Forgiveness and Funnies
A few cute, funny, or warm-hearted things happened this week that I need to note.
1. I discovered little two-year-old Tian on the floor, holding a baby doll with one hand on the wrist and the other on the head, teaching it to sign "daddy". He was saying, "Baba. Baba." (Which means "daddy" in Mandrin.)
2. Outside the other night, the Brownies were playing with friends. Ken and I were watching the two littles ride their new Strider Bikes. As we were gathering up the boys to come inside, I asked TJ to grab one of the Striders. TJ was lagging behind and one of his friends, who happens to be Black (that will matter in a second), asked TJ if he could ride the Strider. TJ told him that, no, it's just for our family. (Truly, he should have said it's just for the little boys, but I digress.) TJ's friend ran to his sister, who was playing with our girls, and said, "TJ just told me only white people can ride that bike!" We all cracked up. Either he was being silly or he really misunderstood TJ. The boy's sister just looked at him and said, "I don't know you."
3. Such a sweet thing happened this week. Hannah was getting a little bit rowdy playing with the boys. She was on the floor, roughhousing with Travis when his head accidentally slammed into her nose. She began crying in pain, saying that she heard a crack. Ouch! Not hearing her cry or seeing her face that she had buried in her hands, Travis just laughed. I pulled him off of her and then jumped up to get her into the kitchen for some ice.
After getting a bag of ice on her nose, I went back into the bedroom to find Travis, standing with his face hidden in the side of the crib, looking sad and scared. It hit me: This boy has NO idea what's going to happen to him! He doesn't have history with our family to have any clue. I knelt down in front of him, lifted his face, and rubbed his forehead, asking if he was okay. With that, he began sobbing a sad, hurtful sob that broke my heart. I hugged him, kissed his forehead 50 times, rocked him and hugged him tighter. He cried for a good 3 minutes. He doesn't normally cry much, but I know his "physical hurt" cry. His tears weren't from a bumped head. He was grieved over what happened and it seemed he felt like he did something wrong.
Hannah came in, still full of tears herself, and sat down. He looked at her and she told him it was okay, she knew it was an accident. She held out her arms to him and he smiled and ran to her, hugging and kissing her over and over.
Forgiveness. Had he experienced that before? Had he simply been "put away" until the situation calmed down? Had he been punished in such circumstances? Had he just been given the silent treatment?
After the hugging stopped, I explained to both boys that, in our family, we forgive just like Jesus forgave us. We don't hold grudges. Accident or not, we forgive. Period.
Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:13
I told Hannah that I'm sorry she hurt her nose, but I was glad that happened. The boys are adjusting so well that I sometimes neglect to think about the fact that they haven't been with us, therefore they can't anticipate what our reactions will be to new events.
1. I discovered little two-year-old Tian on the floor, holding a baby doll with one hand on the wrist and the other on the head, teaching it to sign "daddy". He was saying, "Baba. Baba." (Which means "daddy" in Mandrin.)
2. Outside the other night, the Brownies were playing with friends. Ken and I were watching the two littles ride their new Strider Bikes. As we were gathering up the boys to come inside, I asked TJ to grab one of the Striders. TJ was lagging behind and one of his friends, who happens to be Black (that will matter in a second), asked TJ if he could ride the Strider. TJ told him that, no, it's just for our family. (Truly, he should have said it's just for the little boys, but I digress.) TJ's friend ran to his sister, who was playing with our girls, and said, "TJ just told me only white people can ride that bike!" We all cracked up. Either he was being silly or he really misunderstood TJ. The boy's sister just looked at him and said, "I don't know you."
3. Such a sweet thing happened this week. Hannah was getting a little bit rowdy playing with the boys. She was on the floor, roughhousing with Travis when his head accidentally slammed into her nose. She began crying in pain, saying that she heard a crack. Ouch! Not hearing her cry or seeing her face that she had buried in her hands, Travis just laughed. I pulled him off of her and then jumped up to get her into the kitchen for some ice.
After getting a bag of ice on her nose, I went back into the bedroom to find Travis, standing with his face hidden in the side of the crib, looking sad and scared. It hit me: This boy has NO idea what's going to happen to him! He doesn't have history with our family to have any clue. I knelt down in front of him, lifted his face, and rubbed his forehead, asking if he was okay. With that, he began sobbing a sad, hurtful sob that broke my heart. I hugged him, kissed his forehead 50 times, rocked him and hugged him tighter. He cried for a good 3 minutes. He doesn't normally cry much, but I know his "physical hurt" cry. His tears weren't from a bumped head. He was grieved over what happened and it seemed he felt like he did something wrong.
Hannah came in, still full of tears herself, and sat down. He looked at her and she told him it was okay, she knew it was an accident. She held out her arms to him and he smiled and ran to her, hugging and kissing her over and over.
Forgiveness. Had he experienced that before? Had he simply been "put away" until the situation calmed down? Had he been punished in such circumstances? Had he just been given the silent treatment?
After the hugging stopped, I explained to both boys that, in our family, we forgive just like Jesus forgave us. We don't hold grudges. Accident or not, we forgive. Period.
Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:13
I told Hannah that I'm sorry she hurt her nose, but I was glad that happened. The boys are adjusting so well that I sometimes neglect to think about the fact that they haven't been with us, therefore they can't anticipate what our reactions will be to new events.
Hooray for sweet learning experiences!
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