May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)
It was a really bad mommy moment.
But in my defense, I was worn out and in need of a nap, and she was too. As my baby girl stood at the top of the fort looking down she whined, “I can’t do it!”
“Mmmmommmyyyyy….I want toooooo, but I can’t!” she insisted.
This went on for what seemed like hours in the hot Carolina sun.
I encouraged, coached, and promised to give assistance. But no matter how much I tried to coax her through this pivotal moment in her young life, she just could not get the courage to grab that fire pole and slide down. Those five feet must have looked like 500 in her eyes.
I lost all patience. I’m not sure why these horrific words came out of my mouth, but they did. I just snapped.
With my hands on my hips I warned, “Lauren! If you don’t slide down the pole, I’m going to spank you.”
Now, before I go any further, you must know that not long after this bad mommy moment my kids tried to hide the smirks on their faces and act afraid when I threatened to spank them. No matter how hard I tried, my punishment didn’t smart. But Lauren hated getting into trouble.
Despite the atrocity of my words, they were the catalyst to a life changing moment.
No more tears. No more whines. Little hands reached for the pole, legs wrapped around it, and in less than two seconds a victorious child had reached the ground; she wanted to do it again. She loved going down the pole!
I have prayed for God to redeem the bad mommy moments of my life.
Perhaps knowing that Lauren did make it to the ground safely and gained new self confidence should be redemption enough, but this moment in motherhood has haunted me for a long time until the other day.
My daughter is now close to 22 years old, and she recently completed her teaching internship and qualifications needed to become an elementary teacher. As she elaborated on her student teaching experience she told me, “Mom, it was a fire pole moment. I just had to grit my teeth, grab hold of it, and slide down. I didn’t have time to be afraid. I didn’t have a choice. I just did it. It was great!”
A fire pole moment.
Redemption. But there was more.
Lauren continued to share that she has used that day in the park 18 years ago as incentive to do many things that she has been afraid to do.
God is so good.
I know that my Redeemer lives.
Have you had bad mommy or childhood moments that God redeemed? I’d love to hear them!
Much grace,
andy
Endearing and profound at the same time. Glad there is redemption for our “bad mommy” moments!
Thanks Sandy! Hallelujah!