#MommaDiaries | WWJD?

RL has been learning about Jesus in his Christian Living class in school. The past two weeks, we've been reading his lessons over and over again. The kids are learning about how Jesus is God's greatest gift to us, and how we can be children of God by following Jesus' example. Today, RL got to apply this lesson. Momma ended up learning from it, too.

I took RL to the office because he was going to get picked up by his bus there today. A had a doctor's appointment so I didn't have time to drop RL off properly, as we were rushing to make it to the clinic on time. What I didn't know was that in the office, Lola B (who has been working for the family business for the past 30 or so years) saw RL and gave him a 500-Peso bill. She loves showering the grandchildren and great grandchildren with gifts, so this wasn't something unexpected. However, because I wasn't in the office, and neither was my dad, RL thought it would be wise to keep the money in his pant pocket.

RL has always been very careful about money.
He was really disappointed today.

Earlier this evening, when he got home from school, he was crying because he lost the money. He was saying he placed it in his bag, and when he got to class, it was no longer there. He couldn't have lost it, because he says he placed it in a small pocket inside a bigger zipped pocket where it would be impossible for it to accidentally fall out. Plus anyone who opens that pocket wouldn't see the bill. Besides, he never opens that part of his bag, because it isn't big enough to hold anything (well, except for a 500-Peso bill). I couldn't console him at first - he was feeling really bad about losing a gift. So I told him that it was just money, and that the person who took it probably needed it. Went on to explain that even if someone stole it, he needed to forgive whoever took the money. And that we should follow Jesus' example on being forgiving - even when people did things to hurt Him. Then we prayed. We asked the Lord to bless whoever took the money, but at the same time convict that person. And we asked God to take care of RL's loss, but also asked Him to teach RL to forgive. God knew exactly what happened and we don't. We didn't really see who took it, but He did. So we asked God to handle it. I then asked God to send his comfort and peace to overwhelm RL (so he'd stop crying).

After he calmed down, we assessed what had happened and how it happened. RL told us that when he was in the school bus, about halfway to school, he took out his handkerchief, and the bill fell to the floor. The bus lady saw him pick the money up from the floor and when he was about to put it back in his pant pocket, she goes "Put it in your bag! Put it in your bag!" And so he did. For all to see. There were only two other people in the bus - another first grader and his nanny. RL says his bag stayed next to him the whole time and no one else touched it. Except when the bus lady took it out of the bus when they got to school. It took a while for RL to get off since he sits inside and the other student and his nanny sit closer to the door. So when he got off, the bus lady handed him his bag, and he pulls it to the waiting area (a classroom) where he sits and waits for class. Bag stays next to him the whole time. Bag also stays next to him the whole time in the classroom. Again, no one touched it. After Music, which is the second subject for Tuesday, he decides to take a peek and finds the bill gone! He searches through his whole bag, but it is no longer there.

When I heard his retelling, I wanted to call the bus operator (a co-parent, who also happens to be a lawyer), and tell him about the incident. I also wanted to text the bus lady, but I decided to call KY first. After discussing the whole situation with her, and hearing my own advice to RL and our prayer in that retelling, I couldn't believe I reacted that way. We agreed that I should pray about it first, and that I shouldn't do anything just yet. Besides, we don't really know who took the money.

As I went back to tutoring RL, he tells me that he now feels better, because we had prayed for comfort.

RL: "Mom, why do we have to pray for those who hurt us? For the bad people?"
K: "Because they probably don't know that what they did was wrong."
RL: "But why?"
K: "I don't know..." 

I pause to think a bit, and my thoughts bring me to R and how much he has hurt us, and yet we choose to pray for him. Still.

K: "Because we can't do anything about it, and we can't control them, so we pray for them."
RL: "You know why, Mom? Because that's what Jesus would do. He prayed for those that hurt him. He loves them even if they sin."

Ok, so I learned something from the little boy.

Today, RL learned a good lesson on following Jesus' example. Momma learned that parenting actually is also about teaching yourself as much as it is about making sure your kids grow up to be good people.


"Train children to live the right way, and when they are old, they will not stray from it." Proverbs 22:6 (NCV)

Thank you, Lord, for today.