12 Days of Moments with Christ Day 8 (Dec 22, 2025)

 12 Days of Moments with Christ Day 8

A few years ago, when going out in public with 6 young kids was quite the feat, we took a 20-hour road trip. We stopped for breakfast and it was, in a word, chaotic! There was fighting over pancakes, a kid in timeout, and I was getting self conscious cause I could see we were becoming “that” family! Then I get a tap on the shoulder. I turn around and there is an older lady who says, “You have the most well-behaved children! They are so good!” Surprised, I told her thank you, and she left. My husband and I turned to each other touched at her kind words. Then had to laugh. Was she serious? Did she just feel sorry for us?! Who knows. But what a sweet thing to say!

Well, SAME road trip, different restaurant, this time McDonald’s. There the kids were, all crowded at a table, and I was spreading napkins around so we could divide up the chicken nuggets amongst my orphan-looking, road-tripping kids. Keeping it classy 😂 Then my youngest picked up a large cup of soda and SPILLED IT EVERYWHERE. 🤦‍♀️ That’s one way to draw EVERYONE’S attention. An employee comes to mop it up. We offer to do it, he says no, but it’s too big a job for one, so another employee comes to help. I am DYING and telling the kids to please EAT FAST. As we are finishing up, an old lady comes over to me, looks me in the eye, and says, “I just had to tell you that you have the most beautifully well-behaved children!” Once again I am COMPLETELY caught off guard. Where are these old ladies coming from! Do they have eyes? Can’t they see we are a MESS? I say thank you and tears fill my eyes.

I thought of those ladies the rest of that trip and vowed to be just like them! Cause I know we’ve all been on the other side- feeling judged, misunderstood, like a spectacle, a failure. Like the world is waiting for you to make a mistake!

But Christ is not like that. He is on our side, believes in us, knows we are trying, sees past the surface! He “went about doing good,” to put it mildly! Sometimes we don’t need miracles, just a bit of goodness, and those ladies were reminders of Christ-like goodness that day, along with so many others who’ve shown kindness to me in my life.