The Scene: Kitchen, Monday morning, 7:30 a.m.
One of my children (who shall remain nameless) is rifling through the snack cupboard.
KID: “What am I supposed to BRING to eat in the car?!”
ME: “I don’t know. Not my problem.”
KID: “I hate you! You don’t even care about me! You won’t even fix me breakfast!”
ME: “YOU chose to go back to bed after you woke up. You ran out of time to eat at home. You did this to yourself.”
KID: “I know, but I don’t CARE!”
And there, my friends, is the childhood sense of entitlement in a nutshell.
***
Funny. It sounds familiar:
ME: “God, how am I supposed to LOSE this weight?! Why won’t you take it off easily?”
GOD: “…”
ME: “Don’t you care about me and my health?”
GOD: “Er, who chose to eat all those M&M’s over the past 6 months? And slack off on exercise?”
ME: “Me, but I don’t CARE!”
And there, my friends, is MY sense of entitlement in a nutshell.
***
Shows we never fully arrive, huh? I think maturity is, in part, the ability to recognize and shoulder responsibility for our own decisions.
But I suspect that it’s on a continuum. True, my kid is closer to the low end than I am. (Thank GOD!) But I’m certainly not at the pinnacle.
When I see my child’s immaturity, it helps to remember that I’ve walked that path before. And God is gentle and kind with me – even as he allows me to experience the natural outcome of my choices.
So I need to make God’s method my model.
I do my child a disservice when I stand between him and consequences.
But God has shown me that I should stand beside him in the face of them.
***
Today I’m in a bad mood. I could blame it on tiredness or the battle with my kid this morning. But mostly I think I’m pouting over my to-do list. Like my kid needed to actually GET UP this morning, I need to DO some of these jobs, and I’d rather just go back to bed.
Praying that God will strengthen me to do what he’s calling me to do.
Have a good Monday!
Hoping to be less of a crank tomorrow…
Steph
9 responses so far ↓
1 @ngie // Dec 1, 2008 at 2:33 pm
Oh, so sorry that you are not feeling in a very responsible mood today. Maybe you could reward yourself for finishing the tasks like with a couple M&Ms – scratch that – maybe a nice handful of dried fruit.
)
2 SHerri // Dec 1, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Just prayed for God to strengthen you for what He is calling you to do.
Funny how He uses our children to point out our own flaws or can use our children to humble us when they seemingly act more mature than we do.
I hope you would visit my post today as I share my humbling experience God used to teach me through my then 4 year old son.
Hang in there. Tomorrow is a new day. A new adventure. A new opportunity to fall on our faces, then roll over and look toward the sky!
3 thedomesticfringe // Dec 1, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Oooohhhhh, bam! You had to pick on the M&M’s didn’t you? It cuts straight to my heart. Thanks for a convicting post…just when I was thinking about food too.
“The sun will come out tomorrow…” I just love Annie, don’t you?
4 thefarmerfiles // Dec 1, 2008 at 7:10 pm
Sigh…being a mom is a humbling experience all too often.
5 katdish // Dec 1, 2008 at 10:24 pm
Ohhh! OUCH! That is all too familiar. I used to “save” my kids all the time — short term: good, long term: very, very bad.
When my kids are at their worst, they don’t even compare with all the crap that God has had to put up with from me. He allowed me to suffer the consequences (still does) and I’m grateful for that (most of the time — if I’m being honest.)
6 Stonefox // Dec 1, 2008 at 11:04 pm
Hmmm…pretty thought provoking.
7 Valerie // Dec 1, 2008 at 11:46 pm
The kids teach us so much! It’s so hard to walk our talk.
Thanks for the reminder.
8 Melanie // Dec 2, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Wow! Are you sure you weren’t at my house yesterday morning?
Thanks for sharing and inspiring!
Blessings!
9 kara noel Lawson // Dec 4, 2008 at 2:36 pm
Children really do model our relationship with Jesus. Thanks for the post!
http://elislids.blogspot.com
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