With his bowl of oatmeal upside down, oozing into the carpet next to his seat, he looked at me with a cautious smile, seeing how I’d react.
“How many times…” I began to ask, but stopped. It was useless to ask a three year old.
Instead, I excused myself from the breakfast table to fetch paper towels, carpet cleaner, and my shop vacuum to clean.
Leaving him strapped into his booster seat, I began cleaning the oatmeal from the carpet.
“Daddy, what are you doing?” he asked…
“What do you think?” I grumbled in frustration…
But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed that it was a ghost, and they cried out; for they all saw Him and were terrified. But immediately He spoke with them and said to them, ‘Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid.’ Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished, for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened. Mark 6:47 – 52
No matter what you study or experience, there is nothing that prepares you for the frustration of raising children. It is so exhausting and demanding.
I cannot recall the number of times I’ve cleaned mushy food out of our carpet because a tiny person in my house decided it would be a good idea to drop their food on the floor for some reason.
Who does that?
Perspective stops Frustration
And then I think about Jesus. His disciples hadn’t gained any insight from Jesus feeding 5,000 people right before they got in the boat.
The light bulb didn’t turn on for them… that if He could turn a couple of loaves of bread into enough food for 5,000 people that He might also be able to walk on water and calm the storms…
[KiwiClickToTweet tweet=”Sometimes we have to re-learn the same lesson because understand the lesson the first time. #empathy #God” quote=”Sometimes we run around the same track again and again to re-learn the same lesson because even though we went through the paces, we didn’t understand the lesson. “]Building Empathy
For me, this is okay. We don’t have to be perfect all the time. The disciples certainly weren’t and look what they accomplished.
Moreover, acknowledging this about myself helps me be more empathetic to those around me who don’t get it… like when I’m cleaning oatmeal out of the carpet instead of enjoying my cup of coffee.
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