One thousand and one

I took this picture of the fresh-fallen snow in my backyard early this morning because it was a little reminder of the peace and quiet that was NOT found at my breakfast table. It was one of those days when the tears and timeouts were popping up faster than the waffles out of the toaster.


(Confession: I may have SCREAMED at one point -- loudly -- and in more of an I'm-losing-my-mind kind of way than an I-have-an-important-lesson-to-teach-you kind of way.)


At the end of the day, when our kids are in bed and we collapse on the couch, my husband and I often talk about how we hope that what we are doing today will be enough. We pray that the way we are rearing and raising our kids will enable them to grow up to be respectful, kind, and ambitious adults -- and maybe even self-controlled enough to avoid throwing tempter tantrums when they find a meal they don't particularly like on the dinner table.

On New Years Day, our pastor challenged us to think about how we can practice obedience to God in this upcoming year. In doing so, he read a quote from N.T. Wright that has been fresh in mind ever since. “This is what happens when someone has made a thousand small choices, requiring effort and concentration, to do something which is good and right but which doesn’t 'come naturally' -- and then, on the thousand and first time, when it really matters, they find that they do what’s required 'automatically,' as we say. On that thousand and first occasion, it does indeed look like it 'just happens,' but reflection tells us that it doesn’t 'just happen' as easily as that."

This idea -- that we become more like Jesus one tiny, intentional step at time -- gives me some consolation on days (like today) when I feel like I have so far to go. 

And because it speaks to obedience, I believe it also applies to parenting. I have faith that after the thousandth reminder, maybe our kids will "automatically" remember to say please and thank you, to hang up their coats rather than using them as doormats, to pray before resting their heads on their pillow, to resist raising their arm to clobber their brothers when they say something that makes them angry. 


We hope and pray that all these small things we're doing now, with lots and lots of grace from God for all our mistakes, will make growing up into responsible and loving people something that seemed to have "just happened."