Tuesday, June 5, 2012

A Moment of Grace


Today, I experienced a moment of grace.

At the hands of my precious children.

We had to reschedule Eliana and Nathaniel's weekly violin lesson for this afternoon, due to illness last week. (Normally, we go on Thursday evening, and Brent watches the other 5 children at home.)

It was an uneventful morning, and, because I thought I was ahead of schedule a bit, I decided to deep-clean the boys' room before we left for town.

Well, it took me longer than I expected, and before I knew it, we needed to be out the door in 15 minutes.

I came out of the boys' room and started to panic. My clean-just-an-hour-before-house was in shambles. Cabinets were open, drinks and snacks were covering the countertops, toys were scattered on the floor and couches----and to top it off, someone had left the pantry door open.

You mean you don't know what it means when the pantry door gets left open???

In this case, it meant that two very sweet, adorable, mischievous two year old girls were having a blast playing in my 2 twenty-five lb bags of FLOUR. It was all over their clothes, their faces, and the floor.....

I felt like screaming.

Instead, like any good, godly mother (NOT), I started lecturing my children. I was overwhelmed, in a hurry, and frustrated about things that shouldn't really matter anyway.

But I lectured anyway. You know the type of lecture---the "Why did you guys make such a mess?" and "Why is Mommy the only one who cares about cleaning up?" kind of lecture.

I'm not proud of it. And the Holy Spirit started convicting me after a few minutes.

I sent the children to get buckled in the van and stayed in the house to pray. My heart was reminded of how inconsequential the toys and the crumbs and the FLOUR are in comparison to my children's hearts.

Oh, God, forgive me!

I got into the van and turned around to the children. "Mommy got angry just now, and it was sin. I didn't talk respectfully to you, and I hurt you with my words. I'm SO sorry. Will you forgive me?" I asked.

The GRACE that extended from these little people was amazing. "I forgive you, Mommy!" came from the smallest of children in the back of the van. "It's okay, Mommy! We'll try to help you more next time." from one of the older ones. The forgiveness was instant and unanimous.

Then Nathaniel (7) unbuckled and came to my side at the front of the van.

"Oh, Mommy, it's okay. We forgive you. And you know what? You're the most beautifullest person in the whole world to kiss." He kissed my cheek. I melted. :)

What struck me the most is the lesson I was reminded of today, in my moment of grace.

They didn't lecture me. They didn't tell me that "I'm sorry is good, but not doing it again is better."  They didn't say, "Well, I forgive you, but you know there must be consequences for your actions." They just forgave me with open arms.

There's a lesson there, for us Mommies, if we want to listen.

GOD forgives, with no strings attached.

Our children forgive, with no strings attached.

The question, then, is, do I???

May we learn, as we parent these gifts on loan from God, to extend the moments of grace our children so desparately need, forgiving, restoring, loving, accepting, embracing.

I'm so thankful my children have learned this lesson. Now if only I can be like them when I grow up......:)



11 comments:

  1. Enjoyed reading this beautiful account of a moment of grace and appreciate that you shared so honestly from your heart! I, too, have had very similar moments and it is such a blessing to see how quickly children forgive--I feel like I learn so much through my them.

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  2. My children give me that same response when I apologize, and it always makes me stop and realize that I don't always forgive them that freely...working on it though, by God's grace! :)

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  3. Oh how I needed this today!! So very true! Aren't children such a blessing and a constant reminder of how we should be with our Heavenly Father?

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  4. beautiful post, Selina!! :) such a great lesson!

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  5. That's just what makes forgiveness so beautiful!!!!!!!!!!! I love it!

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  6. Thank you for sharing this. I did the exact same thing yesterday as my daughter was getting into the car and I did say I was sorry, but could have done a much better and more sincere job and asked for God's help sooner, rather than waiting until my nightly prayer time. You are an inspiration and good example to me, thank you.

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  7. That is truly a beautiful picture of forgiveness. Thank you for sharing - that is truly an illustration of childlike faith!

    One word of Biblical reality - God never promises to remove the consequences of sinful choices - just because we ask forgiveness. Yes, He is always ready to forgive but sometimes our sin still carries the consequences. David was forgiven and restored but still bore the consequences of his sin; the thief on the cross was forgiven but still died; Lot was called righteous, was forgiven but still endured the consequences.

    You no doubt know this truth - some of your wording came across as expressing forgiveness means no consequences.

    Thank you for sharing.

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  8. Bringing home baby #3 last month has really brought this weakness of my character to the forefront. I've always been a semi clean and total control freak, sadly to the detriment of my kids. Learning to relax and depend more on God is my daily lesson lately. Also to care more about my kids than the condition of my house (possibly harder than the previous lesson). Anyway, I appreciate you being real and sharing your family/mommy moment.

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I welcome any and all comments as long as they are Christ-honoring. Please let me know what you think!