The House That Patience Built

The kids and I built a gingerbread house today. It was our first time doing one and at one point I was thinking that it may, also, be our last. This was another parenting moment that required so much patience; with the fragile gingerbread walls, the icing that needed time to dry, the shall-remain-nameless-3 year old who kept licking the candy before putting it on...patience was required.

I'd love to say that I flew through the whole task with flying colors, but I didn't. However, I made sure to get right with the kids when my patience wore thin and, in the end, we all left the table with joyous memories of building our little house of candy. The event even made it into Grace's journal. And she only writes about the fondest memories of her childhood in her journal.

And we will do it again.

One of the biggest lessons that I've learned as a mother is that I can't run away from the things that I need to work on in my life. Although, sometimes I really want to avoid situations that are going to require me to work in areas that sin may be lurking, like my impatience. And that's exactly what my impatience is...a sin. And how can I say to my kids, "Sorry, kids. No more (enter activity/situation that requires patience) because Mommy doesn't have any and she's not willing to work on that sin in her life?"

So, I try to keep moving along. Growing. Stretching. Learning. Getting it wrong. Getting it right. And my kids go along with me, sometimes having to see, all too clearly, the sins in my life, but also getting to witness my overcoming them. They get to see that Mommy's not perfect but she's still trying to get it right.

And I pray that they'll take that approach in their lives, too. I don't want to raise them to believe that it is okay to be complacent in their sins. I want them to be able to go on to build their own houses...with candy and patience.