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Painful Lessons

"Mom, thank you for telling me to do something nicely. You're the only parent I have that does that."

My six-year-old's precocious observation made my heart hurt.

"I don't really like my dad, but I still love him. Does that make sense?" I nodded my head sadly.

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart." I hugged my boy tightly and ruffled his messy blonde hair. "Daddy acts the way he does because his heart is sick."

"Right, because if you don't have Jesus in your heart, it gets all icky and dirty," he observed.

"That's right. That's why we pray for daddy every night," I reminded him. "We just have to forgive Daddy because he doesn't know what he's doing."

Moments like that keep my head straight. It doesn't matter whether I get a break or not. It doesn't matter if their dad bails on countless weekends at a time. They know their mother loves them unconditionally, and my oldest already has a keen understanding of the human heart. I'm just sorry that he has to grow up like this to develop it.

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