Only half the picture: or when the obedient children of today turn into tomorrow's drama

This last Wednesday, a random stranger stopped me at the library to marvel at the obedience of my toddler. Yes, let's stop to wonder at that for a moment......for it may never happen again. We had pulled up to the library, and my toddler was waiting for me to get the little one out. This gentleman stopped to complement me on how she stayed right with me, and asked how I trained her to do that. He explained that his own children usually bolt in a million directions. Caught off guard, I initially responded, "lots of prayer!" But then followed it up with something about clear directions, follow through, consequences, and timeouts to think about what a better choice would be. My answer may have sounded a bit mixed up as I was completely caught off guard.

I went home feeling validated that at least a small part of my work had payed off...for a moment.

But the man only saw half the picture. He never saw the next morning as she cried and whined, and complained about everything. Or heard my desperate prayers for God's help. Or saw how much I just wanted to put her in timeout and shut the door for some moments of peace. He never saw us Friday morning when I had to hot glue the bear she broke back together, or when she had to clean up the cats' water she spread all over the floor.  He only saw half the picture.

How often do I look at someone's snapshot and immediately judge that their whole life must be as marvelous as this "half picture".   Seeing Instagram pictures, smiling children on Sunday, or seeing a person in public vs. as they really are at home, gives us only half the picture of their life. My obedient child of Wednesday turned into my drama child of Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  I know I often fall prey to feeling like I don't measure up after viewing other's shining moments. But it's because I don't see their sink of dishes or toddler tantrums. 

Equally wrong is when I only look at a snapshot of my life, and believe that to be the whole picture. If I only look at her tantrums this weekend, or the Cheerios on the freshly swept floor, I quickly feel exhausted.  But I would miss our tea parties and nature hikes. I would miss our morning devotions, and night time songs. I would only see half my picture. 

So if your day feels like a cracked bear hot glued together....

Or like you're living the dream......

Remember, that moment is only half the picture.  Let's celebrate moments in our friends' lives....while remembering they are real people with messy moments too. And let's hold on to the memories of strangers complementing our child's obedience to get us through the days of wet floors and tantrums.  Let's look at the whole picture. Let's live in grace.  Grace for ourselves, and grace for others. Let's celebrate the moments in each of our lives that are beautiful.  And cheer each other on, on the days when the only thing we are thankful for is that not every day is like this.

We're in this together.