Monday, October 14, 2019

complaints

by Alanna

Kids are so often a miniature of us. Our sin we try so hard to hide, all spat out ugly. My four year old oldest sighed after dinner one day recently and said (I paraphrase) "Mom, I'm just having a really hard day. First I was whining because I didn't want to give away that hat, and then I was whining because I didn't want to take a walk. And then we had a dinner that I didn't like, and then my throat started to hurt." She wasn't confessing sin, just explaining how she was having a bad day. I tried to help her see that the only actual bad part of her day was her own sin, and a sore throat at the end of it (maybe from all the whining?)

But I couldn't believe the mirror I saw in her. What do I say at the end of my days? Is it all complaints? And aren't my days usually made hard by the simple fact that I am whining about things that don't deserve whining about? To be sure, mine would be lots more mature and would go something like this. "First I was whining because it took so long to get hats and coats on everybody. Then I was whining because nobody took a nap and I wanted a break. Then nobody like the dinner I cooked and then....blah blah blah."


I am praying, over and over again, for gratitude. For a heart that doesn't murmur. For thanksgiving. And I will practice thanksgiving too. Because it's not just our hearts that determine our words, it's our words that shape our hearts.

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