Grace: Our Children and Our SELF
A friend of mine shared this article on her Facebook page. It is a story from Melisa Ann W. and her young son. I am sharing this precious story today because it is wonderfully relevant.
“Today I sat in the car line instead of letting him ride the bus home. I was so angry. Ready to explode after hearing about his behavior at school. I sat in the car line with tears running down my face. As soon as he got in the car, I was going to just scream at him. Maybe that would make him listen. I was going to punish him for the whole night and take away everything he knows and loves. I was ticked. I just talked to God as I waited for him and asked Him to please give me patience and guidance. I begged Him. Parenting is so hard. So so hard. And I know it's gonna get harder. You hurt when they choose anything against what you teach them. You hurt when you have to punish them. It's such a struggle every single day. You just pray that you are raising them in the way that would be pleasing to the Lord. You can only do your best.
As I pulled up to get him, I heard God whisper to me, "Grace. Give him Grace Missy. Love him. Talk with him." So, I did. It was like His hand touched me and calmed me. I didn't say much. Neither did he. He had fear in his eyes. He knew. I just quietly drove us to our little ice cream parlor and walked him inside. He looked twice at me and was confused. I let him order whatever he wanted. We then sat down outside and just talked. I talked with him about his feelings. His friends. His choices. His heart. He kept apologizing to me and tears started streaming down both of our faces. I then explained to him what grace was. I dumbed it down for him and he got it. I explained to him that God gives us grace daily. That Mommy fails God on a daily basis and rather than God unleashing His wrath on me, He forgives me and unconditionally loves me. He gives me chance after chance after chance. He shows me grace. It really convicted me at the end of the day. It gave me another perspective. That along with discipline (which I feel is very important) comes grace and gentle guidance. So today, I loved him. We will try again tomorrow. I will never give up on Him, as God has never given up on me. Today we are both grateful for Grace. <3”
www.intentionalinspirations.com/what-is-grace/
So many TIMEs I have wanted to say something…to talk…to yell…and I have learned over TIME it is best to be quiet and listen. When our children make Mistakes, it is our attitude that drives our behavior. When we look at the infraction as an opportunity to teach, to educate…it changes our attitude. It is very difficult to yell or punish our children when our attitude, our perspective, is focused on the lesson. Listen with grace. Build your relationship with grace. Grace is what we give our children and ourselves. Grace is a refinement of movement, simple and elegant, it is unconditional. Grace is a blessing we give our children, a blessing we give our SELF out of love and forgiveness.
