Lessons Learned in Parenting

Andrew, like most kids his age, has a knack for making messes. And like most kids his age, he also has a knack for not wanting to clean them up. So the other night, after making quite a large mess, he was having a small meltdown about picking up. He was insisting he couldn't clean it up by himself, and he needed help. Like most parents my response was, "I told you not to get all this stuff out. You didn't need help making this mess. Why do you need help cleaning it up?".

In the midst of the fit and the crying and all the drama, it occurred to me that we as adults often act this way. We make a mess of something. We say something rude. We hurt someone. We do something selfish and stupid. We act like a five year old. And when our mess is pretty much unfixable, and there is no way we can clean it up, we run to God. We run to Him, like a five year whose mess is ridiculously out of control. And He never leaves us alone to clean up our messes. I'm not saying He takes away any and all earthly consequences. Sure, He may ask us to take some responsibility, to apologize or say we're sorry, but He never in all my years has left me alone in any of my messes. He has always helped me clean them up even though He had absolutely no part in making the mess, even though He warned me not to make it in the first place.

So I decided to have a little compassion. I decided to help Andrew clean up his mess. Not to clean it up for him, but to help him, to guide him, and quite frankly, to make it a little easier for him. After all, it's the least I can do when God has done so much for me.