The gift of grace

I truly believe that God uses our children to teach us spiritual lessons that we wouldn't get otherwise. Last night was a perfect example of that truth. Abbey was having a rough day and finally hit her melting point when Kayley took her "assigned" seat at the dinner table. Now we really don't have "assigned" seats at the table but Abbey felt like she had a claim to that one particular chair. When Clint and I told her she would have to sit elsewhere, she completely lost it. We told her she could eat or cry, so she chose to cry. When the rest of us finished dinner we left her there to finish hers, which at that point she hadn't even started. We gave her an additional 10 minutes to finish and then we told her dinner time was done. As you can guess she didn't eat anything. Being the compassionate mother I am (NOT!) I said she should go to bed without anything; dad said she could have a small snack before going to bed. Clint had a business dinner and left. When it was time for the small snack that Clint designated Abbey rebelled. She said she did not want the bread with peanut butter she wanted doritos and a cheesestick. I wanted to loose it right there. Instead I found myself saying, "Abbey, you have been given grace in this situation. Grace is a gift, you don't negotiate with it you simply accept it for what it is." The moment the words left my mouth I knew God was trying to teach me something. How many times has God poured out His grace to me and rather than accept it gratefully, have I tried to manipulate it to fit my selfish desires or tried to negotiate with God so it was easier for me? A hard pillow to swallow, but a lesson I no doubt needed. When it was all said and done, Abbey went to bed with the snack. I, however, went to bed with a new perspective on God's grace and with God's Word swimming in my head, "My grace is sufficient for you..."