Yesterday was one of those mornings. Nothing “big” had happened, but every little thing seemed to be getting on my nerves. I was crabby. And to make matters worse, it was Sunday, so we were getting ready for church.
So when poor Lindsey came up to me and said hesitantly, “I hope this won’t make you mad, but…would you…would you braid my hair?” I didn’t really want to. I sighed and said ungraciously, “Fine. Come here.”
Lindsey handed me the two elastics she’d picked out—lavender, to match her dress—and a brush. I divided her hair into two sections and began to French braid it. And all the while, I was thinking, Nobody cares that Mama hasn’t gotten to eat breakfast yet. Everybody else’s needs come first.
Though I remained silent as I worked, my attitude was getting worse and worse, until….
“Thank you for braiding my hair,” Lindsey said humbly. “You’re the best mommy in the world.”
“You’re welcome,” I said, graciously this time, because I knew I’d been wrong. I also knew that more conviction was coming, and I was right.
“I bet no other mommy would have done it,” Lindsey said gratefully and meekly—and trying to encourage me, of all things. “I bet any other mommy would have said, ‘No. There’s no time’.”
“You’re welcome, sweetheart,” I said, and this time I meant it. And I wanted to cry.
The sweetness of Lindsey’s spirit yesterday morning—her sweet, giving, generous nature—stood in sharp contrast to the smallness of mine. And I realized not only that I had been very wrong, but that I’m sure glad God has a far better attitude about giving to me than I did about giving to my daughter.
God absolutely loves to give to me and to you, His beloved children. He delights in our asking Him for anything we need, from little things like having our hair braided all the way up to big things like…well, maybe that was the big thing. At least it was to Lindsey. And instead of looking at her request as an opportunity to show how much I love her by cheerfully serving her, I only saw it selfishly, as if my getting to eat breakfast when I wanted to was more important than ministering to her spirit and helping her fulfill her desire to look nice for a special event at church.
God, on the other hand, never reacts selfishly when I bring my requests to Him. He never says, “Oh, for goodness’ sake, I’m busy listening to the angels worship Me. Come back later.” He never fulfills my request, all the while making it clear that He doesn’t really want to. Instead, He gives freely, generously, and willingly, and He takes pleasure in doing so.
Precious mom, our kids and their requests are not an inconvenience to us. Our children are precious gifts from God, and their requests are God-sponsored opportunities to flood our children’s hearts with love and the sense that they are worth Mommy’s time. We don’t have to be those “any other” mommies Lindsey spoke of. We can be the mommy of our child’s dreams.
Responding to our child isn’t an interruption of something more important; it is the more important thing. But do we act like it? I’m ashamed that my answer is “no, not always”. But I’m working on my attitude, especially after yesterday.
If you need to join me in working on yours too, I recommend that you listen to Scotty McCreery’s song “Dirty Dishes.” For that matter, this song is worth your time even if you are strong in this area. It’s not an overtly Christian song, but I promise you that there’s nothing offensive in it. The mom in this song has the attitude I want to have. She is grateful for…well, I’ll let you hear it for yourself:
Grateful for opportunities to serve instead of being selfish. That’s where I want to be. I know you do too.
Philippians 2:3—Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.