“So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another.” Romans 14:12-13 (NIV)
A group of teenage boys decided to have a little fun by toilet papering a classmate’s yard and used post-it notes to leave behind a message. My first thought was post-it notes? How clever! And so much easier to cleanup over the spray paint of my day. But what started out as a playful prank took a turn for the worse as snap chats and instagram documented a harsh truth; the content of the message was rude and a bit crude. I switched gears and quickly faced reality; after all, one of the boys was mine.
This I know to be true. It’s difficult to acknowledge when our kids make bad choices.
One mother focused on pointing fingers and finding fault. Although her son had participated, it wasn’t his idea. She voiced her concern by shifting the blame, “Exactly what were those boys thinking?” I came to a different conclusion: at this point, it was irrelevant who thought up the idea. Now was the time to make amends and make things right. Others joined me and saw an opportunity to learn a life lesson.
We helped our boys face the situation head-on and spring into action on clean-up duty. Thankfully, the family was understanding and graciously accepted their outreach of apologies. The teens took responsibility for their actions and learned about doing what’s right for next time. If these tangible lessons of accountability and responsibility take hold, I believe it’s a step (albeit erratic) in the right direction.
I’m thinking ahead here. A post-it note heart might be a clever way to invite a date to the prom.
Don’t make excuses! Take responsibility for the choices you make and model this behavior for your children.
