Dry Spells

Earlier this year, my family lived in six houses in four months.  Yep, you read that right.  With four children aged five and under including an infant.  To say that this was a chaotic time in our family would be the definition of understatement.

In the midst of the transitions we were undergoing, I found myself falling into laziness.  Simply wanting my children to obey for the sake of convenience and expediency.  I became very harsh in my parenting and was focused primarily on outward appearance.

Our family dynamic quickly shifted.  There were consequences and haughty attitudes, short fuses and little forbearance.

Then a friend in our old hometown said in a chat, "We sure miss you at Bible study.  Your example was such an encouragement."  This came the same day as a disastrous trip to the grocery store (you know those ones right?)  It was like having a bucket of cold water poured over me.  I quickly responded "Oh how the mighty have fallen..."  I said it jokingly but really in seriousness.  Oh how I had fallen out of showing grace to my children.  How I had fallen out of sharing the Savior's tender kindnesses.  Something on which I had sinfully prided myself on being such an example.

I fail.

We all fail.

Life crowds in and we get distracted and then we get discouraged.

But grace.

The beauty of grace is the begin again.  We can boldly proclaim like Timothy "But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me." (2 Timothy 1:12)  We repent and believe once again.  We keep on believing.

The beauty of grace is that we don't have to be perfect. We just have to keep trying.