Tender Hearted

Nathan has always been my tender-hearted one. It is one of the character traits in him that I just cherish! It is very rare for him to be mean or spiteful in his words or actions. After taking tips from his younger brother, he has tried, but is usually unsuccessful and ends up laughing. It is just not in his nature, and he can't help but laugh when he tries.

Tonight, for whatever reason, the boys were argumentative. They seemed to bicker over every little toy tonight. They ended up getting a quick bath and early bedtime as a result of it

As they were getting on their jammies, I heard Nathan whipping around his clothes and ultimately hitting his brother. Drew doesn't let anything slide; and made sure that I heard the pain that was caused to him, along with everyone else in the neighborhood. Nathan confessed rather quickly that he had indeed hit his brother. The consequence in our house for hitting or purposeful hurting of a brother is a spanking. He immediately showed remorse (probably so he could get out of his consequence - it didn't work).

It was a light swat with the paddle, but very much hurt him. The thing that struck me even more so was the hurt and remorse he showed because of his heart hurting. It was so genuine. He knew what he had done was wrong, and the pain that this guilt caused was much greater than the hurt the paddle put on his tooshie. It was so obvious, you could see it on his face and hear it in his cries. He was truly sorry.

I put them both to bed, kissed them, and didn't hear a sound for twenty minutes. I was just about to head downstairs when I heard Nathan. He was still upset over what he had done, and had gotten out of his bed to go rub his brothers back. Drew was still awake as well, which allowed us to go in there and talk about what happened, ask for forgiveness, and go to bed with a clear conscience. It was such a sweet lesson to watch my boys learn!

I can only pray that this tenderness and sweet spirit will grow, as he does. So often, we become calloused to the sins and offenses we commit - and don't cry out for the guilt that pains us so. Nathan's desire for forgiveness was so great that he couldn't even sleep. It made me reflect on my own heart. Do I lay awake at night due to a guilty conscience? Do I cry out in pain over a sin committed? What a precious picture of forgiveness my five year old gave me tonight.