This post may contain affiliate links, which means we may receive a small commission when you make a purchase at NO additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting our site in this way!
There’s a level of familiarity we have with close friends and family that’s comforting, but can also backfire on us.
I’ve come to observe that my 7 year old, while almost always polite, is often much more thoughtful when speaking to her teachers and strangers than when talking to me, her own mother.
While I appreciate that she’s so comfortable with me that she can say whatever she wants, her mouth often can get her in trouble.
I’m not talking rude, but simply speaking before she thinks.
But then it made me think about how I’ve spoken to my own mother over the years.
I can’t say I’ve always given her the respect she’s deserved. As a single mom for the majority of my life, she sacrificed more than I’ll ever know…yet I often probably treated her as if I deserved it all…and more.
How often did I thank her for the everyday? How often do I now take time to call her and show my love and gratitude for who she is and all she has been to me?
The answer is: not enough. Yet she loves me anyway.
We assume that those closest to us will automatically have to forgive us of our faults, but realistically, how often can someone take the same thoughtless words and behavior over and over before they crack?
I’m thankful that we have a Lord and Savior that we can bring our burdens to, yet who will not crack under our pressures; one makes Himself familiar to us, but who knows us better than we could ever know ourselves.
You have searched me, LORD,
and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways. ~ Psalm 139:1-3
