A Lesson on Honesty

A couple weeks ago I went to the grocery store with the kids. It was nearing dinner time, and we were rushing trying to get home as soon as we could, to get dinner going. But I did need to get a few things, so we had to make a quick trip. The kids were excited by all the Christmas stuff displayed and couldn't resist picking up lots of things and begging and pleading to buy them. I was getting annoyed at their whining and persistence, when I just wanted to get what was on the list and go home. Brynlee, in particular, was having a rough time. After scolding them for their behavior and probably threatening something super scary like taking toys away, they stopped asking for things and we got out of the store.

It wasn't until a little while after we got home that I saw Brynlee trying to hide something from me in her hand. I looked again before she could hide it and recognized it as one of the reindeer pens she really wanted at the store. The one I told her "No, we will not buy that, put it back!"

There it was, in our house, and I knew I didn't pay for it. Shame and guilt took over Brynlee (and probably fear, too) and she took off running to her room. I followed her up there, grateful for a chance to talk away from the other kids. I tried to help her understand that she had just stolen this from the store, and why that was so bad.

When daddy came home that night, Brynlee and I went back to the store together with her piggy bank. The plan was for her to explain what she had done all by herself, apologize, and then make it right. All part of the repentance process. But her face flushed so red when it came time for her to say it, and I knew she was about to cry. Not wanting to hold up the line for too long, I helped her explain what had happened. She did say she was sorry all on her own and that she wouldn't do it again. We then paid for the reindeer pen and came back home, hopefully a little wiser and cleaner in spirit than when we were before. :)

Brynlee seems to struggle with being sneaky and dishonest more than any of the other kids, so hopefully this was a good lesson that will stick with her.