“Mommy, I want to write a list.” My daughter announced as she placed a paper on the kitchen table.
“What sort of list?” I asked.
“A list for the babysitter.”
One of her favorite games recently has been “babysitter game,” where she pretends to babysit her dolls, her little brother, or sometimes, me. This game was largely inspired by the book “Amelia Bedelia and the Baby.”
“Okay. Do you want me to write it so you can copy the words?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Okay.” I fetched a small whiteboard and a dry-erase pen. “What do you want to say on your list?”
She paused to think.
“Take bath. Go for walk. Eat snack. Make supper.”
I recorded her words on the whiteboard. “There you go. Would you like a pencil to write the list with?”
I heard the beginnings of frustration coming from my 1 year old in the living room.
“No, I’ll use a marker.”
“Okay. Have fun.”
I headed for the living room, grateful that she would be busy for a few minutes while I helped my younger child.
Several minutes later, a cry of despair erupted from the kitchen.
By this time, my husband was busy in the kitchen where my daughter sat. I heard him ask if she needed help.
Through tears, she explained that she had mixed up the lines. Her list read, “Eat snack. Make snack.”
Because she’d written it in marker, there was no way to erase it. After all that hard work copying my writing, she’d have to start all over again.
“I have an idea,” my husband replied calmly.
He fetched a new sheet of paper, scissors, and a glue stick.
After a quick measurement of the mistaken word, he cut the paper to size and glued it over my daughter’s mistake.
She brightened instantly. “Now I can try again!”
She carefully copied the word “supper” onto the paper.
Joyfully, she hurried to the living room to show me.
“Look, Mommy. I wrote the wrong thing, but Daddy gave me a second chance.”
“Excellent,” I enthused.
The next day, my daughter approached me. “Mommy, you write a list.”
I looked up from what I was doing. “What sort of list?”
“A babysitting list, but write one thing wrong,” she said.
“Why should I write something wrong?” I asked.
“Because I’m pretending to be the mommy and you are the kid. If you write something wrong I can give you a second chance.”
“I see. Like Daddy did yesterday?”
“Yes.” She had a twinkle in her eye.
Fetching a paper and a marker, I wrote a similar list to what she had made yesterday.
- Read book
- Bath
- Eat snack
- Nap
(If she was going to be the mommy and have me pretend to be the kid, I may as well add some extra reading practice for her and a chance for me to lie down.)
Instead of writing “Bath” I wrote “Book” again.
“Oh no. I wrote the wrong thing.” I showed her my paper. “It was supposed to say ‘Bath’ here.”
“That’s okay,” she bubbled over with excitement. “I can give you another chance.”
“Thank you,” I replied, then handed her the scissors and glue.
She cut out a piece of paper and glued it over my wrong word.
“There. Now you can fix it.”
I wrote “Bath” on top of the glued on paper.
“Thank you for giving me a second chance. That’s like what Daddy did for you yesterday.”
She nodded.
I then steered the conversation to Jesus.
When I do wrong things – when I sin – He covers over my sins and lets me try again.
He can do this because He died on the cross for me. He has already paid the price for the wrongdoing.
It’s not that there are no consequences for my sins – my daughter’s list still had the obvious patch on it – but God forgives the death penalty I deserve every time I sin against Him.
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 CSB
He offers me a second chance.
My job is to confess my sins and ask for His forgiveness.
If my daughter had simply hidden her list with the mistake on it, my husband would not have had the opportunity to cover over her mistake. She also had to allow him to do the gluing on of the paper. She could have resisted that.
In the coming weeks, as I celebrate Easter, I want to pause to remember and thank God for His great mercy towards us.
Through His death, He has covered over my sins and given me a second chance.
He is worthy of my praise.
