Monday, January 7, 2008

Grace

On Saturday evening Parker made a tornado in the playroom and refused to clean it up. The process ran into Sunday afternoon, and the job finally was completed. Initially he was grounded from George, from toys, from the Wii, and from the computer. At the climax of the struggle, I grounded him from going to pre-school today. I don't know if that was the right thing to do, but Dr. Phil says that "everyone has their currency". Which means, everyone values something, and when that is taken away, they are moved to action.

This morning I woke up and decided to let Parker go to school. I told him to get ready and he said, "But I can't go to school because I not clean up my toys." I knelt down and explained to him that sometimes God shows us grace. He gives us things that we do not deserve. I told him that he did not deserve to go and play with his friends because he was disobedient. But, I explained that I forgave him, and was giving him a blessing just because I loved him. God has done that for me continually, so I wanted to give Parker a glimpse of how good God is.

Parker responded with such gratitude. "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you. I don't believe it! You are my bestest mommy in the whole wide world. My daddy is the bestest daddy in the
whole wide world. Kent is my bestest broder in the whole wide world. I have the bestest big family in the whole wide world!!!"

This outpouring of thanksgiving filled my heart. This must be how God feels when we thank Him for the abundance of grace He extends to us.

5 comments:

Megan said...

Wow! God really spoke to me last night about GRACE. We started "The Week of Prayer" at our church last night and God really pointed out to me how many times he has given me Grace and how amazing his Grace is.
If you read my blog for today I talk about it more. Have a great day!

Megan said...

Yes, our human ways do always fall short. It is a really good, small/quick reader. You should get it somehow.
I love getting together with others and just really praying and expecting God to show up!

Kelly Weinberg said...

Wow Bethany, You are an incredible mother! I will be calling you someday for advice someday when I have children!

Bill Wolfe said...

Just to warn you Bethany, using "not going to school" will not work for long! Use it while you can!
You and Erik are doing a great job with the boys. We keep you in our prayers

sharonie said...

i tttally can see him doing that...ugh I love the age he is at....evfen today when he told me that your dinner looked good! So precious!