This precious Soul

"Look!" cried Stefan. He was pointing to his plate which contained two uneaten squares of cinnamon toast and one uneaten crust.
"Oh!" I replied.
Triumphantly he said, "See?! I ate one of my crusts!"
"Wow! That's great Stefan!"
"I ate it because I did something wrong yesterday. . . . "
"Well, what happened so that you did something wrong?" I asked.
Blinking away tears he explained his tale with mumbled words as he ducked his head with shame.
"What did you say? I couldn't understand you," I said with sympathy.
"I don't know; I can't say it again," he breathed through tender sigh.

Rather than comfort him I, shocked with his transparency, blundered into an explanation about penance telling him that people do things that are difficult for them or for others when they have done something wrong for God. Of course, this most likely fell on soil that wasn't ready for the "label" but how humbled I became because of this precious soul's love for God and his desire to see himself reconciled with His heavenly Father.

Thank you Lord for continuing to teach me about you through my children. Amen.