A Mother's Pride

So...something pretty amazing happened this past weekend after one of our church services. As I was getting ready to leave Saturday night, my son walked up to me with this strange expression and tone in his voice. He came up to me quietly and said, "Mom, I think _____ is out of prison." I asked him why he thought that and he replied, "Because I think he's here." Me, being the "curious" person that I am and having known this individuals parents for years, made my way out of the nursery to see, as well as introduce myself to this particular person.

For those of you reading this that don't know the story, shortly after the Virginia Tech tragedy there was a local threat made (allegedly) to the schools which caused most of them to go into lock down. I remember this day very clearly. My mom had called with the news as soon as I arrived at work. The story itself was bad...and the end of the story was the reality that we knew this person.

...it was the beginning of what could have been a parent's worst nightmare. Thankfully, it wasn't.

Anyway, the other night I was speaking with this family and introduced myself to their son. It was then that my son came to my side and I introduced the two of them. (now for obvious reasons, Nick knew exactly who this person was) And it was at that moment, when my own child extended a Christ-like act of grace and compassion. He immediately extended his hand to shake the hand of a convicted felon. Here was this 12-year old child, displaying an act of kindness and in his own little gesture, forgiveness. It hit me pretty hard. How often do grown adults fail to do this very thing? How quickly we forget that God has shown undeserving grace and mercy to all of us, yet when it comes to us showing mercy to others? We seem to find every excuse under the sun as to why we shouldn't. As I watched Nick, there was absolutely no hesitation in his actions. And that brought tears to my eyes and blessed my heart.

Matthew 9:10-13 says, "While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means. 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.""
12-13 in the Message reads, (and I love this...) "Jesus, overhearing, shot back, "Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? Go figure out what this Scripture means: 'I'm after mercy, not religion.' I'm here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders."

...loving the unlovable, showing compassion to the "least of these," granting what we may consider to be "undeserving mercy."

My son taught me a lesson this weekend...