A New Start

I walked into my sons’ room as I do so many times and once again it was time for a major clean up session. Of course they were doing something they didn’t want to be taken away from, so since I was already angry enough to hit one of them, I decided to leave them where they were. I moved beds and found popcorn kernels, dirty clothes, stinky, soiled socks, books, belts, paper, toys, water bottles, more smelly socks, and anything else that shouldn’t be under the bed. Okay, maybe they sincerely think the bed is a storage area. With each piece I picked up, I became angrier. Just this morning, they told me their room was clean. This is clean?! To them, it obviously is. My thoughts were ugly and if either of them were near me, I know I would have snatched them up and been held guilty of child abuse. The Lord automatically convicted me of my thoughts and reminded me how He gave me a new start. Lord, give me a break! Surely, I’m not supposed to let them get away with this! “LaVender, my dear daughter, when your life was full of sin, ugliness, trash, filth, and other skeletons you had hidden in your closet and under your bed, I cleaned it all out and gave you a new start. No, I didn’t beat you, condemn you, or punish you, but simply washed your sins away, white as snow, and gave you a new start. Do you still sin? Are you still ugly? Do you still have skeletons in your closet? Yes you do, yet you stand in my grace and mercy.” HMPH! Okay, when my boys come in, they too will have a fresh start and I will daily HELP them and SHOW them how to keep their room clean. They’ve shown me they can’t do it by themselves. Just as we can’t seek righteousness and strive to walk the straight and narrow, we must have the daily help of our Heavenly Father. I’m not only raising my children, they are raising me!