Moments for Mums: When We Make Mistakes – Part 2Sample

I don’t know what your day looks like today, but God’s mercy is anew. Mercy is the compassion and kindness toward the miserable or the afflicted. In a world where there is so much hurt, despair, and anxiety (and if that’s not the world of Lamentations, then I don’t know what is), a promise of God’s mercy never ceasing is the only kind of hope that can overcome all. Yet as we attempt to be Spirit-filled mums in a world full of demands on our time and family, we can forget that God is faithful.

As a mum, sometimes I learn the lesson of mercy best by giving mercy to my kids. We had been having a rough day when the older kids were little. We had recently moved, I was pregnant, it was hot, one of my toddlers was at the ‘high pitched screaming stage,’ and the other kids had worn down my patience until it was hanging by a thread. I remember looking at my watch and realizing it was only 3:30 pm. Too early for bath time. Too late for a playdate. Too many hours left to get through until bedtime. While none of us deserved something special (maybe I had already lost my patience!) I decided to pop the kids into the car and head out to McDonald's for ice cream and the playground. As we sat around the sticky table with ice-creams dripping on little hands, I asked the kids if they thought they had been good enough to get an ice cream today. My 7-year-old said, very honestly, “not really mummy,” and I agreed, but I told him that even when we do things wrong when we mess up, God gives us mercy, he shows us compassion, and his love is even better than ice-creams! It may have gone over their little heads, but 10 years later, I will still pile the kids in the car and head out for ice cream on days we really don’t deserve it, just to remind us/me of God’s mercy.

Question
How are you showing your kids that God is merciful?

Prayer
“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.” Help me to be a living example of your mercy to my children. Amen.