FAMILY SNIPPET - IMPERFECTIONS
I was painting one of the rooms in our home the other day and Matthew, our 6-year old child, wanted to help me. While I traced the edges of the room with the paint brush, I gave him the chance to use the paint roller and apply paint to the large part of the wall to where he could reach.
I obviously had to keep an eye on him while he was busy, as well as examine the whole area after he declared his completion of the job.
While examining his work, I admitted that it was quite good for a 6-year old who never painted in his life, even though there were gaps and imperfections in his work, which I had to correct afterwards.
I remember saying to myself that I could keep him out of this room and not help me again, or I could allow him to do the second coat, after I have corrected his imperfections without him knowing, and thus make him feel proud of doing a great job. I decided the latter and called him when the next coat was ready to be applied.
After the whole room had been painted, I realised that giving him that responsibility was a very good experience for both him and me. For him was the pride he had for being able to do a good job and have his father be proud of him and complementing him. For me was to see his face light up in pride, and running to his mom to come and admire his handiwork.
I learnt two valuable lessons that day. The first lesson I learnt was that my families’ imperfections in actions and character are minor compared to the value they have as person and part of my family. The second lesson I learnt was that the ‘forgiving and forgetting’ virtue is valuable to the health of any relationship.
C.S. Lewis wrote this: “To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you”
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