Today I took all 3 kids to the grocery store by myself. I rushed through my shopping so we could get home with plenty of time to put things away and relax before J's softball practice. We went through the checkout, paid, then went outside. Walked across the parking lot to the car. Got all the girls loaded in and the groceries loaded into the trunk. It was so hot out that first thing E asked for was for me to turn the AC on. As I put the last of the groceries into the trunk I saw a bag of tomatoes laying in the cart. I realized I hadn't paid for them.
I was exhausted, it was hot, the kids were loaded into the car... How tempting it could have been to just say, "It's only less than $2 worth of tomatoes...they won't notice." But I didn't. As inconvenient as it was to get the baby back out (lugging the car seat) and the other 2 kids out and walk back across the parking lot in the heat, back into the store, food melting in the hot trunk of the car... I still did it. I went in and paid for the tomatoes.
I didn't even think twice about going back in to pay. But it made me think about how good it is to have these moments of temptation in our lives so that we can rise above them and do the right thing. How much character it builds. And let's not forget the lesson I hope it taught my children. That is the most priceless part about it.
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