Benefit of the Doubt
Yesterday one of my boys had to stay home from school due to asthma related illness. When the other son heard that his brother got to stay home from school he immediately said “I think I’m sick too.” This son does not have asthma so I doubted. He also loves to stay home from school and the asthma son loves school. Do you follow me? Todd and I had a busy day planned in addition to having 17 pastors come to our home for a day of prayer for Staten Island. It was not possible to cancel the prayer day but with two boys home I could not imagine it. Today I regret that I doubted my son was really ill. Todd took him to school which is a 30 minute drive one way. Right as he got home the school called. My son was vomiting. So his father drove back to the school to pick him up. Two hours spent now because I doubted my son was telling the truth. Ouch! Talk about a momma feeling low. I was quite low as we began our prayer time.
I adore my children. My family is the greatest gift the Lord has given me. I love being mother to my sons. My heart ached for my boy each time he vomited 8 times yesterday. I was up at 2AM with him this morning and so grateful that I have the privilege of taking care of him.
As I crawled back into bed at 3AM I made a mental note to be careful to give folks the benefit of the doubt, especially those you love. The key is to look for patterns vs. a one time thing. Ask has this happened before? How many times has it happened? And then pray for wisdom before making your decision. Have any of you ever eaten this type of humble pie?