A Lesson in Dog Food “Mom!” my six year old son Caleb screamed running though the hallway of our home. I was in my bathroom hurrying to get ready for church and listening to some upbeat Christian music that had me swaying to the beat. A few swipes of rose petal pink blush and I could begin attempting to get “those pieces” in the back of my hair to lay down in a more desirable fashion. I had missed church the previous weekend, and after a week of PMS and being stuck inside the house with the kids every day due to bad weather, I really needed a good spirit washing and attitude adjustment. “Mom….!” Caleb said again almost out of breath as he burst into the bathroom, “Come quick! And see what Chace has done….” Chace was Caleb’s younger brother of three years and was always causing some sort of trouble in our household. However, at 29 pounds with a mischievous and adorable smile, he rarely got held responsible for half of the antics he performed. I figured that Chace had ruined Caleb’s masterpiece of building blocks that he had been working on earlier, so my response was a little less than exciting. “Caleb….I’m almost ready and I need to finish up or we will be late for church. I will be there in a minute. Go play. Have you brushed your teeth by the way?” And with that question, Caleb took off to avoid anymore direction from me that might cause him to miss out on additional playtime. Water….that’s my only hope in getting this “sprout” of hair to behave. I had missed my shower that morning because somehow my finger had gotten glued to the snooze button every time my alarm went off. My husband, Jim, had spent the night at the boat alone after no one seemed very excited about accompanying him there the night before. I am sure by this time, he was enjoying a Starbucks without any interruption from ill-tamed sprouts of hair or building block skyscrapers being destroyed by little brothers. There….that will have to do….I thought as I sprayed my hair with “Extra Hold” hairspray. I put on my jewelry and began putting away all thirty thousand products that are required for me to be presentable each day. “Mom!” Caleb screamed as he burst in again, “You have to come now!” I glanced at the clock…8:30am….we would have to leave by 8:45am to get to church on time at 9:15am. I remembered that I had not yet cleaned up after breakfast and that little Chace was still prancing around in his pajamas with cream cheese spread on his face from one ear to the other. I think he uses the cream cheese as more of a face moisturizer than a condiment on his toast. I could feel my irritation level rising as the thought of being late to church crept up in my mind. “Caleb…..just what in the world is so important that you have to run in here every five minutes screaming for me?” I snapped. “Mom…Chace has made a mess in Harley’s dog food. You have to come see quick!” Caleb said pulling me by the arm. Harley is our 9 year old Pekingese. He is a perfect fit for our family because he is high maintenance like the rest of us. He refuses to eat out of a bowl and requires that his food be placed on a napkin in the floor. I was assuming that Chace had probably crashed through the dog food laying on the floor with one of his monster trucks and sent pieces flying through the kitchen. And, of course, I could foresee that Chace would attempt to convince me that it was all one horrible accident. I let Caleb lead me by the arm, making my frustration known by letting out a sigh of annoyance that mother’s are so known to do from time to time. As we walked down the hallway, nothing could have prepared me for what I saw. I had always prided myself that my children were never the type to get into things that they shouldn’t. I had seen so many cases on shows like “America’s Funniest Videos” of children getting into lotions or paints (or dog food!) and covering the floors with it as the parent video tapes laughing or reprimanding in a soft and calm voice. At that moment, there was no laughter or calmness in my soul. There sat my precious baby boy, in the middle of the kitchen, with the entire dog food bin turned upside down. He had his hands in the enormous pile, slinging them back and forth sending mounds of dog food flying through the air as if it were hailing through the ceiling. It was everywhere! The floors in the kitchen, living room, sunroom, dining room, and hallway were completely covered with pellets of dog food so that you had to move them out of the way with your toes before you could take your next step. After a quick scan of the area, I looked at Chace who was completely unaware that I was standing there. His facial expression was sheer glee…..a look of freedom and excitement that usually only comes when you do something you aren’t suppose to. “CHACE!” I yelled at an earth shattering level. He looked at me and his expression quickly changed from glee to absolute terror. I can only imagine in retrospect what my own face looked like. Probably something that not even Botox could straighten out. