Dirty Pants

So here it is, the ugly truth. I looked down at my son' s light colored khaki shorts, and they were covered in red mud, grass stains, and spaghetti sauce.  Now some of you reading are shouting a "hooray" for the boy covered in mess. The dirt means he was active and alive. Believe me that is where I wanted my mind to go too, but like I mentioned there was an ugly truth. The truth is I was highly frustrated. The shorts he was wearing were good shorts, and I am a huge advocate for caring well for the things we have. Now there was a dilemma "allow my son the see my level of frustration or celebrate him being full on boy." Since neither fit me well, I chose to walk away. As I walked to grab the wonder cleaner Zout, my frustration was embarrassing even to my own mind. I looked at the shorts and thought about my own life. Every day starts out clean. Then I wake and begin staining it with poor choices, snappy words, unkind thoughts, and wasteful habits. The truth is there are times that I take a good life and don't practice caring well for it. Ouch! Gut punch!

Thank God for Jesus and His forgiveness, love, and grace.

So if you relate to my frustration with my son for wrecking his shorts, know you are not alone. May the attitude of grace and forgiveness spring up in times such as those. Maybe you too have struggled with caring well for the "good" life. Would you take a closer look at Jesus and the forgiveness, love, and grace He gives? It really is worth accepting.


MOM (Mothering Over Mess)
Shante