Now, go! I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt. But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” Exodus 3: 10-11

 Family vacations are inevitably a time of memorable moments.

Often, the most memorable are filled with the astute and hilarious comments of children.

Most recently, my son and daughter-in-law took their two young sons to a miniature golf course near our home in Ortley Beach. While there, the not-yet-four-year old began to lose his patience, giving his dad a hard time. My son, and his wife who was caring for their nine-month old, decided a break was necessary and my son took the cranky child to the bathroom.

On the way, my son said to his little boy, “I am not happy with your behavior. You need to think about it and decide if you are going to use your good behavior, or we are going back to nanny’s house.”

A few minutes later, when the behavior didn’t improve, my son again told his son, “I don’t see any good behavior. I guess we’re going back to nanny’s house. Is that what you want?”

“I’m still thinking about it,” insisted my grandson.

Leaving the bathroom with the petulant child in tow, my son stopped him from re-entering the mini-golf course and said again, firmly. “I don’t see any change so we will get mommy and go back home.”

After a thoughtful pause, my grandson looked up at him and replied seriously, “My good behavior is still loading.”

How my son kept a straight face after this priceless excuse is beyond me! But the loading seemed to finish properly because all was well by the time they both retrieved their golf clubs and the rest of the night was a good one.

I’m sure my grandson’s retort will go down in family history, and even adults in the family will resort to using it, perhaps changing the subject of the sentence to fit some occasion – “my patience is still loading”… “my good humor is still loading”… “my ‘I could care less’ is still loading.” The possibilities are endless.

Children do say the darndest things, but they are not the only masters of excuses.  We adults come up with some doozies, as well, not only for our bad behavior but for why we cannot follow the will of God –  to go where God leads us or believe what God tells us.

The list of excuses starts early in Scripture and was added to by some of our most renowned biblical ancestors – the devil made me do it, I’m too old, I’m too young, I stutter, I am the least in my family, I’m tired, I’m weak, I’m a sinner…. .

History shows that the human race is prone to excuses and often led by fear. But Scripture teaches that the perfect love of God casts out fear and dissolves all our excuses into nothingness. It is a lesson learned by Paul who, through some very challenging experiences, came to understand that his contentment came from his faith in Christ, and who professes, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

And so can we, but while we are learning the lesson there are bound to be setbacks and a wealth of excuses along the way.  So I was thinking of maybe lightening the mood during my next confession – “Bless me father for I have sinned, my good behavior is still loading.”

Mary Morrell serves as managing editor of The Monitor.