Daily grace

I felt like a big jerk. I wasn't very kind to my son Tuesday morning...over dirty finger nails that were too long. As I rushed him to allow me to trim his nails he sobbed "Now I can't scratch my back!" We ran out to the bus; nails still dirty. I hugged him and he was gone. I stood there ashamed, realizing I never gave him an opportunity to talk. I never asked him why he didn't want his nails cut. He wanted his nails so he could scratch his back. I wanted neat trimmed nails so he wasn't (maybe so I'm not) judged by teachers for not having clean fingers. Had I taken a moment to talk to him we could have compromised and just cleaned them. I of all people should know his mind works differently than mine. I'm still learning to listen before I act when he has a reason for wanting, or not wanting something, instead of assuming he's just being disobedient. Like so many times before I had to give myself grace. I knew as soon as I saw him after school he would give me grace too. And sure enough, He did.