This past Valentine's Day was an overall good day. I got in a festive mood so I pulled out my heart plates and bowls and then kicked it up a notch. I decorated with balloons, streamers, banners and mirror/window clings.
For those who follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you saw the fun parts of my day (like those sites usually do) I'm now going to give you a glimpse of how there's always something else going on behind the scenes and tell you what else happened that day. I was going to post it right away but I knew I could write more in depth if I set time aside and actually sat down and did it. So here I am - actually blogging through my iPhone because I rarely get on the computer anymore.
Right before Tim came home from work, Joshua and Caleb were in Joshua's room bickering while I was making dinner (yummy cheese fondue!) I went back to go talk...ok i mean yell and get to the bottom of why they were fighting AGAIN. Caleb was being an instigator and he had no reason to be in Joshua's room at that moment so I told him to get out. He kept doing what he was doing to bug Joshua and not listen to me. So being the calm, cool and collected mom I am ;) I kicked the wall to capture his attention and tell him that I was seriously done with this and he needed to get out NOW. I yelled more and then I glanced down and realized I had kicked a decent sized dent in the wall and I didn't even know! I didn't feel my shoe go into the wall. I was wearing boots with a really hard toe which didn't cross my mind when I kicked my foot against...I mean through... the wall.
As soon as I realized this my eyes widened and I said "ohhh CRAP!!" Caleb, who had a hard time getting out of the room before, rushed out to see what I was was looking at. Both Joshua and Caleb laughed and looked at me in awe of what I had just done or like I had super strength. I was in total shock. I know I said something to the boys before going back in the kitchen but that part is a blur now. Joshua decided to write up some post it notes while I finished prepping our Valentine's Day dinner.
Tim was home within 10 minutes of me being back in the kitchen. As soon as he pulled into the driveway all THREE boys dashed towards the front door - and this time it wasn't to give Tim a welcoming "yay daddy's home" hug and kiss. It was to tell on mommy and I knew it. I tried to catch them before they made it outside to say "let me tell him myself" but I was too slow. Tim walked through the door confused by them talking over each other about how mommy put a hole in the wall. I hugged and kissed him hello and told him "what they're saying is true" and led him down the hallway to the wall.
This time when I looked at the dent, Caleb had pushed the piece of wall completely into the wall so there was a HOLE & it looked even bigger than before. Another addition to the busted wall was Joshua's post-it notes, hung up with handwritten messages. The first one read: "mom did it" and the second: "don't get mom angry" I found humor in it for some reason - maybe because I can still hear Josh's giddy voice in my head, reading Tim the notes out loud.
I apologized wholehearted to Tim especially because this is NOT the way I wanted him to be welcomed. I had put thought into being festive and that was totally looked over because of the hole in the wall. I kept saying sorry and told him I would fix it. He told me not to worry about it and it was okay. Within the next 10 minutes he was at the hole again this time with the materials he needed to patch it up.
As he went to work (after just coming home from work) I started thinking about how this was a really good analogy of what happens when we mess up.
Sometimes we aren't even aware that we've messed up until we ARE aware of it. There will be those who can't wait to point the finger at your mistakes and make it bigger then it was, even though they have their own stuff.
But when it comes down to it and we go to God and tell him we really messed up & how sorry we are, he's there to patch it right up and cover our mistakes because He loves us. He specializes in that "trade" and he does it with no hard feelings, no looking down on you - just complete love and protection so nobody else can "make the hole bigger" or "push anything else in it"
It was Valentine's Day & I felt the love extra specially that day because I messed up big and I was shown mercy and love - and not just by Tim.
2 comments:
Great post Candice. I feel your frustration and remember the same when my girls were little. But I can't help but laugh at Joshua's notes! How funny is he? And how good is God to use absolutely everything to show us His love.
Wow- Candice! THat took guts- to tell on yourself- and confidence- to let us know how Joshua wrote post its- and grace - to show us the finished product. I so get the frustration- my 2 still do that to each other! Your perspective on God's ways is uniques and I am so glad you are sharing them with me (and everyone else who reads this blog.)
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