I beamed. It was working. I was a good mother and had taught my son well. There on the playground was a mob of preschool boys tying another boy around a pole with a jump rope. My son stood away from the group, a look of horror. He was not taking part. Sure, he wasn't standing up and defending the victim, but his choice of no action was pretty advanced for a four-year-old...or so I thought.
The teacher saw and intervened. I walked over to my oldest, got down to his level, and said, "I'm so glad you weren't doing what those other boys were."
"There wasn't any room left on the jump rope."
Reality. This wasn't a budding act of social justice, this was the stark reality of him being left out of the fun.
We try though, right? We strive to teach our children to love God and love others. This is especially hard in a world surrounded by so many other examples contrary to the Golden Rule and other shared Christ-values.
Just the other day my second son was quite upset while watching The Hunchback of Notre Dame. He hates "bad" guys. He hates seeing good people get hurt. I comforted him, "Don't worry, the bad guy gets it in the end." That isn't what I'm wanting to teach. I was mad at my response to gain the quick fix. I was angry I had allowed them to watch that movie. I want to teach forgiveness. I want my sons to know there is a final Judge, and they are not him.
Sometimes I think I do it right. Sometimes God is gracious to me as a mother. What is your story? What are your successes and what are the moments you've vowed to learn from and do differently the next time?
I'm so excited to hear and gather these stories. Melanie Mock and I are co-editing a book where we hope to do this very thing. Share. Encourage. Support.
We are working with Barclay Press on this project. Please click on the image above to read more about our writer's guidelines/call for submissions. Please e-mail me directly if you have any questions.
Also, if you have a blog we'd appreciate it if you'd spread the word and send readers back to this post through a link. I look forward to the comments and stories. All submissions are due June 1, 2010.
6 comments:
No more room on the rope! At least he was bluntly honest and you could then address the issue again. (His response to you made me laugh though.)
On Monday, my son and my nephew were discussing "bad" guys. Isaac thought that Satan loves bad guys and Josiah disagreed. When they asked me, I told them, "Satan hates bad guys too. Do you know why? Because God loves bad guys; He loves everyone. The Bible tells us that when we were yet sinners God sent His Son to die for us." Bad guys do awful things but thank God there is redemption, forgiveness, and new life!
I take honesty happily!
I had to laugh out loud at your son's response! You'll have to go read my "Ordinary Day in Momdom" post -- I got honesty that day from my boy, as did the teacher.
And we both learned from it!
I have four sons, so come on over for some mom encouragement and inspiration!
The jumprope story is a good one.
Lovely, submissions should be sent to story.submit@gmail.com vs. submit.story@gmail.com.
Hope no one was trying to submit their stories and getting really frustrated.
Great story! I saw your blog on MBC......I will for sure be following you!
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