A Touching Prayer

Lately my girls had a book out from the library about sleepovers. So I think this is where the idea came from. They asked me if Esther could stay the night in Hannah's room. I said they could do it once it was the holidays, as Esther needs her sleep. So tonight I blew up the air mattress so Esther could have a 'sleepover' in Hannah's room.
Joseph and Esther can't both fit in Hannah's room at once, so this time it was Esther's turn and Jo can do it another time.
But as the kids said their bedtime prayers, I was touched to hear Joseph pray in his simple childish way,"Please help me not to be jealous!"
I realized he was struggling with feelings of jealousy that he was not part of the sleepover.
I think this touched me so much because I was struggling with my own feelings at the time. I wasn't struggling with jealousy, but I was having difficulty having a good attitude about something else. 
Later on before bed, he came to me with a sad look on his face, so we read a story together to try to cheer him up. I was also not feeling so happy, and it really made me realize that my children are just like me. They are not perfect just as I am not perfect. They struggle with all the things that I struggle with--greed, discontent, jealousy, self pity, etc. The struggle is no less real for them than it is for me.
Although I need to teach them the right way to act, it helps to keep this in mind. It helps us to have more patience and love.
And just as I know my children are not perfect and have their struggles, so God knows that I am not perfect and have my weaknesses and struggles.
Psalm 103:13-14
Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.
For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
We can learn from Joseph to pray about the things we struggle with. We need God's help! We can have more patience, knowing that our children are just like us, and that while God expects obedience from us, He remembers that we are imperfect humans. That is why we need Him so much.