Happy Birthday Mom, love you...
When I was about 5 years old, I went to the grocery store with my mother. At that time, in this store there was penny candy on display in baskets at the end of one of the aisles for customers to gather and buy to take home... For a little girl of my size it was very tempting to see all these sweets directly in my face. I asked my mother if I could have some and she politely told me "no." I wanted some really bad so when she wasn’t looking I took a piece and hid it in my pocket. While in the check out line and while my mom was paying for our groceries, I asked her if I could go out to the car and wait for her there. She agreed (it wasn’t unusual for us to wait in the car in those days in a small town like ours) As I was in the car waiting, I took out the piece of candy from my pocket that I had stolen from the store and started to eat it As I put the candy in my mouth and started chewing it, I immediately had a sick feeling inside, so much so that the candy didn’t even taste good I knew that it was wrong to take something that wasn’t mine. Those feelings of guilt were so strong that I knew I had to own up to what I had done. So when my mom came to the car, I tried to tell her that I had taken a piece of candy from the store but instead of telling her I just started crying. She knew by the way I was crying that I had to have done something that I was feeling guilty about so she persisted in asking me what I had done and to tell me that I would feel better if I just told her. So, when I told her, she didn’t get mad, she just told me that we needed to pay back the store. So she gave me a penny and we went back and I told the store clerk what I had done and that I was sorry. The clerk took the money I can’t remember what was said after that. I do remember how relieved I felt and how I knew I never wanted to have that feeling again. I’m grateful to my mother for giving me the opportunity to pay back the store clerk. What I learned was that wrong is wrong and repenting of wrong doings feels a lot better than knowing and feeling the guilt. I also feel that if you learn not to push away those feelings of guilt, and own your misdoings early, that it’s easier to respond positively and recognize sin before it happens. I’ve done other things in my life that I’ve felt bad about. I know that it’s better to deal with the consequences and own the wrong than to pretend it was okay or to blame others for things. It just feels better to own the guilt. “The truth shall set you free.”
"We can help our children
feel the joy of repentence...
by helping them understand
that it is a beautiful,
ongoing process
of change and growth."
~Joy D Jones
