A Heart Check

Every morning at breakfast, I try to read to my kids from their Bible. This doesn't always happen, but it's always my goal. This week, especially with Easter coming up, I wanted to really focus on stories about Jesus.

Yesterday morning, I read to the children about the woman who breaks an expensive jar of perfume in order to anoint Jesus. The kids seemed to really get into the story, and they especially liked the part where the woman broke the jar. Probably says something about my kids, and their tendency to destroy anything that comes into their possession. Anyways..

Awhile later, I discovered Jack pouring his full glass of milk all over the table. And like every good mother does, I got really annoyed that he would do something that he knows full well he's not suppose to do(insert sarcasm here.) I told him to go get a towel and to clean that mess up, and that I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to trust him to drink out of a big boy cup that day. And without really thinking about what I was saying I asked him why he was spilling his milk in the first place.

"Because of the lady, mommy." Jack said in his sweet voice.

I was confused. What lady?

"You know the lady in the story who poured stuff on Jesus. I was just trying to be like her."

Oh. That lady.

And then I was reminded how important it is to see the heart behind what my children are doing. Yes there are definitely times that they are being plain disobedient. But there are also times that they are just being children. I don't want to assume the worst in my kids. Because if I'm always assuming the worst, eventually it's going to hurt the relationship I have with them.

Finding out what's going on in our children's hearts is a lot of work. But something tells me that one day it will be worth it.