Forgiveness and Monkey Bars

I've noticed a few things as my children are getting older:

1. My kids are excellent teachers (especially Melody, since she's older). I remember when Melody was born, thinking that I had this huge responsibility to teach her life's important lessons, and to instill good values in her. Well, little did I know that as she's gotten older, SHE is very capable of teaching ME sometimes! Case in point: for the past couple of months, as we end our bedtime prayer, Melody always speaks up and says, "We love you so much God and we will never stop loving you!" Well, that's a great prayer with just that one simple sentence! Why do I feel the need to make sure I say everything just right and go on and on and on...you get the idea. Melody is teaching me that simple is sometimes better.

2. My children have a larger capacity to forgive and forget than I do. I've seen this time and time again with my kids. Say, for example, that Gannon hits Melody. Melody is hurt so she cries. I talk to Gannon about how hitting is wrong and it hurts, so we shouldn't do it. We can learn how to express our anger/frustration in more appropriate ways, etc etc. Gannon goes and apologizes to Melody, she says she forgives him, and then they resume playing like nothing happened. Within 5 minutes, neither of them really even remember the incident.

Earlier this week, Melody climbed in the car after school and began telling me about an altercation with a few of her friends. They were on the playground and some of her friends began yelling at her. She skipped over a lot of details, I could tell, but rushed to inform me that "we did all the forgiving under the monkey bars." It was simple for her. She and the other girls resumed their friendship without any major battle scars. I've never seen my children hold much of a grudge. They truly are capable of forgiving and then putting it out of their mind. They are too busy loving and caring for others that they are nearly incapable of holding onto the nasty feelings that sometimes come with having to forgive. Wow!!! What a blessing!



I'm very appreciative for the things my children can teach me. I hope to always be a humble and thankful learner.