No room for drama in this mama's schedule!

As a mom, I am putting fires out all day. Someone is always taking someone's something, Macey looked at Trent the wrong way, Trent won't stop scaring the girls, Izzie is teasing Maggie, Maggie is fighting back (shocker!); there is NEVER a dull moment in the Mayhugh house, trust me! I can put out a fire among the kids in my home but one thing I am very new at and clearly still learning about is friend drama. I am not prepared to deal with my kids getting hurt by a friend or even my kids being the kid that hurt someone else, either situation is tough as a mom to walk through. No mom wants to be the mom of a brat, or have a child that is constantly getting picked on by others and made to feel anything less than loved.

I hate drama, and up until now, the drama consisted of "mom, she took my toy!" I can handle that, no problem! The problem I am now running into is "tween" issues, ugh!! My wonderful pastor's wife, Beverly, has always told me that the reason I keep having more kids is because non of them have hit puberty yet, ha!! So much truth to that statement! Beverly, I hear you LOUD AND CLEAR FINALLY!

From birth, the goal for us is to shape the hearts of our children to someday have a heart that loves the Lord and loves people unconditionally, that's right, unconditionally! I try to point everything to the condition of our heart, but it gets more and more tough as Trent and Macey get older. Now some major sin is creeping slowly in. Gossip, slander, anger, pride... where do I begin to get them to respond with the grace and love that I only wish I had at 11 & 12 years old?

I grew up in a generation of eye for an eye! If someone hits you, hit them back! If someone says something mean, set them straight darn it, don't let them hurt you! As a mom and follower of Christ, all of the sudden that seems so messed up! My flesh wants to repeat those words, every time! The problem is the Holy Spirit creeps in and convicts my heart and then I don't know what to say cause it doesn't make sense in this world. 

"Why are you stirring up unnecessary drama? Do you think you are treating that person how you would like to be treated by them? Think before you speak, you don't want to really hurt people, do you?"

"Honey, I know your friend is running around telling people all sorts of stuff about you and it hurts you, but you know it's not true, and you have to rise above and show grace and compassion for them anyway, cause that is what Jesus would do and we want to be like Jesus, right?"

Right? RIGHT? Yes, right! Even when my insides are turning with hurt for my kids in these situations, I have to remember a few things:

1. My kids are watching my response like a hawk! Any move in the wrong direction is justification for them to respond the wrong way.

2. My heavenly Father is watching my response and waiting to either convict my heart or fill it with peace knowing I am pleasing him in my response.

3. The WORLD is watching me! Am I reflecting Christ or am I being a reactor? Will people look at me and think, wow, that was unnecessary! Or, will they notice nothing because I am not feeding into the drama?

Well, I am NOT writing this to say that I always do the right thing, ha! A lot of the times, my smelly flesh creeps in and I am left repenting of my grouchy heart and apologizing to either my kids or somebody (yes, Craig hears a lot of I am sorry these days:)

Words, emotions, actions, & responses hurt people. Our example is one of unconditional love and forgiveness, unfortunately that is not the world we live in. Do we want to infect our kids with our baggage or teach them healthy relationships at a much younger age than we did? 

There is no room for drama in this mama's schedule, so why do I even bother allowing it to become anything but a learning experience for my kids?