Taking the Higher Road

Psalm 15

A psalm of David.

1 Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent?
    Who may live on your holy mountain?

2 The one whose walk is blameless,
    who does what is righteous,
    who speaks the truth from their heart;
3 whose tongue utters no slander,
    who does no wrong to a neighbor,
    and casts no slur on others;
4 who despises a vile person
    but honors those who fear the Lord;
who keeps an oath even when it hurts,
    and does not change their mind;
5 who lends money to the poor without interest;
    who does not accept a bribe against the innocent.

Whoever does these things
    will never be shaken.

There was a time when I would be the one to "take the higher road." I would listen to the insistent whining of my child and I would calmly tell them to take a nap, or adjust their attitude, take a deep breath... whatever. But that time has come and gone. I am NOT righteous these day. To tell you the truth; JDub is way more righteous than I am lately. And I'm not gonna lie... it bothers me?!

Ok... so maybe JDub has ALWAYS been more righteous than I am.

Reasons why JDub is a better person than I am....

1. A few months back we were at Target. We pulled in and I noticed there was a cart in the corral that had a case of beer in the under carriage part. I thought "Free beer lets get it!" When I pointed it out to JDub... he grabbed it and took it into customer service and told them someone had left it in the cart...

2. In the car the other day Bubba and Ceej decided they wanted to play the quiet game.. they played while I sang along with the radio.. Bubba kept telling me (quite rudely by the way) to be quiet... and I was losing the quiet game... I ignored him and kept singing. Then Bubba repeatedly yelled at me to stop singing over and over... and finally I yelled back that I wanted to sing and to leave me alone! To which JDub says "Take the high road honey!"

3. Bubba and I have been butting heads like crazy lately... he has been extremely disrespectful and rude telling me he's going to shoot me, or he can't wait til he grows up and can play star wars whenever he wants.. etc... sometimes I put him in time out or say he can't talk to me in that way... or sometimes I say things like "Good, I can't wait til you grow up and get out of my house either! How does that make you feel?!"  (and then Bubba will start crying..) JDub usually hears this and pulls Bubba aside telling him he can't talk to me that way and to apologize. I apologize too...

I have to admit I am embarrassed by my behavior as of late. There's no excuse really. I am the adult; I should behave like one. I guess its a good thing God gives us things like grace. It's also a good thing God gives us people in our lives who remind us of it (even when it makes us want to punch them in the face sometimes!! Love you honey! :) )

Ephesians 2:8-9

New International Version (NIV)

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

So here's to taking the higher road... or at least to trying a little harder at it!