You Did WHAT???

It was time...

I was eligible for a cell phone upgrade.  I was an adult, with two kids.  I deserved a cool, new phone.  So I went to the local cell phone store and searched long and hard for the perfect new phone.  My old one had been dropped at least a hundred times.  I can remember the young girl behind the counter picking it up and studying it as if it was something she'd very rarely seen.  I tried to explain that I had dropped it a couple of times...and if truth be told, I think she knew I was lying.

I came out of the store with a $50.00 rebate form and a new blue, slider cell phone.  She was a beaut.  I loved playing with it and trying to figure all of the little things out.  But...as life would have it...we were in a hurry.  Coach was coaching a home baseball game that night and we were late.  I ran home, put on my baseball hoodie and tucked my blue cell phone safely in the front pocket.

I then made an epic mistake.  I went to the bathroom.  As I turned to put the seat down (something I have learned to do the hard way), the new cell phone slips out of the pocket and into the toilet.

AAAAAACK!!!

My new phone!  Ugh!  I grabbed the phone and then...THEN...

I rinsed it in the sink.  I was so grossed out that it had been in the toilet, that I rinsed it ever so slightly in the sink.

Another epic fail.

The phone vibrated one last time and was done for.  Never to be heard from again.

WHY!!!  WHY????  HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN?  IT HAS NOT EVEN BEEN ACTIVATED FOR AN HOUR!!!

(picture me crying out loud and shouting dramatically to the ceiling)

Stupid phone.

Stupid phone owner.

Let us flash forward a few years, to yesterday.  Big got his very first cell phone about a month ago.  We decided that with his "cool factor", we needed to keep track of him.  And I must say...up to yesterday, the child has been more than responsible with this phone.  Turning it in at 9:00pm every night.  Making sure it is fully charged before he leaves the house.  Notifying me ahead of time if there are any messages I might question.  (You see...Big thinks that I can see EVERYTHING from the online cell service website)  That's right.  I lied to him.  I need him to think he can't hide anything from us.  I am hoping God understands this one.

We were to go swimming at my friend's pool.  Big and his equally cool friend C rode over to the house on their bikes.  (Probably because my minivan is less than cool)  I asked them to get sunscreened before they left the house so when they got there, they could just jump in.

As it turns out, that is EXACTLY what they did.

And Big had his phone in his pocket.

When I got there, Middle proudly announced that Big had "broken his phone".

I freaked out.

WHAT?  YOU WHAT?  WHAT HAPPENED?  WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?  HOW COULD YOU?????

I crushed his spirit into a million pieces.  I am sure of it.

As he climbed out of the pool to tell me the story, I could see it in his eyes.  Here I was  yelling at the child for something I had done not that long ago...as an adult.  He didn't mean to jump in with his cell phone.  He didn't mean to forget it was in his pocket.  But he did.

And I...on top of his very large conscience...was screaming at him for this mistake.

I knew as the words came out of my mouth I was being too hard on him.  But it was our money.  And it wasn't just the simple process of getting him a phone.  We'd had two previous phones that didn't work right that we had to send back.

I acted like a fool.  I was a jerk.  And more than anything, I wish I would have been supportive rather than angry.  Something I am trying to work on.  Because God has that kind of patience with us.  He doesn't scream and lose his temper with me.  And yet...I turn around and set a poor example for Big.

I have a LOT to learn.

The cell phone is currently drying out...and Big is using our old phone.  He seems happy as a clam to just have a phone again, and I learned a very important lesson.  In reading a devotional  via email this morning I was reminded again...

"A word of encouragement during a failure is worth more than an hour of praise after success."  William Saroyan

Have a Blessed Day!
Referee of 3