Grace

We had another one of "those" mornings this morning. A morning where there was much discipline, much grumbling, and lots of talks. In fact, we had one of "those" days yesterday. The boys have had a rough few days with regards to discipline and behavior.

This morning during our devotion time, Vince asked me how he could pray for me today. After a bit of thought, I answered that he could pray that I would not just correct the boy's behavior, but that I would be sensitive to the leading of the Spirit to really shepherd their hearts. That I would seek to understand the inward sin in their hearts and not just seek to change their outward behavior.

After round three of discipline this morning, I decided it was time to get out of Dodge and do something fun, so I packed up the boys and headed to Arby's (yes, this is fun) and then to the zoo. As we were sitting and eating, I started to talk with the boys about the morning. "Ezra and Asher, how was this morning for you all?" Ezra replied, "it was rough mommy." "Why was it rough?" Asher replied, "ummm, I didn't have joy. I grumbled," between sucks on his milk shake and finger licks of ketchup. "Yah, I was dis-inspectful to you mom," Ezra said. We continued to talk a bit about the morning and what made it a rough morning. Then I asked, "do you feel like in light of your behavior this morning, you deserved this special treat of Arby's and the zoo?" They both thought about it a bit, and hesitantly replied, "no" (I'm pretty sure they thought I was going to grab their french fries and milk shakes and throw them away and say, "ha! You're right, you didn't deserve it!" Just in case you're wondering... I didn't do that). I told them they were correct, they did not deserve this special treat and this is something called grace - when we get something we don't deserve. Then we talked about how this special treat is sort of like God giving us Jesus ("sort of" is the operative phrase in this comparison since Jesus is infinitely better than Arby's). We are bad, sinful people and we didn't deserve Jesus, and yet God loved us so much he gave us Jesus to die for our sins. They were naughty and disrespectful this morning, but because I love them, I gave them Arby's and the zoo. Both Ezra and Asher thought about it for a moment, then wanted to know if there were any more fries, why is ketchup called ketchup, and why is it red if some tomatoes are yellow.

I'm thankful for tough mornings. I'm even more thankful for the Holy Spirit in my life to lead me and guide my conversations with the boys. I know they had no great revelation this morning, but I hope and pray that these little times will help them begin to understand the grace of God in giving us Jesus. What a blessing to be able to shepherd their hearts towards Christ!