How are you?

We all do it. Someone asks us "how are you?" as part of their greeting and we answer quickly "I'm good" or "I'm ok" or "Fine", etc. No matter what we're going through or what's weighing on us, we glaze over this question as simply a greeting.

I've ranted and raved about it before. I try to be very careful when asking the question myself to stop and listen to the answer, to invest in the person I'm greeting, to promise to pray for whatever is going on in their life, and to call them out on obviously false "I'm ok" answers.

But I am as guilty as throwing that answer out as anyone else. I'm constantly shoving "I'm good" at people when I'm not "good" at all.

And I have never felt as guilty about that as I did today...

Mason was distraught this morning after he realized that his daddy had left for a trip and wouldn't be at church today. He had a complete meltdown in the car and was still weepy when we walked into church. He told me how sad he was and how he was going to miss his dad. He was fighting back the tears when I hugged him and dropped him off at his Sunday School class. As I turned to leave and switch gears, I heard his teacher ask him how he was and heard him sniff and answer "Good"...and it hit me like a brick.

What a horrible habit that I've instilled in my child.

I don't want him (or Madison) to feel like they can't be honest about how they feel. I don't want them glazing over the burdens they're carrying. I sure don't want to set the example that we can't even share with our church family what's going on in our life and the distractions that we're struggling to hand over when we walk in those doors.

I want them to know that they can share their stories...that they don't have to pretend like they're "good" when they're not...that they can admit that they're missing their daddy.

Most of all, I want them to know that they're made for more than to try and carry burdens on their own shoulders and to know the sweet relief of receiving support from those that they know care about them enough to stop and listen to the answer of a simple "how are you".