A Gentle (or maybe not so gentle) Reminder

It would be nearly impossible for me to count how many times a visitor or friend comes in our home and asks me "How do you have such beautiful and fragile decorations in your home with your children?" My response is typically the same for that question. I explain that Matt and I have always agreed that our children would respect what is ours and what we have worked so hard to have. From day one we have tried to instill in the children a sense of respect for their toys and our grown up "toys." My children have more toys than they could ever need but they each have a place.  This place is normally in their playroom and on occasion in their bedroom. However their toys will never take up residence in my den, dining room or master bedroom. I do not mind if they play with their toys in the den, as long as when they are done playing the toy finds its' way back to their playroom.

Having said that, last Thursday my neighbor was over and we were having a very similar conversation to the one above. I do take pride in the fact that my children typically follow that rules and we discussed how to continue to enforce this sense of respect and responsibility in our children. Somehow at the end of this conversation God must have sensed that I felt like I was in control of my life. So he sent me a reminder that no matter how hard I try, ultimately He is in control.

You might be wondering what this is and how could it remind me that I am not in control? The day after my neighbor and I had that conversation I was upstairs and my four year old son was downstairs having a snack. All of the sudden I hear the loudest crash I have heard in OUR house EVER! I immediately know when I get back down the stairs there will be broken glass everywhere, I am just not sure what has broken. As I am running down the steps thinking " Dear God, please let Jack be okay," I pass Jack on the steps and he is saying " I am going to my room, I am going to my room." I know at this moment he is fine buy my chandelier is not.

Somehow Jack had climbed up on our table and tipped over the chandelier which caused the glass globe to fall out of the frame and break. I was mad at Jack for not respecting our home and he was in his room for a long time. However underneath it all I was  thrilled because I never liked that light. The builder installed it when the house was built and it is a "cookie cutter" light in out house. It does not reflect my design style or our personality, so I will be happy to see a replacement come in soon!

However, every time I look at this broken light I am reminded that even though I try so hard to control my children and our lives, I can not. The light shines a little brighter without the globe which also helps me recall this moment. I must remember that someone much higher than me is in control of my life and I must put my trust in Him. Maybe I will leave the chandelier just like it is for a while so I can continue to be reminded of this life lesson.