The Closing Door

As I finished rebuking my pre-teen, again, for the harsh way she used her words with her little sister, I turned to leave the bathroom.  I had no sooner stepped outside the threshold when I heard the door shut behind me . . . a little too hard.  SLAM!  “That’s it!” I thought to myself as I spun around on my heel.

“But Mom, I didn’t mean to shut it that hard!” were her defensive pleas as I dished out the corresponding consequence for her defiant behavior.  “You don’t understand!”

She claims she didn’t intend to slam the door; and, however naively, I believe she’s telling the truth as she sees it.  But what I responded to was not how hard she closed the door; it was the fact she closed the door at all.  The bathroom door was simply an outward expression for the door I sensed she was closing in her heart.  As she marched away, God convicted me as well.  I thought to myself, “Oh honey, I understand alright.  I understand all too well.”