Really this isn't much of a problem- but when tension is running high, and dinner is cooking [burning] and I need 20 minutes to get it all under control, I really wanted/needed them to sit in front of a movie or read a book. I asked myself, "am I really going to pick this fight?" Yes. I did. And I won it, more or less.
All this aside - Christmas rolled around and I realized we had no Christmas movies, not a single one. Nor had my kids ever even heard of things like "the Grinch" or even Rudolph. Here is where many parents would see me as failing completely. So I went out and spent my $7 on a DVD copy of the OLD "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."
Well, last week Chris was gone and I was gone too. Totally frustrated, tired and worn out. Luckily we were on the way to the airport to pick up said husband. And from the backseat Bells starts to pray out loud. I cannot repeat the whole prayer- she actually prayed the entire 15 minute drive. She prayed for her Dad to stay safe, for her Mom to get rested (that melted my heart), for her siblings to know the real God...but most beautifully she started to pray for her own heart. About how she gets so excited about Christmas presents but that isn't what Christmas is really about. She asked God to help her be happy and still sing to Jesus even if she woke up on Christmas and the Grinch stole everything. She told God she was a sinner and need his help and thanked Jesus for living in her heart.
Needless to say I was softening by the moment. How could I stay angry and frustrated with such displays of humility in the back seat?
So the Grinch stole my heart... or really the Spirit did. But who knew a Dr. Seuss story could lead a child's heart toward the things of God in such profound ways? I won't underestimate the power of a little Christmas movie in the future... or the power of my really big God.
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