Little Thief

I wasn't prepared for this at all. We had a play date with a sweet friend on Tuesday morning and nothing out of the ordinary happened. Really, the kids played pretty well together. Lots of great sharing and everyone seemed to be happy as we parted ways to return home.

On Wednesday morning, almost 24 hours after being at our friend's house, our four year old walks into the kitchen and opens her little hands to reveal her friends FAVORITE train. I was speechless. I think my eyes almost popped out of my head. Knowing exactly where she got it I asked, "where did you get that train?". Haley says, "from our friend's house?" I say, "did you ask if you could borrow his FAVORITE train?" Haley says, "no, I sneaked it out of his house." I say, "how did you sneak it out?" She clasps her hands behind her back then clasps them in front of her body. Shock and awe from mom.

"Why would you do that?" I ask. Haley replies, "Because he did not want to share it with me." Oh, my word. How could my daughter purposely want to take her friend's favorite toy without asking and maliciously plot to hide the evidence from me? Could she really be this deceptive and sneaky?

Apparently, the guilt of taking the train overwhelmed her causing her to admit her sin. She couldn't take it any more. I guess that the lie wasn't as fun as she had hoped it would be. Hiding the train away wasn't that exciting after all. After many tears, lots of apologies and hopefully a discussion that will impact her choices in the future, Haley seems to understand that we don't take things from others without asking.

I know, we all have to live and learn. I remember vividly the consequences of taking a piece of candy from a restaurant and how humiliated I was returning to apologize. It did make a lasting impression. I can only hope that this whole situation had a similar impact on Haley. She did seem genuinely sorry. In fact at every meal that day and at bedtime she prayed, "Lord thank you for this day, forgive me for my bad choices and help me make good choices tomorrow."

It is good that we serve a God who understands our sin nature. Just like Haley, we are all sinners who want to do things we know we shouldn't. The guilt consumes us to leading us straight back into our Father's arms. Thank goodness we can be free from our sin, washed clean and be restored in our relationship with the Father.