Little Eyes, Road Rage & Jesus

Last year, I was driving a couple of neighbor kids to school and had an eye-opening experience.

The first day, while I was scowling and muttering unkind things in the direction of the car in front of me, they commented that they had never seen me mad before. Their comment stung my heart and I tried to cover it up. I wasn’t mad, just a little frustrated with the other drivers.

(For the record, rush hour traffic jams in Denver, Colorado where we used to live have nothing on the school zone traffic in this small Texas town.)

The next day went even worse.

While I was explaining to the car in front of me (that couldn’t hear a word I was saying) that backing up wasn’t an option at this point, the kids all wanted to know all the juicy details. I had visions of them running home to tell their momma just what kind of a driver she had entrusted her precious kiddos with. Unfortunately, the driver of the other vehicle was unaware of my dilemma and angrily peeled away, adding more fuel to the flame of embarrassment that was growing within me.

Road Rage Reflections

After safely delivering the kids to school, I realized what a failure I was.

And worse, how used to it my kids were. Someone once told me that you can tell the most about a person by how they act when they don’t think anyone is watching. I think there is a lot of truth to that.

Have you ever noticed that our kids see the real us? It doesn’t matter what we say, they watch what we do. They see the good, the bad, and the ugly. They see what’s real. They evaluate our priorities, and judge our motives.

A couple years back I had noticed that every time I asked my kids to start cleaning up, they would respond by wanting to know who was coming over. They had deduced that we only clean to impress others. I learned a lot about myself from that, and we have since changed things up. I want to instill that we don’t have to clean ourselves up for others.

Our kids take all the information they get from us and apply it to their lives in one way or another. They don’t just take our words, our pretty facades, or the front we try to portray. They take in all of that, and weigh it against the real us. The us we are when we think no one is looking. The us underneath it all. And then, heaven help us, they become mini reflections of all of it.

Pointing To Jesus

Thankfully, we can use each and every failure to point them back to Jesus.

We will never be perfect. But we know the One who is. We will always fail, but God is full of grace and forgiveness.

My hope is that while my kids know I am a total mess, they also know I love Jesus with all that I have in me.

I hope that they know He is real and that He loves them even more than I do.

Because when all is said and done, that’s what really matters.

Bad habits may be hard to break, but with God’s help they can get through anything.

When all is said and done, it’s all about Jesus.

Join The Conversation

Do you struggle with road rage or have any other habits you know your kids are used to? How do you use your weaknesses to point your kids to Jesus? Or is this an area where you struggle? We would love to hear from you in the comments below.

If you liked this blog post, you’ll love Heather’s new book, Candid Conversations. While each story shares a unique perspective, the prevailing theme is that we all struggle, but there is hope to be found in Jesus. Get your copy from Amazon or click here to learn more.