The Morning I Made My Children Cry

This morning I made my children cry. At the breakfast table. 

And I didn't even yell...cross-my-heart-promise.

They were bickering over some small thing as I was slaving away over their scrumptious breakfast of instant oatmeal. I went over and simply gave them the "you need to stop right now look" and they both started making excuses as to why they were justified in being unkind to each other. I simply said (in a very calm voice), "You both need to choose to show love, kindness, and mercy even when the other person isn't. Do I make myself very clear?"  And I walked away. 

Silence. Then tears. From both. 

Insert shocked mama face here. Were they crying because they had been corrected? Or was it something more? 

It was something more. They genuinely felt sad that they were being unkind. In that moment, I realized that I seldom feel that broken over my sin. And that is a terrible shame.

I break the Father's heart everyday. Every single day. Yet, rarely do I have that kind of response...but I should.

This incident brought one of my favorite songs to mind about His grace and mercy despite my feeble attempts to surrender myself to Him. As I was watching this video on YouTube, standing in front of my computer, I did not stand alone. A precious little boy stood with me. He tried to sing along with me as best he could. And we worshiped. In our pjs...in off key voices...missing some of the words (me crying!). We worshiped.

It's ok to be broken by our sin. In fact, maybe it's a good thing. And, it's ok to cry at the breakfast table sometimes. He will meet us right where we are. 

Lovelies, I beg you to take 4 minutes and 19 seconds to listen to this song. And if the video below doesn't play (which if you're reading my blog from your phone it may not) click here instead. I don't how He can love us so much...but He does!