Don't Sweat The Small Stuff

Micah 6:8 -- "What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

 

For my friend Lisa all the way out there on the OTHER coast. 
 
Walking through the movie isle of our friendly neighborhood Wal-Mart, the boys [and by this I mean my husband and two sons] are digging around in the "dollar" bin for blu-rays that fit into our budget.  I see one that I really, really want.  [It was Princess Bride].  The guys just look at me, as if I have somehow sprouted wings, or maybe a second head or something, and the little one [by this I mean my fourteen year old who is, in fact, a good foot taller than I am] says to me "Mom, THAT is a girl movie".

Ummm....  I point out that...I AM in fact, a girl.  I know, it's hard to believe and difficult for the guys to remember this sometimes as they do kind of outnumber me three to one...but the Lord DID bless me to be a female.  I defiantly put the movie into the buggy and say...."we're gettin' this one."

I push the buggy to the check-out lanes [and here I have to ask you...I AM the only girl in the family, why am I always the one pushing the buggy?]...and the guys follow me, looking a tad bit, well....disappointed that I didn't choose the Terminator or Lethal Weapon.

And then it happens.  A very flustered looking young Mom with two small children is just ahead. While trying to get some grocery shopping done, one of her little ones has started jumping up and down in the back of the buggy and managed to knock some of her goodies out onto the floor.  She is obviously tired and is at the end of her rope.  Her concentration at this point is doing whatever she can to keep the toddler from bouncing out of the buggy and onto the rather hard floor.  The baby, strapped into the child seat of the metal cart, is crying non-stop.  I feel this woman's pain.  I remember when the two giants next to me were small enough to sit in the buggy.

My sons stop bickering....they look at the woman and without a word walk over to her, pick up her lost cans of soup and fruit cocktail and offer to push the buggy for her while she holds the bouncing toddler. I think she is genuinely shocked.  NOBODY does this anymore....helps, I mean.  But they do.  And they get her to the check-out, safe and sound and even offer to carry her bags to the car.

This is where I ignore the fact that I usually load the car myself and push my own buggy because.....they were amazing.  While homeschooling these two, I never sat them down and explained to them how manners really work in public or how they should seek out opportunities to help stressed out mothers with young kids.  I DID....do what the Lord requires of me.  I have attempted to consistently act justly [yes, I have made many a mistake], I have attempted to consistently love mercy and even attempted to consistently walk humbly with my Lord.  These are the things that God requires of me.

And while I HAVE chosen to "tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord" [Psalm 78:4] and have done my best to "train up a child in the way he should go". [Proverbs] There really wasn't a moment that I can recall when I sat both boys down and addressed them in the manner of proper male etiquette. There are some that would say I should have.....but here is the thing. Somebody very wise [my Mom] once told me to pick my battles and not to sweat the small stuff. As I stood there, jaw to the floor like a character from "Who Framed Roger  Rabbit?", watching these two babies of mine, I realized she was right.

To sum up? Well, in a nut shell..... Brian was my first and I was a very young mother...I took him to the pediatrician because I felt I was failing in the potty training department and B [what we all call Brian] was due to be enrolled in Kindergarten.  I was terrified.  How does one pack diapers for a Kindergartner?...well, the doctor looked at me and smiled.  "Have you ever seen a kindergarten student in a diaper?"

I thought about that.  I couldn't say that I had, actually.

My point is...I wasn't excused from training B in the potty department.  Nor have I ever been excused from training my boys to be polite, courteous, and caring men of God ... at the same time.... I've never seen a kindergartner in a diaper.

In other words....just like the book of Matthew tells us not to worry about tomorrow.....I don't need to sweat the small stuff.  Steven and I have given our lives and therefore our parenthood, to Jesus.  We do the things we know the Lord requires of us....and then....we let God do the rest.  He will do the rest.

To this day, I have never seen a kindergarten student in a diaper.