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? WHY DID YOU DO THIS!?” I continued yelling. “I don’t know Mommy….I sorry” he said in his best adorable “Chace voice”. I looked at the clock…8:40am…there was absolutely no way we could get this mess cleaned up and still get to church on time. I could not even tolerate the thought of leaving it that way mostly due to my need to have everything in order when I leave, but also because we were just recovering from an ant invasion earlier in the week. “YOU WILL PICK UP EVERY SINGLE PIECE AND PUT IT BACK IN THE BIN RIGHT NOW!” I continued ranting. “Ok, Mommy” he said and began picking up one morsel at a time. There must have been 3000 morsels scattered around him. I stood there for a minute trying to figure out the best way to clean up after an explosion of that magnitude. I headed out to the garage and found the broom. I began sweeping piles of dog food to Chace and he continued putting one morsel at a time into the bin. I was so angry and irritated that we would be late that I felt like crying. I wanted and needed so badly to be in church that morning, so that I could get refreshed and somehow push the reset button in my life. Chace looked up at me with tear stained eyes and said “Mommy…I can’t pick them all up. It too many.” I looked around feeling overwhelmed myself, knowing that if we waited for him to put each morsel in one by one, that by the time he was done, we would be going to church for my funeral after passing away peacefully at 99 years old. “Caleb,” I said “I know that you didn’t make any of this mess, but I really would appreciate you if you could help us get some of this dog food cleaned up.” He agreed with a smile and sat down with his brother and starting picking up handfuls in the piles that I had swept over. Fifteen minutes later I vacuumed up the last of the crumbs and glanced at the clock….8:55am. I scooped up Chace and dressed him as fast as possible, brushing his teeth so fast that I don’t even think the bristles touched his teeth. “Both of you get your shoes on and get in the car.” I barked as I rushed to get my purse and keys. We all piled in the car and as we pulled out of the driveway, I let out a sigh of relief that although we would be a few minutes late, at least I would be there in time to hear at least the last few notes of the praise and worship music. We were meeting Jim there, so hopefully he would have our seats already saved. Chace and I had “the talk” in the car about what he had done and after his sincere apology and oath that he would never again cause such mayhem (at least not on a Sunday morning), all was forgiven and my inner rage began to subside. I turned on Christian radio and began singing along softly and completely out of tune to the uplifting song that was playing. “Mom….I dropped my car in the floor. Could you please hand it to me?” Caleb asked. As we slowed at the red light almost at the half way mark on our journey to church, I reached back to feel for the missing toy car and instead felt Caleb’s bare foot. I looked back at him, and sure enough there were no shoes in sight. I looked on the floor and saw nothing but a tiny blue car. I could feel the rage that had just started to settle come bubbling up all over again. “Caleb….where are your shoes?” I tried to ask in the most calm voice that I could muster up. “Um…” he said nervously as he looked on the floor to see if by some miracle the shoes had run along behind us and were going to jump in the car at any moment. “I guess I forgot them.” He finally answered. I looked at the clock….9:10am….there was no way possible that we could get his shoes and get to church even before the last alter call. Well….I was done with it. It just wasn’t meant for me to get to church that day. I called Jim and as soon as he answered I blurted out that we just weren’t coming to church because Chace couldn’t behave and Caleb forgot his shoes. After a slight chuckle he said “Do you want me to just run by Target and pick up Caleb a pair of shoes?” “Jim…” I said, my annoyance clear, “There is no time for that. Church starts in 5 minutes. We will be so late by that point that it won’t even matter that his feet are bare because church will be over!” I heard him chuckle a little again and I thought that one of my un-Botoxed wrinkles were going to shoot off from my angered expression straight through the phone and hit him right between the eyes. “Honey,” he said in a sweet voice that revealed the smile on his face “church doesn’t even start until 9:45.” I sat there for a moment pondering that and wondered if was possible that I really