Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Isn't it a good thing God is a better parent than we are?

Boy, I'm grumpy. Every little thing is getting on my nerves! My husband left a tea bag in the sink drain. I'm grumpy. There is dried cereal on the floor. I'm grumpy. The bed is unmade. I'm grumpy. My throat is sore for three weeks now. I'm grumpy. I need to get Ryan's seizure medicine. I'm grumpy. You get the idea... The little "normal" things are annoying me and making me grumpy.

A few minutes ago, the boys were out in the pool and I was working on dinner... I just put the diced chicken in the skillet and Mark calls for me. I know what this is... Zach pooped in the pool, again. So being the great parent that I am, I clean up the mess and then send Zach to his room until dinner - which is not the way I usually discipline. But, I am so over this potty training and I'm already grumpy... It's only year four of this charade!! No, he's not four years old, we've been potty training since he was three - he's seven, almost eight.

So knowing that I'm grumpy and faced with this frustrating situation, what do I do? I overreact. And in the middle of my overreacting, I think, "Wow, it's a good thing God doesn't treat me like this." Do I change my overreacting ways, nope.

I realize that I do so many things that must annoy God. Gossip, ignore others' needs, be mean to my husband, laziness, not treating others well, lie, the list goes on... Sure I have consequences for my sins, but He doesn't overreact. I am so overwhelmed when I think about all that God forgives. Just like that. He doesn't smite me because I looked the other way (for the 400th time) when there was a need. But yet I don't always reciprocate that love to my children. It reminds me why I need to stay connected to God - so I can draw from HIS strength, not my frustration.

But this also makes me wonder how God would handle Zach pooping in the pool. I bet He would have healed him of the mental handicap/low muscle tone that makes him difficult to potty train! Or at least have a miracle of Biblical proportions and get this kid pooping in the potty on a regular basis!

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