Heartache of a parent

I think one of the biggest struggles a parent deals with is watching your child fall short. You try, you show them how to do something. You give them time. Others give your child a chance to grow, maybe this will work. More time, then time is up. Tears, pleading, but the bottom line is.. time is up. Circumstances of the choices we make always come around. Sometimes we can catch them for our kids, keep them from the pain, sometimes we can dull the pain so it isn't so severe. But man, when we can't and they have to learn the lesson. How hard it is to watch this happen.
Wow. What an ache. This ache doesn't come around much, but when it does, you recognize it. Some examples are, when you have to take that report card home, and you know, you know that it isn't your best, the feeling when you have done something wrong and you are just waiting for the other shoe to fall, the feeling you get when you glance in your rear view mirror, and see the lights flashing.. you are being pulled over, What about the disappointment in someone you loves face reflecting back at you? The ache of love not returned?
I hate to see either of our boys hurt. Even if they have done something to deserve the hurt. Man, the ache. I would willingly take it on, just to ease that pain. The pain of learning a lesson.
One day they will realize that not only do they feel the pain of seeing that disappointment or having to redo an assignment, maybe extra work, or even the pain of punishment, that worse than that is that their actions - well - they affect others too.
The more of life I live, the more I truly see Christ's love for us. Oh, the big picture. We think we know, we may even truly think we are doing our best, deep down where we keep stuffing the truth, we know, we KNOW we have not done our best. We have spat in the face of our Savior, just the same as if we were there the day they nailed him to the cross.
As I feel the love and ache for my children, how much more so does Christ weep for us? OH, how much HE LOVES US, OH, how much HE LOVES US.