lesson from a child

Today was a gorgeous fall day. It was clear, sunny and in the low 70's. Tommorow a massive cold front is supposed to blow in. I was bound and determined to spend as much time as possible outside with the kids and enjoy the beautiful warm weather. With three kids, some days I feel it is very difficult making it out the door. I had everyone fed and dressed. But with 3 boys, they were already hungry again- only 30 minutes after breakfast. So they were asking for drinks and snacks...but I had not been to the grocery store in quite some time and we were very low on supplies- so I was scrounging around the kitchen trying to throw together some kind of snack to bring. While I am gathering the food they are trying to eat it out of my hands and I am trying to explain to them that they wouldn't have any snacks to eat at the park if they ate it all while we were still home. Then, I heard a poop explosion coming from Jonas who was sitting in the bouncer across the room with a very satisfied look on his face. I went over to inspect the damage. Sure enough, it was a major blow out- out all ends of the diaper. At that moment I mumbled under my breath " Well, that is just typical". Then I proceeded to perform a major clean-up job, therefore hindering us from getting out of the house in a timely fashion. I was starting to show a bad attitude because I was so focused on the goal of getting out of the house by 10 a.m. (which was the time of departure that I had set in my mind). A few minutes later I heard Elijah playing with 2 of his Ninja Turtles. He was making them dialogue as usual. But this is what I heard the turtles say- the first one said " Well, that is just typical" and the other turtle replies "Just relax, calm down". Now, of course, these words are actually coming out of Elijah's mouth and he was telling me in a roundabout way- to just RELAX. So, I took his advice and I calmed down. We made it out of the house by 10:30 and it wasn't the end of the world. We went to the park, had a picnic, went on a nature walk, collected some leaves...and it turned out to be a very good day.
Were the events of the morning really worth all the stress that I allowed it to cause within myself and our household? Not at all. My kids are watching me in those everyday moments and situations to see how I will act and react. I am teaching them something in those moments. They are learning by example. Today I taught them that mommy doesn't have much patience and she gets stressed over the little things... and today Elijah was the teacher and he taught me to calm down. Thankfully children are forgiving. My kids are helping me see that every word and action is important. I pray that God will give me the patience and wisdom to be a good example for them. I learn so much from my children. They really are helping me become a better person.

"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer." - Psalms 19:14