Liar, Liar, pants on......

My son ran up the stairs yesterday, quite suddenly. He had been playing Wii in the basement. The boy will not, under any circumstance, leave his game unless one of his parents call it quits. In fact, Jrod would play all day long if we allowed it, but....we don't. So, running up the stairs in the middle of his game time....well, I knew something was up.

"Mom, I totally need new boxers. I mean, I've been wearing these ones for like weeks and weeks."

I often wonder if my children have actually concluded that their mother is stupid. I mean, I know that all children think it at one time or another, but I do think that at times they have simply decided on stupidity.

Jrod stood behind the door, so that all I could see was his head. If he wasn't such a sinner, he might have actually looked a little innocent in that moment.

I simply responded: "Jrod, why in the world did you pee in your pants?"

"Um, mom, I just tried, but I was running, or I was jumping, and it just, well....mom, how did you know I peed in my pants?"

It's common knowledge that mom's know everything.

It's also common knowledge that kids will lie. They will lie and see what happens, and apart from the Grace of God, they will keep doing it. And, unfortunately, adults do too. If we think we can get away with it, and if we deem it necessary, we are no different than my son popping his head around the door while trying desperately to hide his wet boxers.

So I shared a story with Jrod....

When I was sixteen, my parents allowed me to drive myself to church on Sunday mornings. As the pastor, my father was frustrated by my inability to get to church on time. Of course, I had many extenuating circumstances that caused this untimeliness (such as bad hair, my need for sleep, and a lack of what I thought were "good clothes") But my Dad wouldn't hear it. He finally declared one Saturday night: "you will be on time to church or you will no longer drive."

Suddenly, being on time was not a problem...or so I thought. Even the threat of my license being revoked couldn't get me to church on time. I was five minutes from church and I had one minute to spare. I sped down 141 as fast as I could and turned into the church parking -way too fast. Even faster than my turn into the parking lot was my turn into the parking space. BAM. I nailed the bumper of the suburban in front of me.

For a moment I simply sat there. While my life was flashing before my eyes, there was one vision I couldn't get out of my head....my parents.....driving me to school, church, sporting events, social events, the movies, dates....the list when on and on. I started to sweat. Seeing that I would already be busted again for being late, and that I had wrecked another car less than a month ago, I came up with a plan.

And yes, like my son Jrod, I had concluded in that moment that I was smart. Everyone else was dumb, but thank God - I was smart. So I decided I would park my car in the back of the church. Surely the suburban didn't have much damage - it's a suburban for heaven's sake, and I had a little beat-up Toyota. I would park my car in the back, assess the damage to the Suburban, and go from there. So, I put the car in reverse and parked it in the back lot.

Walking up the sidewalk, I kept one eye on the bumper of the suburban. It didn't look too bad from a distance. In fact, maybe it was only a scratch and a small dent. And really, who would ever notice that?

In less than a second, I went from feeling good about my smart idea to calling down curses upon myself for my utter and complete stupidity.

The driver's door to the suburban began to open. And I began to shake. The owner of the car, who had been sitting in his car during this whole episode, slowly got out and stood in front of me on the sidewalk. There was no card I could pull to get out of this one. I concluded that right then and there, my life would be over.

I did the only thing my body would allow me to do. I fell to my knees and started crying. To this day, I don't recall anything I said. In fact, I probably looked and sounded like a fool. The man calmly stopped me, helped me up, and said "It's OK."

In the midst of apologizing (and pleading for my life) the man said something to me that I will never forget: "You know it's wrong to lie. Katie, if you promise me that you will not lie again, then we will keep this accident between us."

Grace, Grace, Grace. Not that I didn't lie again, I am merely a sinner saved by that Grace, but God hasn't let me get away with it. In fact, quite unfortunately, I have many similar stories.

So, I will remind my children of the same Proverb that my Dad use to remind me:

Proverbs 19:5

A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will not escape.

Jrod, go put your pants on. And next time....just tell me you peed.