Chocolate Thief!

My two guilty pleasures are coffee and chocolate. Combined they are more than a pleasure, they're a thrill! A third pleasure would be staying up way too late just to enjoy the quiet of the house and the satisfaction of an uninterrupted task completed.

When I sat down to wrap a few Christmas presents way too late one night this weekend, I was going to thoroughly enjoy myself with a cup of hot coffee, some sweet treats from my sweetheart, and the goal of an uninterrupted task to complete in a house full of tucked-in children. Upon collecting the necessary guilty pleasure supplies, I discovered two empty bags of chocolates in the pantry. And a few moments later after a wild guess I found all the wrappers not so discretely hidden in one child's drawers. At first my heart sank discovering that this sweetie had stolen and then lied about it when given the opportunity to come clean. These are newer behaviors as of recent to add to the other more usual ones and I was hoping not to see any more of them.

Then I realized that God was giving us an opportunity to show this child that we are safe. This is the primary thing this sweet child has not yet grasped. It was a precious opportunity to show love and compassion to a child who is struggling with impulse control and anger management. It was hard because I desire to bless my children and it feels rotten to be taken advantage of, stolen from, and lied to, even in this petty way (it's just chocolate!!!). It feels less enjoyable to share my chocolates with the sweeties when they take them themselves. I was remembering back to last week's good reminder from Dorothy that it is not about how I feel! I had just shared some of my chocolates in celebration with all the children earlier in the week when our read-aloud story was interrupted by an important call from a specialty clinic and they all waited patiently (separated, of course). A bummer for everyone that there was none left to enjoy for wrapping presents that night and none left to share for future celebrations. And yet it is pure joy that I get to show my sweet child that my love is deeper than a bag of chocolates, or two.

Of course, there is the discussion about the consequences for sin and teaching our children a correct understanding of a Holy and Righteous God and what He requires of us. In love we teach the child, correct the behavior, set consequences for sin, and welcome repentance, and yet, we cannot change the heart. It is heartache for a mom to see her child choose to remain separated from God in sin because the child feels that they deserve the pain of separation, that in their sin and hurt, they are not worth restoration in relationship. It is my prayer that I can show God's beautiful love to this sweet child, always having open arms of forgiveness, waiting for repentance.