lessons learned...

interesting morning for us. yesterday i was off, got to have all the kiddos at home. in the midst of the day, we talked hand washing. not the biblical kind, but the 'after you eat and go to the bathroom' kind. our kids do the quick version -- run in, little foam soap, and the cold water rinse that takes approximately 3 seconds start to finish. so fast that we rarely even hear the water run. but we can tell they do as they come out with wet hands (another issue) and smell of coconut and limes.

after a particularly quick run, we all went back to the bathroom for a demonstration. i showed them how to turn on both handles to make the water warm, how to scrub the hands and nails and stuff to begin eliminating germs, and then the rinse to wash away said germage. we then had a tutorial on the drying process so that we don't leave soapy handprints on everything and everyone. (you are all thinking, 'freakshow'. that's about right...) kristyn and brady seemed to understand and i thought, 'cool. that might have actually worked'. well, i did. and it backfired.

this morning, as i'm walking back to get my bag for work, brady is crying. he's standing at the sink, on the stool, tears rolling down his cheeks. kari asks what happened. as he was washing his hands, doing what daddy had instructed, he got the hot water on too hot. and his little hands got toasted a bit...no damage done, nothing to worry about, just more the initial shock and pain of the water being a bit too hot. kari ran the cold on it, making his hand super red, but lessing the pain; a few hugs and kisses made everything better and life moved on. which brings me to this...

i was trying to teach my kids something that would be useful, healthy, and important. i showed them how to do this, and then let them run with it. that led to the following of instruction and the subsquent pain that occured. i'm thinking about God and how instruction, handing off, and pain tend to follow. the hand wash is a minature version of how God deals with me...i hear the instruction, go with what i've been told, and then often stumble about, and 'hurt' a bit in the process until i get things right. how come this happens? i imagine experience is the best teacher, and that we've got to get it wrong sometimes to get it right. it was crazy hard for me when this happened -- the last thing i wanted was for my little man to hurt himself, but i suppose that he may have learned in the process. i have to think God is the same way -- He is bummed about the stubbed toes we endure, but overall understands that it's part of the deal...a good lesson for all of us, eh?