Slapped in the face

Tonight we had our annual Celebrate Freedom concert at our church. I always enjoy this program so much because we get to honor our country, sing praises to God, and remember those who have fought, are fighting or who have lost their lives for our country. It's just a wonderful event. I was really excited because the boys had made it home from Florida just in time to go with us. We made it to our pew with our flags and sat down. A few minutes passed and a woman with two children (probably 9 and 10 maybe???) came and sat behind us. The program had not yet started and I was already annoyed. I got hit in the back several times as the lady was bending over (?I dunno, don't ask?) and I could feel the girls kicking the pew. The next thing I heard is the girl taking her mini flag and scratching the hymnal book. At this point I'm just disgusted (great attitude, right?) and I'm thinking to myself that my boys are behaving much better than these girls. Then the orchestra pounds the drum so loud that one of the girls shouted "OH MY GOODNESS! (take out one of the O's and the ness!) and that was it for me. Joe could tell I was frustrated and told me to focus on why we were there. It was quite difficult for me as I could hear them talking rather loudly behind me, kicking the pew that I was sitting in, waving their flags and hitting me in the head. But what finally hit me the hardest was the big slap that God was preparing for me. As a Baptist church, we sang our songs and passed around the offering plate and I heard the girls ask their mom or whoever she was "What is that?" I realized that these were not normal church going children. These girls had no clue as to why people were putting money or envelopes in a plate. However, when their mother proceeded to tell them what it was, BOTH girls asked if they could give money. The mom opened her purse and made it happen. The funny thing is, this morning Joe gave our Sunday School lesson and it was about GRACE and giving grace. Now we talked particularly about grace within our marriage and children but grace doesn't stop there. I should have been more graceful in my actions and not allowed something like this to bother me so much. It's not the girls fault that they were behaving this way. Thankfully I serve a loving and forgiving God, that gives me grace everyday of my life. I needed that slap in the face to remind me that as a Christian, we are to love everyone and to show everyone how a Christian should act...in love. I'm so thankful that God gave me this reminder and even more thankful that He showed me in the moment of my disobedience to Him. With that being said, it was another wonderful performance by our amazing Choir and Orchestra. I was really looking forward to being apart of this years show, however, Maggie isn't making things easy....but all worth it.