A Timely Lesson

It's Good Friday, and thanks to oversleeping and a morning breakfast preparation that took much longer than I thought it did, I missed attending the Good Friday service we had hoped to attend. The Man went alone, for some reflective time on his own, while the monkey and I stayed home for our own kind of reflection and quiet. 

While she cleaned up the mess she'd made with her endless amount of toys, I busied myself preparing a craft and reading through the Kids of Integrity lesson on forgiveness. I carefully prepared the packing tape cross, getting slightly frustrated in my attempts to lay it down on the table without it sticking to me, and then prepared some colouring tissue paper for the project. When I was done, I called the monkey to come. She eagerly ran to the table, and ooed and awwwed at the pretty colours. Then, she noticed the tape I had so meticulously laid down, and her four-year-old hand instructively reached out to touch it... and get stuck in it. And that's when it happened...

... I ashamed to admit it...

... "NO," I screamed in horror, all my frustratingly hard work going up in smoke! Slapping her little hand a little to hard, I again raised my voice, "I said don't touch!" 

Her eyes filled with tears. She pulled her hand away and looked down... look of devastation on her little face. 

And I knew.

This is why He died. This is what He died for. All my moment so ugly responses, impatient words, and painful missteps. He died for these. He died for me.

Scooping my now weeping monkey-pants into my arms, I apologized and begged her forgiveness. Forgiveness she readily granted --- humbling me all the more. And then we talked about what Jesus did. Why He died, why the cross is important, and how He forgave us, just like she forgave me. 

A timely lesson on this Good Friday, and a practical real-life application for my monkey to ponder on as we made our tissue paper/packing tape cross together.