My heart sank and as a million thoughts ran through my head, my son was no where in sight. What is that boy doing? and running? I sent him to get a can of olives. What is taking so long and what trouble could he have gotten into?
"Yes, that is my son."
"Well, I just wanted to tell you that he knocked over an entire stand of food at the end of the isle. And do you know what he did?"
(Me, in my head) Oh man, what did he do?
But I just stared at her blankly, not knowing what to actually say.
"Well, he immediately bent over and started picking it all up, and even when the worker came to help, your son kept right on going until the very last item was back in its spot. I'll just have you know that people aren't teaching respect or manners these days and not another kid in this store would have done that. I just wanted thank you for raising your son properly!"
Wow. "Thank you, ma'am, for taking the time to let me know."
What an incredible encouragement to me! I tend focus on the failures and short comings. I was more than encouraged. I was immediately convicted about my negative assumption, namely my irritation, that my son was taking so long. And the fact that if I had known about the knocked over stand, I probably would have been upset instead of focused on my son's proper response.
Can I just say, I really appreciate that this woman took the time to find me, and without realizing it, showed me the error of my negative thinking...
and if that wasn't enough~
Later in the check out line, an elderly woman pointed at Boy and said to me, "You have a fine young son there, he helped me get these items into my cart. What a gentlemen."
Thank you my son.
Even a child makes himself known by his acts, by whether his conduct is pure and upright. ~ Proverbs 20:11
Good job, Boy! That's a Jesus-heart :) (And kudos, mom and Mr. Pilot!!)
ReplyDeleteThat's just what I would expect from him. He's such a gentleman already.
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