My Daily Prayer For Grace

Have you ever seen a lizard have a nervous breakdown? I got to experience this phenomenon first hand last week. The boys filled up the wagon with soap and water and were just getting ready to scrub the first two lizards in their collection when I walked out the door. The poor little creatures were frantically trying to get away while bubbles dripped from their tails and gizzards. I tried to be patient as I emptied the wagon and tried to explain why we don't bathe lizards. I had already explained to Collin at least five times why we don't put lizards in plastic bags and freeze them. Don't ask me why he wanted to do this, I have no explanation. Shortly after this escapade was over Harold suggested that we go to the beach for the evening. Now those of you who know me well know that the beach is not my favorite place to take the boys simply because of the mess it creates in the car and house. But in the interest of being a good Mom, I consented. So after I changed them out of the stinky wet clothes they were wearing and into their swim shorts we piled into the van and headed for the beach. Now I will never understand how they managed to get sand from the top of their heads to the bottom of their feet, I mean their scalps were even covered. So we came back home with all our wet, sandy clothes and towels to pile in the washer on top of the already stinky wet ones. When I walked into the house and saw a snake on the floor I looked somewhat like the lizard that I had rescued earlier in the day. Okay, it was only a plastic one, but in the dimly lit house it took me off guard. By the time they were done in the bathroom it looked like the "sands of the sea" had all been deposited in my tub. Needless to say my patience was wearing thin. I was in the mood to fuss. Then Harold called me to computer to look at the pictures that I had taken that day. I quickly realized that I needed a new perspective. These aren't outlaws I am dealing with they are just little boys. How often have I overreacted to something that in the light of eternity really didn't matter. My hope is that God will give me wisdom to decipher between character flaws and childish curiosity. My daily prayer is for the "Grace", the courage to let little boys be little boys, to realize how fleeting the moments of childhood are. So if you see my boys covered with mud, swinging from the trees, or bathing lizards, they are not being neglected, they are just being little boys. Here are a few lines from a poem I recently read. I don't know who the author is, but her words spoke to my heart.

I Took His Hand and Followed

My dishes went unwashed today,
I didn't make the bed,
I took his hand and followed,
Where his eager footsteps led.

Oh yes, we went adventuring,
My little sons and I,
Exploring all the great outdoors,
Beneath the summer sky

That my house was neglected,
That I didn't brush the stairs,
In twenty years, no one on earth,
Will know or even care

But that I've helped my little boy,
To noble manhood grow,
In twenty years the whole wide world,
May look and see and know.