out the ladder sticking out from behind a tiny bush in the middle of the jungle. Eventually the lightbulb flickered in my brain and I saw what was right in front of me. Here are the final lyrics, excluding the Doobie Brothers-ish doo-doo-doos.
God makes messy things beautiful
When you put ’em in his hands
God makes messy things beautiful
Like only he can
After the showers
Look for the flowers
And you’ll find out it’s trutiful
God makes messy things beautiful
Say, that reminds me… a friend recently asked me about “trutiful” and where that came from. He said it sounded like Dr. Seuss (which made my day). But if you try to find a decent rhyme for “beautiful” you’ll see it was inspired by necessity.
God makes messy things beautiful. Forgiveness. Adoption. The cross. In the light of the gospel, friendships are deepened through trouble. Marriages come through stronger. Weakness is revealed as strength. Milk spills… but my cup overflows. Child rearing teaches me deep lessons about God’s boundless grace. All God’s promises are “Yes” in Jesus. And yes is so much more fun.
Special thanks to my daughter Livi for the expert camera work.
- The Well-Hidden Wisdom of Children - February 3, 2020
- We Are God’s Masterpiece: A Brand New Slugs & Bugs (Sing The Bible) Song! - July 17, 2015
- Cellphone Jones: A New (Unreleased) Slugs & Bugs Song! - April 10, 2015
I’ve always heard “true to full”, but I guess trutiful is more exciting
That was trutifully beautiful.
I wish I could remember who said, “Parents, your garden of ‘Yes’ should have a tree of ‘No’ in it. Not the other way around.”
The implicit reminder that saying lots of ‘yes’ is parenting according to God’s character is convicting for me. I still say lots of ‘no.’ Sometimes out of selfishness, sometimes out of fear. But my ‘yes’ percentage is rising. Thanks for the reminder, Randall.
PS: I love this song. The beauty of the gospel in four lines.
Peter Leithart, I think, said that. It’s wonderful, regardless. I need that as well. It’s the same sort of thing as “catching them doing something right,” which is so fruitful as well. But I don’t know where i heard that from, either. Maybe Anonymous said it, she’s so smart.
That’s a darn cute video.
I thought of the “say yes as often as possible” principle yesterday when my six year old asked if she could take our guinea pig out for a tour of the neighborhood. I mean, why not?
This song plays in our house many mornings when I need to remember that everything can be redeemed in Jesus – even dirty dishes, piles of laundry, grumpy siblings, and especially grumpy mommies.
Thanks for the video. The kids & I enjoyed seeing Ben sing along!