Stepped On Toes

I assume I'm not the only Mama bear carrying that fierce protective gene, the one that flares up whenever one of my cubs has been wronged.

Let someone hurt both girls, and the mama bear gene causes me to quickly morph from my nice girl demeanor into a raging inferno. I usually contain my anger to the confines of home, where I vent and purge the injustice inflicted on them to Rusty, and noone else ever knows I was upset. I'm good at hiding that anger, and putting on my happy face for the world to see. Typically, sharing my fit with my husband is sufficient to bing me down to a smolder, which drifts away like smoke, soon forgotten, as it should be.

Other times, as is recently the case, the anger continues to simmer just below the surface. Without getting into a long, boring story about a current neighborhood issue, suffice it to say my girls were wronged, in a big way, and the parents of the involved children have poorly mis-handled the situation. We have chosen to sever ties with this family, recognizing the negative influence they are and choosing to shield the girls from it. End of story, right?

Well..... no.

I now have this burning desire to let everyone on the street know just what scoundrels these kids are, and that they can't be trusted, and their Eddie Haskell actions are just an act to impress adults, not a true reflection of their hearts. I want their parents to recognize the truth in their children and come begging for forgiveness, even though I know this will never happen.

I know that I need to forgive them instead of harboring anger and resentment, yet I comfort myself by reciting their infractions and why they are not to be forgiven- they are wrong. So today God led me to some verses, and while they stepped on my toes, they also reminded me of my responsibility as His child. I am so thankful that He loves me enough to worry about my heart, and know that even though the people of this world may not change, they really aren't the issue to Him. The issue He is concerned with is me, His child, and how my heart fares in life's circumstances.

So today I am thanking Him for these words, and trusting that with His grace, I will let this anger go, and choose to forget it, filling my mind instead with His Word and the encouragement it brings. He is so good!

II Timothy 2: 23-24 Amplified
But refuse (shut your mind against, have nothing to do with) trifling (ill-informed, unedifying, stupid) controversies over ignorant questionings, for you know that they foster strife and breed quarrels. 24:And the servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome (fighting and contending). Instead he must be kindly to everyone and mild tempered (preserving the bond of peace)...