could have the beginning stages of a memory loss disease at the ripe age of 30. He was right….church definitely started at 9:45, so why in the world did I think it began at 9:15? Nevertheless, I was thankful for my mistake because maybe we could make it on time after all! We agreed that Jim could pick up some shoes for Caleb and we would meet him in the parking lot. Forty minutes later, I was standing in church, eyes closed and hands lifted high. The kids were checked happily in their classes, Caleb’s bare feet covered by flip flops a size too small, and Jim and I stood side by side in the sanctuary. The music was incredible that morning and my soul was beginning to settle in and give praise to the Lord. “…like a child in awe of you….” the song sang. I could hear the whisper of Jesus beginning to speak to my soul. He took me back to the events of the morning and began to tell me the story in a different way…. It was me there….instead of Chace….sitting in the floor at the beginning of my day with a bin in my lap. But the contents were not dog food, but sin. I had started my day with a clean floor….a clean slate. But the temptation was too great and I had to open the box. The urge for the glee and exhilaration that comes with dumping out that sin box was too enticing, so I turned over the box and laughed with glee as it all came flooding out. I put my hands in it and began slinging them back and forth with sin flying in every direction. It was so much fun until all of the pile had diminished and there was nothing left in front of me to play with. Instead it was scattered out as far as I could see. Now what do I do? This mess is too big for me…..why did I do that? How can I start over and get it all back in the bin? I looked up…. and saw Jesus….not with rage or anger in his eyes, as I had shown in my own face when I was looking at Chace earlier. But instead I saw sympathy and worry. He stood there and waited patiently, as if He knew I was going to speak.. I looked around again and I knew that there was no way I could clean this up by myself. I needed Him. “Jesus…” I said quietly, “I have made such a mess of things….I am so sorry for what I have done. I love you and know that you are my rock and my Savior. I know that you died for my sins and that I will always find your help when I ask for it, even though I do not deserve it. Please forgive me. Please help me clean up this mess that I have created and help keep me from making more in the future.” Jesus began to smile and his face radiated with joy and love. He stretched out his arm and it became like the wing of an eagle. He began to sweep all of my sin up in a pile beside me and I knew it was up to me to choose to put it back in the bin. To choose Him…over my selfish ways. I knew it would be hard, but with His help I knew I could do it. I began putting handfuls back in the box….slowly at first dropping a few pieces as I went. I looked up at Him and said “Please Lord, I can‘t pick them all up by myself. I need help.” He smiled and from the corner of my eye I saw an angel appear beside me and the angel began picking up pieces of my sin and putting them in the box with me. I thought of Caleb and how he gladly bent down and helped his brother clean up the mess earlier. I felt renewed and stronger with the angel‘s help and then it became easier and I was finishing it so quickly. Before long all of the pieces were back in the box and Jesus helped me put the lid on it. He smiled and I did too. I looked around at the shiny floor and was amazed that Jesus could get it so clean. Get me so clean….after being so stained. I opened my eyes and found myself back in church and a new song played. I thought of the story that Jesus had just given me and I rejoiced in my heart. I know now that each day of our lives we sit perfectly clean….renewed each morning…all of our sin neatly contained. It is up to us if we choose to remove the lid and start spilling out a mess into our lives and into the lives of those around us. Some days for me, I only take out one mistake at a time, and sometimes I fail and end up dumping out the whole box. But I am so thankful, that each time I can look up and see a sweeping wing of my Savior helping me to clean up my soul once again. But it is up to me to choose to put it back in the box. Sometimes when the mess gets too big, Jesus will send me an angel, a friend, to lend a helping hand just as Caleb willingly helped his brother. I prayed and thanked Jesus for loving me and for His strength when I am weak. And I thanked Him fully for teaching me this lesson from the eyes of a child. “ …to be like a child in awe of Him” Thank you, Jesus. #tbt #fromthearchives2008
Posted on: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 12:29:34 +0000
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