What Is Wrong With My Children?

That is what I was asking myself a few nights ago.

Chris and I have new friends. They're names are Evan and Leigh. They are a very fun, sweet, newly married couple.They don't have kids yet but they do have a beautiful house to which they have done a lot of renovations. And when I say a lot, I mean every room of the house. It's amazing.

Enter: the Sharps. *scary music in the background* Dum. Dum. Dum.

In one night, my children lit the candles on the enclosed back porch and then dripped the wax on the floor, the couch, and the coffee table. Oh yes, they did. Then, Gracie said the green beans that Leigh had made were "nasty." And you know Gracie, there is no such thing as quiet. After that, Maggie and Ty went into the office, turned the radio to a rap station, and cranked up the volume. Brody tried to feed their cat (who still has stitches from surgery) very small Kinex pieces. (Kinex are sort of like Legos) Ty and Gracie started playing chase... in the house. Then Maggie left her cake unattended and Brody got cake and icing everywhere. It seems like there was something else but since I don't want to cry, I'm not going to try very hard to remember.

After the cake incident, I was officially stressed out. I told Chris that it was time to GO! I could feel my face was very red and I was trying not to cry. I was really embarrassed and on top of that, I was ashamed of being embarrassed. While Chris was dealing with the kids, I was cleaning things up. I looked up and Evan was looking straight at me. I swear, he's so much like Chris it's bizarre. I pretended not to notice because I didn't have it together enough to make a pithy comment. (The pithy comment is crucial to showing that you've got it all together.) But I heard Evan whisper something to Leigh and in about 5 seconds, she was in the kitchen offering me the biggest dose of grace I've seen in a long time.

Faced with such grace, I had 2 choices. I could blow it off. Lie like a dog and say, "Oh no, I'm fine. Really. Nothing's wrong. I'm just so sorry about your stuff." OR I could 'fess up to my pride and receive what she was offering. In the face of that, I realized that an apology wasn't even neccessary. She offered forgiveness before I could even try to apologize or better yet, attempt penance. I could tell that her forgiveness and acceptance was genuine and complete. All I had to do was relax and accept it. Sounds familiar doesn't it?

Lord help her, cause I'm sure we'll go back. Only this time with leashes.