Seeing Qualities of Christ

Lately, parenting has been very, very difficult. If I'm not dealing with one kid rolling his eyes at me, I'm correcting another for his tone of voice. Or I'm telling them both to stop arguing with each other, with me, with Slade, with the dog. Oh, wait, we don't have a dog. Well, that's a good thing because if we did, it would give me one more "person" to referee.

All that to say, yesterday God gave me a glimpse of Russell and Randall maturing and making good choices.

I was in the kitchen, mixing icing for some St. Patrick's Day cookies that I was going to glaze and I managed to spill it. And by "spill", I mean "fling". Yes. It was on me, on the counters, on the toaster and on the top cabinets.

When it happened, I just sort of gasped and stood there frozen and irritated with myself. Enter sweet boy #1--Randall. He saw me standing there and saw the bright orange frosting everywhere and grabbed a napkin to start cleaning it up. I said I needed to go change my clothes and offered him a wet washcloth so he didn't turn my mess into a bigger one while trying to help.

I came back in clean clothes (and with slightly damp hair where I had to rinse the icing out). I was surprised to see Randall still hard at work. In my absense, he had cleaned up every area he could reach and said, apologetically, "I can't reach the high cabinets."

I told him he was just like Daddy, helping Mommy clean up some spill or another. I can't tell you how many times Slade has come to my rescue after I've dropped a glass plate, spilled a glass of milk or even exploded a baking dish full of what should have been dessert. Slade is very good at holding me while I cry (or stomp my foot) and then just quietly helping me clean up.

Then yesterday afternoon, I was dealing with Randall (who was not being nearly as nice as he had been earlier) and it was very close to time to go to get Russ' hair cut. I heard Judson fuss in the livingroom and called to Russ that I would be there shortly and it was almost time to go.

When I finished dealing with Randall, I came out and found that Sweet boy #2, Russ, had calmed Judson and was buckling him into his carseat. He did it without me asking and just to help me out.

What a gift it was to see qualities like being helpful, being kind, thoughtfulness, taking initiative and selflessness in both boys. It was like God was telling me that all the hard work truly is worth it. As they get older, we will see more of their personalities and God-given gifts coming out. I pray that we see more and more of the qualities of Christ in them.


Lord, may they have Your heart.