It was me. I pitched a fit. My husband was standing behind me telling me what to do. I was trying so hard to get it right. He was making me very nervous with the things he kept calling out for me to do. Though I was trying, I just knew I’d end up with it all wrong. When I got to the end, sure enough I had botched everything.
Jason was frustrated with me. Then I lost it. I mean I stood up yelling and screaming and waving my arms all around and really let him have it. It was all in front of my children. No one said anything. My husband turned around and went about doing the job himself that I had been trying to do. I went to work helping my daughter do the dishes. “Look at me,” I berated myself. This was exactly what I tell the kids not to do everyday and here I just put on a horrible display for all to see. No wonder my kids have temper tantrums. They must be following my example! I don’t want to be THAT parent! I CAN’T be that parent.
And so as I was being convicted, I knew what I had to do. I walked over to my husband and told him I was sorry for pitching a fit. And you know what he did? He told me he was sorry, that he shouldn’t have been standing there telling me what to do! I hadn’t expected him to apologize too!
Then I turned around and faced all of my children who were all still in the room. With tears in my eyes I told them that I was wrong to behave that way, and I asked them for forgiveness as well. All of them said that they forgave me and one of my girls came up an hugged me and told me that she loved me–so sweet!
Do you ever look around at church or Sunday School and think how perfect everyone else’s family seems? Well that’s not us. We are not the perfect family that has it all together. We are sinful and make mistakes every single day, but we are thankful that God is working in our lives and hearts to continue to change us and bring us closer to Him!
And even though I had been a horrible example I was also able on this occasion, by God’s grace, to demonstrate how we should make things right when we do wrong each other. I think it is important that our children see that we aren’t perfect and need God just as much as they do, but hopefully you won’t need to pitch a fit in order to show them! 🙂
We/you are not perfect. But asking for forgiveness for our faults makes it a learning experience for our children and spouses. xo
Nobody is perfect and no family is perfect 🙂 Trust me we all have our little flaws and you handled it so well at the end. You did great and yes I have moments of getting frustrated. I then feel bad that the kids had to see it and they forgive Mommy, but I do feel bad when I can’t keep it together. It can be hard sometimes.
Nobody at church is perfect. So you don’t have to feel bad that the perfect family is not you 🙂
And I have a sneaking suspicion that your kids would throw temper tantrums with or without your example.
Not only was your apology and example to your kids, but also to your husband.
I had to apologize to mine yesterday, too. On the way to church, I freaked out on a woman who was (or wasn’t really) driving with her dog in her lap. After sitting through a green light because she was paying attention to her dog and not the light, she almost plowed into me. I rolled down my window and screamed at her. Then she turned the corner and almost plowed into another car. Lucky for me, it’s likely she saw me pull into the church parking lot. Boy was I asking for grace that morning.
Been there. Done that. Many times. No, its not pretty, and I have been convicted more in recent months. I am thankful that the times that I have, I can use it as a learning tool. Thanking the Lord that His mercies are new every morning and His unfailing love is never ending.
I don’t always show the grace I need to give to others when they mess up. I must get the plank out of my eye before I point them out in others.
Hang in there.
Everyone makes mistakes. The important thing to remember is to
learn from your mistake which you did.
What a great post! I have been known to throw a tantrum or two. And I do my best to apologize afterwards. If everyone in the church was perfect, then there would be no need for a church, KWIM?
I don’t think I have ever screamed at anyone since my kids were little, but I sure lost it more than once then. Hope I was as good an example as you are.
This is from a pastor who wishes to remain anonymous: How edifying it is to read of a live example of a family who is actively trying to live out the Biblical faith in the context of family life. You sound normal to me.
None of us are perfect, and the Lord doesn’t expect us to be. You set a wonderful example when you turned around and apologized both to your husband and your children, and that is what they will remember.
This story sounds incredibly familiar! You are not alone…it takes a good (strong) person to put aside their own anger so they can offer an apology – and what a great example to set for your children. They will learn that people get angry sometimes and may have outbursts, but apologizing afterward is always the right course. Give and ye shall receive…
So proud of you for doing what you knew was right for you to do. It can be really hard to do that.
Thanks so much! You know though that for every time that I’ve done the right thing in the end there are many more times that I haven’t right? 😉 So thankful that God keeps working in my heart!
I will never forget are the memories I have from childhood of my father asking for our forgiveness after he had sinned. Seeing his humility and desire for holiness made a deep impact on me that has lasted well into adulthood.
He always told me that while we should sin less and less, a Christian isn’t someone who doesn’t sin, it is someone who deals with his sin properly.
I am confident that God will use you & your husband’s confession for good in your kids’ lives!
Awww so good Esther! I can’t tell you how many times that I have done this very thing..ouch it hurts..thank you God for your grace..Kids need to know that we are not perfect..but perfectly forgiven 🙂 Hopped over from HWC Hop!
Blessings!
That’s so sweet Esther, none of us is perfect and saying a sincere sorry means a lot to the people we have hurt and vice versa :)Glad to see so much loving in your house again! Stay happy and blessed. Thanks for sharing and linking up! 😀
It’s so frustrating when my husband and I have “intense fellowship” in front of the kids. It’s like a runaway train. I love the example you demonstrated here. I plan to follow. Thanks for sharing and for linking in with HWC!
*Linking up, lol
I read this post earlier in the week but I must have forgotten to post a comment because this post was too good for me not to have left a comment. I love that you recognized the error of your ways and did the second best thing to not pitching a fit at all; Apologizing for it. Your children seeing that was a beautiful lesson that they will be able to draw upon later in life when they realize they’ve made a mistake. Well done, Esther. <3
I don’t think this was a failure at all, Esther. I think this was redemptive moment … a golden opportunity that God used in your soft heart to model how to do the “next” right thing, which was apologize and take responsibility. I love it and I’m so glad you were brave enough to be vulnerable with your husband, your family and with us!
Your children won’t remember next week what you pitched a fit about, but they will remember forever how your apologized. Humility is a rare quality in this world, and people (even little ones) recognize it when they see it. Press on! Visiting from Hungry for God; Starving for Time and glad I did 😉