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Good for Evil

This picture sums up our past week. When Silas Smith gets sick, whether simple sniffles, a tummy ache, or full blown pink eye, he is not himself. While most people are somewhat different when tired or hurting, there are definitely some that handle it better than others.
Our country has certainly experienced its share of hurt this past week too. As I've been trucking along through the monotony of First and Second Kings in the Bible, I (forever literature teacher) saw the striking applicable connections between then and now.
The kings of the old testament often times continued on with the "evil that their fathers had done" for many generations. When we are brought up around prejudice, self-righteousness, entitlement and the like, no matter how outright or subtle, it becomes ingrained in our psyche. It isn't until we consciously choose to examine our upbringing and surroundings and seek to know a world outside our own that we can decipher truth from lies. There is so much evil in the world, and when we are taught that something different is something evil, we begin to show our own evil instincts.

While my boys can be precious and sweet, I know that there is natural ugliness that must be weeded out, and it always shows it's ugly face when planted with tiredness or illness. If you think anyone has perfect kids, wait until they are all tired and you'll decide otherwise. Levi seems to have a higher tolerance for doctors visits (for obvious reasons), than his older brother. When I took the boys to the doc on Monday to get a pink eye verification, Silas not only tried to bite the doctor when she was listening to his heart, but he proceeded to try and spit on her when she tried to look at his ears. I was mortified at his outlandish behavior and even more frustrated at his stubborn inability to apologize afterwards. It wasn't until two days later that he heard a children's song about Romans 12:21, which says, "Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good," that he said, "Mommy I was evil the last two days." While that wasn't my first choice of words, I didn't fully disagree with him either.

This world may have evil in it, but that doesn't mean we should repay evil with evil. We must choose to love even when we aren't receiving it in return because that's the only way to show what Jesus really looked like on Earth, and as a frustrated mommy this week, I need this reminder more than anyone.

Thank goodness Levi didn't lose weight at his appointment yesterday. He only gained 5 ounces, but I'll take it. We are continuing to try to get him to eat more by mouth and less at night, and now we have a new hand splint that I'll attempt to strap on his right arm during bedtime.

It's been my experience that after a tough week, there's usually some rays of sunshine on the horizon! Here's to those sweet moments in the future!

May God bless you in whatever kind of hurt you may be in this week.

~Goodness Buster

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