I mean, really! It's winter. It dumbfounds me to see people, especially kids, without coats, in sandals, and sometimes shorts. Where are the parents? What would happen if there was car trouble? I took the kids to the store this morning and I saw them. Sure enough, snowflakes. It was light but unmistakeable. As the kids tumbled out of the van there was not a coat to be seen. To my credit (or discredit) no one was wearing short-sleeves(which means Jed wasn't with us),two of us had zip-up sweatshirts with hoods (only one wore the hood), and only one was in sock feet and he could ride in the cart. We could have loaded up and traveled the thirteen miles home and gotten the missing coats, scarves, shoes, etc. or I could use the opportunity to teach my youngest five the Southern principle, "If you hurry quick enough you can make it from most parking lots to stores, churches, movie theatres, malls, etc. without proper winter attire". I do pride myself on making sure the kids have a well-rounded education. None of us were majorly harmed and of course they got the "we really should have worn our coats" speech. So, the next time I see bare legs or arms running into the store and the tempertures haven't been above freezing in days or weeks, I will try not to be quick to judge. Perhaps, they, too, are learning a much needed lesson. Matthew 7:1 "Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you." I fully expect to hear someday during an interview after a polar plunge, "It all started that Saturday morning Mom took us to Wal-Mart."
There's something in a mother, I think, that makes her asks questions that she really doesn't want the answer to. For instance, a son walks in, or should I say, is ushered into the kitchen with a swelling purple knot on his forehead. I, I mean she, asks, "What happened?" When she hears, "He was hanging a hammer in the tree by the claw," she thinks, of course that is what happened. It would take a hard blow by a heavy blunt object to make that injury realizing that had the claw come down first they would be on their way to emergency room for repair work. A four-year old doesn't understand physics, balance, laws of gravity, etc. but hanging a hammer in a tree while standing under it is just "not a good idea". It is also "not a good idea" to have your brothers and sisters stand on an antique merry-go-round and have them begin to run when you yell, "Go". Spraying a white eyelet comforter with WD40 and tying down the vegetable sprayer in the kitchen sink right before Mom walks up ranks up there with "not good ideas". One of my memorable "not good ideas" involves saying a curse word while standing at the kitchen sink doing dishes with my mother when I was in the sixth grade. I knew better. A four-year old might not know the laws of nature but he knew (if he stopped long enough to think) he was not to play with a hammer and it belonged in Daddy's barn. Some "not good ideas" have bigger consequences than others. Comforters will (usually) wash and Mom will dry off after a good soaking at the sink. Sometimes, thankfully, no one gets hurt and Dad and Mom do not have to explain multiple broken arms and legs at the hospital after an afternoon at the state park. So, what is it that makes a mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, aunt, or uncle ask those questions we really don't want to hear the answer to? I think it is those "not good ideas" with bigger consequences. It is because we love, really love, the kids and people in our lives. It would not have been love for my mom to allow something destructive in my life to take root. It would not be love to overlook habits, attitudes, or relationships that have destructive potential in the lives of my children. Proverbs 24:3 A house is built by wisdom, and it is established by understanding; by knowledge the rooms are filled with every precious and beautiful treasure.
