Wearing Masks

The other night I was doing some last minute preparations for company that we were having over. Dinner was coming along nicely and the house was looking pretty good. The tree lights were plugged in, the candles turned on in the windows and the kids were all playing nicely together.
Then it happened. A door slammed and I heard a blood curdling scream. Someone had gotten hurt. Nathan was crying, "My ear! My ear!"
I was in the bathroom wiping off the sink and told Nathan to come in so I could see what happened. He was still crying and there was blood pouring from his ear. I hollered, "What happened?" No response. I hollered louder, "Somebody tell me what happened, and somebody else get me some paper towels. Nathan is bleeding!" I heard a few, "I don't knows" and then I tried one more time. "Does anyone know what happened??? Paper towels!!!! Come on guys!"
Well, finally someone came up with the answer. "We were playing in the dark, so we don't know what happened...We couldn't see anything."
We finally concluded that Nathan had slipped and fallen into the closet door, neatly slicing the bottom of his ear lobe. I took him to Patient First and they said he would be okay without stitches. Hurray!
Meanwhile, Julia gets an A+ for getting dinner on that night! I had already put meat balls and spaghetti sauce in the crock pot, but she had to take care of cooking the noodles and the garlic bread. She managed very nicely with a little help from Dad! Way to go Julia!
I've been thinking about that incident quite a bit lately. If that had happened somewhere other than inside my home, or if our company had already arrived, would I have reacted differently? I think I would have.
I often find that I keep my reactions to my children in check when I know that others are watching. I am sure that if I were elsewhere when Nathan got hurt, my reaction would have been more like this. "Hey, kids! Could someone please tell me what happened to Nathan?" (this would, of course, be spoken in a nice calm voice) "Are you sure no one knows? Okay, well, I need some paper towels because Nathan is bleeding pretty badly. Thank you!"
When I told Dave about what I had been pondering, he came up with this response. "Doesn't hypocrite mean mask? I'm not saying that you are, of course!" Well Dave, if the shoe fits!
How many other times have I reacted in such an ungodly manner towards my kids? This is just a continuation of my other thought about pleasing men and pleasing God, I guess. I truly believe that my children are a blessing and a precious gift that Dave and I have received directly from God's hands. Why then do I so often treat them as anything less than precious?
I believe that the person you are in your home is the person that God sees when He looks at your heart. Remember, man looks at the outward appearance, which I believe many of us attempt to cover up by reacting differently than we would at home.
I'm not saying you should lose your temper at your kids outside the home as well as in your homes! I am encouraging you as well as myself to work on having loving responses towards your kids inside your home even when no one is watching! This is what is going to make a positive impression on your kids. When you act differently when you are being observed, your kids will see you as a hypocrite - definitely not a positive impression! We are to be living examples of Christ to our kids in our everyday lives... Not just when others are watching!
My word to moms: Take off our masks and throw them away!