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Messes & Grace

Linsey Driskill

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As moms, isn’t it easy to get frustrated when our kids make mistakes, but look past our own?

Recently, someone in our house spilled a bottle of nail polish remover all over our dining room table, dropped a whole tub of HOMEMADE pesto pasta, and shattered a salt shaker into pieces. Ugh! Guess who did it all? 😂

Yep, it was me. After I thoroughly stained the table with nail polish remover, I thought about how I’d react if one of my triplets had done that – eeks.

Days later when I spilled ALL the homemade pesto pasta we were so looking forward to, my kids came alongside me and helped me clean it up. As we scooped pasta off the ground, my daughter said, “It’s okay, we all make mistakes. No big deal.”

How often do I jump to frustration and impatience at my kids’ mistakes? This verse popped into my mind: “…you who pass judgment do the same things.” Romans 2:1

When I react imperfectly to my kids, I’m thankful for their unbelievable grace. It makes me want to lead with a whole lot more of it.

The next time our kids make a mistake, let’s think back to the last thing we broke, dropped, or spilled, and instead of reacting in anger, let’s choose calmness, and maybe even laughter (with all the things I’m dropping lately, I sure need to!) 😂.

Loved this meme from Her View From Home. So true…

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Easter Activity & Teaching the love of Jesus through Everyday Moments

Linsey Driskill
IMG_4725The other day, my daughter, Brooklyn, was mad at her sister for not sharing the fort builder sticks. When Brooklyn came down to talk about it, I first asked her to put her and her sister’s plate in the dishwasher. To my surprise, Brooklyn didn’t say a word but just did it, even though she was frustrated with her sister.
When I see a teachable moment, I try to jump on it.
I huddled our kids together and shared how Brooklyn had loved like Jesus loves us – even though we sin and mess up, Jesus still loves us deeply and even gave his life for us. When Brooklyn chose to wash her sister’s dish, she was still frustrated with her, but she did it because she loves me and her sister.
That is life. That is love. That is Jesus.
Fast forward to that afternoon. I was frustrated with my husband and saw his dish on the counter. I’m not kidding you, I said to myself, “He can get his dish.”
Immediately, I thought of Brooklyn putting her sister’s plate in the dishwasher. Convicting! So, I chose to replace my ugliness with love. I cleaned his dish and put it away because I love him. In that simple grace-filled moment, I asked the Lord for forgiveness and to love better (And, yes, I told my daughter that her example helped me love her daddy better!).
Isn’t it nice when our first reaction is great? Well, when that doesn’t happen and our responses stink, we have a chance to rewrite them.
Instead of making the mountain of bitterness bigger, we can squash it with grace. Let’s choose the latter.
That is life. That is love. That is Jesus.
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This great Easter Activity is from Courtney DeFeo’s book, “In this House We Will Giggle”:
1. Tie two sticks together to make a cross.
2. On Good Friday, you and your kiddos write down some of your sins- ways you have not loved God or others. Tape them on the cross (we taped them backwards to keep it between them & God).
3. Easter morning before your kids are awake, throw the papers away so they only see the cross.
This is a great visual to explain to our kids that when we believe in Jesus, we are forgiven of ALL our sins and can be with him forever. Jesus took our sins upon himself when he died on the cross. But the good news is that he rose three days later, giving us life now and forever with him! The Lord’s love is more powerful than anything!
Happy Easter!
Linsey Driskill

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Deep down, what motivates our children’s choices?

Being motivated by obligation won’t last or drive integrity, but being motivated by love will.

When Jesus healed a woman who had been crippled for 18 years, the Pharisees were angered and annoyed because it was the Sabbath Day.

Jesus didn’t care – he cared about the woman in pain – he cared about loving her above all. He wasn’t moved by customs and law, but love.

Sharing simple ways our children love well shifts their mindsets from doing things grudgingly to doing things out of love.

From TIME TO TIME, I will say this to my kids:
“Thanks for loving me well by putting your dish away.”
“That’s awesome how you loved your sister by making her bed for her.”
“Great job sharing with your brother. You really loved him well and put him first.”
“Great job not responding in anger when she was rude. You really loved her and the Lord with your response.”
“Thanks for doing what I asked right away. You sure loved me well by listening to me.”

The Lord’s two greatest commandments hinge on love: to love God and love others. And, Jesus’ deepest motivation to follow the law wasn’t because he had to, but because he chose to out of love.

As we call out small examples when our children choose love, they will begin to be motivated by love, just as Jesus was.

 

 

A Question to Ask our Girls

Linsey Driskill

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My husband, Christian, came up with a question to ask our girls when they were 3: “What makes you beautiful?” At 7 years old, they still answer, “My heart, mind, and soul.”

I love that this question echoes Jesus’ words, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.” (MT 22)

Let’s affirm this consistently with our daughters so they will be encouraged to prize inner beauty and loving the Lord & others above the rest. ❤️

True Beauty.

Linsey Driskill

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True Beauty comes from the soul. It doesn’t fade over time. It magnifies.

Since our girls were three years old, we’ve asked them a question to reinforce this truth: “What makes you beautiful?” At 7 years old, they still answer, “My heart, mind, and soul.”

In this verse about Beauty above, the word “quiet” jumps out to me. In Hebrew, “quiet” is hēsýxios: To be steady due to a divinely inspired inner calmness, and to be tranquil – not stirring up needless friction. (Bible Hub)

THAT is of great worth in God’s sight.

While there is a time to be quiet, I don’t think this verse means we should always walk about in quietness, especially if that is not who God has woven us to be. But rather, to possess an inner stillness and calmness from trusting in the Lord.

Being fully human and fully God, Jesus experienced so many feelings: joy, anger, sorrow, tiredness, peace, frustration, connection. Through it all, he had an inner calm, an inner peace. He was steady and knew what he came for. He didn’t let up, but carried through.

What a powerful definition of Beauty this leads us to: Beauty comes from the inner self – the unfading beauty of a spirit that is gentle, has inner calmness, and steadily follows and trusts the Lord.

That is Beauty unfading.

“This is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful.” 1 Peter 3:5

Lord, we pray that this is the kind of beauty we, and our children, would seek – an inner beauty that trusts steadily in you.