Wasted Tears

Last night for dinner, Aubrey was in a very emotional mood, whining and crying over the simplest thing. It started with the her and Elijah going at it, and her hauling off and smacking her brother, then getting sent to her room. That in itself was a small struggle, so she had to wait a little bit before coming to the dinner table. She seemed in anguish about waiting for dinner, complaining that she was so hungry that her "belly ache." But when she finally was allowed to join us for dinner, her bowl of chilli must not have been what she expected, and she decided immediately that it was (the usual), "yucky." She whinned about the "white" (sour cream), and wanted it "out." Then she wanted a napkin to wipe it off her spoon. Then she sobbed about the yucky black things (beans) and begged to have them removed. And she was almost in tears when some of the chilli fell off her spoon. At that breakdown, I brokedown myself... in laughter. The absurdity of it all just overtook me and I busted out laughing. I also couldn't help myself in imitating the ridiculous display that I was witnessing. It's probably not the pinnacle of parenthood to mock your children, but I rather enjoyed complaining about the color and of my glass and the poor choice of direction of the wind.

But I also realize that I actually do this in reality. I complain about things that must seem absurd to our Heavenly Father. With such a limited perspective, it's easy to get tunnel vision and just see the tragedy of our food slipping off our spoon and think that the end is near. We fail to see how often our tears are wasted on unworthy issues... well, I know mine are. If only I would see things from my Father's perspective, then I could more accurately navigate through life and emotionally respond more appropriately to life's circumstances.

And for the record, Aubrey did finally eat her chilli in order to receive some precious fruit (some slices of pear and apple).