“No. No, Mrs. Cable. I was not throwing sand. I was…making sand balls…but I wasn’t throwing sand.”
“Oh, I see. Well, a couple of the other students said that they saw you throwing sand.”
“Oh! Well…um…I forgot that you were asking me about throwing…um…yes, I was throwing sand.”
“Jack, did you just lie to me?”
“No!! No…no…I just forgot.”
Knowing a little more about this situation than I let on, I got down on my knees and looked into his eyes. “Tell me, have you been lying to your parents and your teachers a lot lately?” His faced looked shocked and drained of color.
“Yes…”
“I can tell. You are lying so much that it has become a habit. You are doing it almost without thinking about it. That is pretty serious. Let’s go talk about it.”
Believe it or not, this is a great day in the life of a principal. When a child admits they have done something wrong, a valuable opportunity presents itself. Jack and I went on to have a discussion (in “kid language,” of course) about the importance God puts on truth and the fact that lying pulls us away from Him. We talked about how lying destroys relationships because trust is an essential element of love. I already knew that Jack was a young man who put a lot of importance on his relationship with God, and he was truly surprised and stricken to learn that this sin had been pulling him away from the God he loved. He asked lots of questions. The most important part of our conversation was this: if we admit our wrongdoing and repent, God fully and completely forgives us, no longer counting our sin against us.
I then got on the phone to Jack’s parents. I explained what had happened, what Jack had admitted and what we discussed. The parents were not completely surprised—apparently Jack had been using the “I forgot” line for a while, but they hadn’t been completely sure he was lying. Now, they had an opening to have what was really a life-changing talk with their child. And they did. The child that showed up to school the next day had a smile on his face and joy in his step. A burden he had been carrying was suddenly and completely lifted. He embraced his forgiveness and was endeavoring to “go, and from now on sin no more” (John 8:11).
Jack’s parents gave me permission to share this story. And, they shared with me one of their own lessons. They realized they had very high expectations of their child (which is good), but they might have been a little unrealistic about his ability to always meet them. They decided to share more with him about their own struggles against sin, and they saw their son become more transparent with them as he was shown more grace. He told his mom recently that when we sin, it is like carrying around a backpack full of rocks. It is so heavy, and we carry it, forgetting that we can give it to Jesus. This eight-year-old child learned an incredibly important lesson through this experience, one that will hopefully last a lifetime.
This is what we are all about at Trinity. What an honor it is to partner with you as you parent these unique, infinitely valuable, God-adored young souls. As we approach the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ this season, we want to wish you a season of inestimable love and grace. Merry Christmas!
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14
Jennifer Cable
Elementary Principal