Time for a Nice, Cool Cup of Grace
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Recently, my eight-year spent a day of struggling. I don’t even remember what the struggles were. I just remember he growled a few times. He might have given the ugly look to each and every one of his siblings. It was clear he was frustrated.
When he punched out the window screen, I knew we needed to talk.
No fears about the screen, it just popped out of the window casing. His brother reinstalled it in a matter of seconds. It was the passion behind the punch that concerned me. Mr. 8 headed to the office for our talk.
He thought he was getting busted and was warming up for his “This is the worst day ever” chant. He didn’t know that I had stopped in the kitchen first to grab a cold rootbeer.
To share.
He looked rather perplexed when he saw me pop open the can, pour some out, and hand it to him. No, no, no. I don’t deserve that, he wailed.
I know. But, none of us really deserves the good things God gives us. He gives them to us, sometimes even when we’ve done wrong things, to remind us that He loves us, and that Jesus already paid the price for our sins. He knows we can change because of what He’s already done.
We talked for awhile, drinking our soda, chatting about what went “wrong” in the day, praying together, and looking for solutions and ways to redeem the day. He knew he had done wrong and he was sorry for it.
Did he deserve correction? Yes.
That is beautiful-and a great reminder for me of how I want to be as a parent and how thankful I am for God’s graciousness and mercy to me. Thank you!
This is a great reminder of how to parent gently & gracefully! Thanks!
Outstanding parenting – something about my beloved son can push me out of sane reflection so much quicker than my girls. Will remember this shining example for the future.
Well, I’m not always a shining example. Quite the contrary, actually. May we both remember it next time!
THANK YOU. As a single mom who is always the disciplinarian, always nagging and criticizing, I REALLY, REALLY needed this.
Hang in there! I’m doing a 31 Days series to “stop and smell the roses”. It’s kind of in the same vein as what we’re talking about here. To get the big picture, not just the things we have to take care of.
I look forward to your 31 days…. excellent timing for our family after a CRAZY summer with my going back to work the equivalent of full time (2 PT jobs), hubby still in school, hubby working part time and some weeks the family joke is “so, we’ll see each other for… um, check the calendar…. ah, 20 minutes, next Tuesday”.
I needed this Friday afternoon before our personal “explosion”. It would have helped. Thank you as always for such wonderful words to reflect upon.
You just helped me be a better mom. My oldest (my first baby!) turns 8 today. This is such important stuff to remember when things get crazy.
Thank you. I really needed to be reminded of this today.
such good truth. needed that today. thanks.
How cool is that? I love it!
I enjoyed reading your post. I think what I liked best was the fact that you saw in your child the need to communicate. I think communication between parents and children is one of the best things we can offer our children.