Picture this…you come home after a long day of work. You’re tired. The dog needs taking out. The baby is reaching with arms stretched up for you to hold him. You are so glad to see your family but you just want to sit down. You look up and there are dishes to be washed and clothes to be folded. Your spouse is yelling at you to help out. You think to yourself, “Dont get mad… You’re tired but don’t get mad.” You start to help by taking out the trash; you pull out the bag and it splits with garbage going everywhere. You then snap at your wife/husband about overfilling the trash can and they look at you like you have 2 heads for talking so rudely to them.
Case number 2: You have cleaned up ten messes from your child(ren) and it’s only 10 am. You go to the bathroom and come out to find Elmers glue in the floor because your toddler got his finger in the baby lock just enough to open the craft cabinet. You try to remain calm and clean up the mess. You go to read a book with them and they rip the page of the $25 book you just went to Barnes and Noble to buy them yesterday. You lose it and yell that you are tired of cleaning up after them and lay into them about the importance of taking care of their things. In reality, he’s an exploring, developing toddler who does need to learn, but not from a screaming mama.
Case 3. You wake up, look in the mirror and tell yourself how awful and old you look. You get angry at yourself for eating that cheeseburger last night when you notice the bloating on your midsection. You walk downstairs to realize you left the laundry in the washing machine overnight and need to wash it again. You get busy with your baby and realize in the afternoon that you forgot to call in for that committee meeting at work AGAIN! You mutter words to yourself about what a disappointment you can be. You continue to beat yourself up about how you are not a better person: more organized, more loving, more attentive, and maybe healthier.
Case 4. You buy an end table that is mustard yellow. You paint it a beautiful metallic silver but get too zealous and hate it. So you put wood stain on it to weather it. And while it has character, it’s hiding such a beautiful coat of metallic paint that you worked so hard to achieve. You couldn’t let go of “perfection” and in turn have a furniture piece that you are still not happy with.
All of these scenarios have happened in our home in some form. Maybe not detail for detail (except for Case #4 😉), but we’ve had situations that have come close. What do they all have in common??? A need for forgiveness. Whether you’ve snapped at your spouse over chores, had a meltdown with your kids. Maybe you couldn’t let go of perfection and almost ruined something you’ve come so far with (my end table). You might have spent countless hours speaking negatively about yourself. God gives us grace and forgives us daily: for every harsh word we extend or every lie we tell ourselves. For every choice we’ve made that we should’ve never received grace and mercy for… We are forgiven. So maybe we should all start to do the same. The next time I say something hurtful to Sam, I’m going to apologize and mean it. And when he apologizes for things that have hurt me, I will forgive him because I know he loves me just like I love him and don’t mean to hurt him. And when Griff has a day of major messes, I’m going to enlist his help in cleaning up and tell him how much I love his endearment and growing mind! And, I hope I teach him enough about forgiveness that he will forgive me on days that I won’t win the Mama of the Year award. For each piece I’m working on now, I’m going to pray through each step and be patient in Gods nudging to not reach for perfection, but be happy with the process that I love so much! The next time I can’t let go of my short comings as a mother and a wife, or have told myself the lie that I’m not worthy, not enough, or not beautifully created in Gods image… I’m going to pray. I’m going to ask for Gods forgiveness for the areas of weakness and I’m going to try forgiving myself. We all make mistakes big and small. We apologize, we LEARN forgiveness and we move forward, determined not to make the same mistakes again. Forgiveness is NOT an easy task. It’s actually one of the hardest. That’s why only God could give us ultimate forgiveness when He sent Christ to sacrifice for us. The gift of grace was intended to be used and given freely. I can’t imagine a better action of love than to be sorry and to give and accept forgiveness. Imagine if God had not shown us forgiveness and grace?
house of stain 