Room cleaning

The kids were away this week with Matt, and it was apparent when I returned from work the evening of their departure that they had left in a rush. Bedclothes were sitting next to unmade beds, toys were stretched from the closet toy bins to the window across the room. I sighed deeply, contemplating that I could teach them responsibility by leaving the room as is--"They will know when they get back that they should have taken care of this before they went away."

That word "should" caught in my heart a bit, though, and I realized just as quickly that I could teach them responsibility, or I could teach them mercy. In five minutes the toys were collected, beds made, and bedclothes deposited in the laundry basket. How like our lives....we create in our hearts a bit of a mess, and return home to find them miraculously clean. Thank God for forgiveness, grace, mercy....