I'd Like a Dirty Diaper with a Side of Humility, Please

I bumped into a college friend and his wife tonight who are expecting their first, and are getting ready to find out the sex of the baby within the next month. They were so cute - so bubbly and excited about being pregnant, wondering about girl or boy, looking forward to the stages of babyhood, etc.

All I could say to them is, "You're going to love it. Being a mom is one of the best things in the whole world." Which is definitely 100% true. What is nearly impossible to communicate, though, is just how humbling and life-changing being a parent is. That God's plan for parents is just as much about making us holy as it is about raising the children He gave us in the way He desires.

Today I did one of those things that I swore to myself I'd never do as a parent. E asked for something, I said no and began to offer an alternative, she started to whine, and - because we were in a restaurant with other people - I quickly gave in to her request...before I even realized what I was doing. It was SO EASY to just give in so that we didn't cause a scene. I caught - out of the corner of my eye - someone who'd witnessed the scene as they turned to the person to the side, noting the double-standards they'd just seen me portray to my child. And I wanted to crawl under the table and die.

We all have our moments, I guess. Our moments of weakness, our moments of inconsistency, our moments of airheadedness, our moments where we want to crawl under the table and die. Fortunately, though - God doesn't depend on our perfection in order to carry out His perfect plan for our children. In fact, if we allow Him, He uses our flaws to point to Jesus Christ, the Author and Finisher of our children's faith. Our humility in times of mistakes can allow for the grace of the cross to sweep in and flood our children's hearts, even if our mistakes cause them pain. How 'bout that!?!?!