About a month ago, I was having a terrible migraine.
It was after supper, but I noticed that my kids still had a ton of energy, so I told my two girls not to make so much noise as I was having a headache and was not feeling well. Then without any prodding, they took charge and started taking care of me.
They tucked me in bed, made sure I had my pillows and gave me a glass of water. They even put a bell on my bedside so I could summon them if I needed something. They got my phone because they knew looking at it would make my migraine worse. They texted their Tatay (who was working then) that I was sick and told me to take a nap. My eight-year-old even kept an eye on her two-year-old brother while I was resting.
The first thing I felt when my girls were taking care of me was pride. I remember thinking, "They're so awesome!" They showed compassion for me when I was sick, and have been really capable that night.
The next thing was guilt. I can't believe they were taking care of me. I didn't deserve it.
I wasn't exactly the nicest to them those past couple of days. My patience was running on a short fuse and I snapped at them over the smallest things - not brushing their hair, not paying attention to their lessons (we homeschool), my eldest teasing her younger sister - the usual things that get to my mom-nerves.
But there they were, trying to make me feel better. And I felt bad because I didn't deserve it. I was such a mean mom to them. And then it came to me - GRACE.
 |
| Photo from Canva |
I Googled "What is grace," and I came up with a lot of secular and Biblical phrases that defined it, mostly being "a virtue coming from God," and "an undeserved favor." But my favorite one, which surprisingly came from Wikipedia is "the love and mercy given to us by God because He desires us to have it, not necessarily because of anything we have done to earn it."
I remembered the times my kids gave me a hug after I got mad at them. I didn't even have to say I'm sorry. The times they showed me favor even when I didn't ask for it. How many times they wrote, "Best Mom in the World" even when I'm a hundred percent sure I'm not. My kids showed me grace, and I couldn't take any credit for it. That didn't come from me, and even though he is a real stand-up guy, I don't think they got it from their father either.
That grace I think they had, all kids had when they were born. Perfect grace ... and it came from above.
I know us parents are the models of grace here on earth (I mean, can you even count the times your own mother forgave you and showed you love when you felt like the worst person on earth?), but our kids, man, they're just natural givers of grace. They don't even know they're bursting with it. And for that, I'm so thankful to God.
 |
| My two caregivers ... and grace-givers. |
I pray that my kids will always have this amount of grace to give and receive from other people as well. I also pray that life doesn't hurt them bad enough that they stop giving it. And lastly, I pray that I become a better model and giver of grace to my kids and to other people in this lifetime.
