Cleaning House - God's Way

I had a bit of a parenting crisis last night. When I put the boys to bed, I had them tidy up their room. As they did so, I noticed a tiny little saw, like the kind meant for pumpkin carving. I knew that had not been in there the day before when we crazy-cleaned their room, so I asked about it. They lied.

I don't know about you, but when my kids lie, all bets are off. It's the one thing that sends me completely over the edge, and for good reason - God has a lot to say about liars, and none of it is flattering.

I went over the edge. I really did. I kept asking them and kept taking things and privileges away every time they lied, so half an hour later the little that was left in their room after Saturday's purge was gone and they were to sleep on the floor with a blanket and a pillow. My stomach hurts just thinking back on it.

I came out to the living room and e-mailed my Mom. She came quickly to the rescue, talking me down from my ledge and insisting that I get my boys off the floor and deal with the problem, then put them to bed in their nice, cozy beds. It was hard to swallow my pride - I was afraid of looking like a wishy-washy Mom - but God took care of it. The guilty boy confessed close to midnight and we all went to bed and had a good sleep.

This morning we returned the stolen item to the store and the security office there gave my son a very good talking-to. God had all the details covered.

My Mom said something last night, in the middle of the mayhem, that was straight from the Lord. She said that it sounds like God is doing some house cleaning. She reminded me of a problem we had a couple weeks ago - Caris & I had just cleaned out her room and she was suddenly really scared at night and couldn't sleep. I joked with my Mom that maybe she just wasn't used to her room looking so nice. Later that night, though, Alif said that when he went in to get Canaan in the middle of the night, he felt uneasy in their room, like something wasn't right in there. I prayed over the room several days in a row and there haven't been any problems since.

Then my computer broke, and my online time was and still is far, far less than it was before. And now this with my boys.

God knows what he's doing. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, He says, and that's true. How wonderful a feeling it is, though, to know that He cares so desperately about the details of our lives. That he's not content to let me raise my kids under the oppression of an internet addiction. That they mean far too much to Him to let them slide under the radar with misbehaviors that could blossom into a lifetime of pain.

I am so thankful that He never gives up on me.