The Answer

It had been a long day.

We had first driven thirty minutes north to our family doctor to have Jacob's finger checked out. For those of you who don't know, he pulled a marble lamp off of the table Saturday night and it landed on his index finger! The doc thinks that it could be broken, but because of where the swelling is, it probably isn't. We will get an x-ray tomorrow if he hasn't increased his range of motion. He's a tough little guy!

After that, we came home, grabbed some lunch, then drove thirty minutes south to Ashlyn's first orthodontist appointment. She gets a retainer in four weeks.

Now, to the typical person, that may not seem like very much to do in one day. But for the five of us,

two hours of driving

+ waiting for doctors

+ missing of naps

+ trying to figure out when to fit in Evan's mealtimes

=

a really long day.

As we were approaching home, tensions were rising. Emily was kicked by Jake as she got out of the car, and then she hit Ashlyn because Ashlyn was being rude to her. Having had enough, I put them all in separate rooms. After a few minutes, I gathered them together on the couch and I said, "Are you all being unkind to one another?"

"Yes."

"Why are you doing that?"

Ashlyn's reply surprised me. "Because Adam and Eve sinned."

I was taken aback. I mean, yeah, we've talked about the sin nature of humankind since the Fall of Man, but....she had actually been listening!! She wasn't using that as a scapegoat--she was exhibiting some real understanding about our sinful nature. We went on to talk about how we are all in need of the grace of God through Jesus, and when we were finished, they apologized to each other without any prompting from me--for the first time EVER! That was huge to me.

I praise God for giving me that moment, because it lets me know that they realize (or are realizing) that righteousness comes only through Christ, and that they recognize their need for a Savior. It was just one of those rewarding moments that I will never forget.