Fools for Christ InkStories of faith & graceIn Mercy’s Eyes of Faith, Mama helps her daughter look beyond Billy’s unkind behavior and consider the hurt he may be carrying. The glasses become a reminder to look with faith and respond with love.
But Mercy isn’t the only one with something to learn.
Later in the story, Mama is upset when Papa cannot come home as early as she expected. Mercy notices. She reaches into her pocket and offers Mama the glasses.
For a moment, the lesson travels in the other direction.
A lesson for the whole family
It is easy to think of a children’s story as something an adult reads to teach a child. We open the book, explain the difficult words, and ask what the characters might do next.
Then a small scene catches us, too.
We know what it feels like when plans change. We have heard impatience in our own voices. We have needed the same kindness we were just encouraging someone else to show.
Mama’s moment gives the adult reader a place inside Mercy’s story. Faith, patience, and compassion belong to the whole family.
The glasses do not erase Mama’s disappointment. They offer a reminder about how she wants to respond.
Receiving a small act of kindness
Mercy’s gesture is simple. She offers something Mama made for her, and Mama receives the reminder with gratitude.
There is warmth in that exchange. A mother’s lesson has become something her daughter remembers, carries, and shares.
That does not make a child responsible for keeping a grown-up calm. Adults remain responsible for their own words and actions. The beauty of the scene is in Mama’s willingness to receive kindness from Mercy.
Sometimes a family moment needs a thoughtful explanation. Sometimes it needs a listening ear. In this story, it needs a small pair of handmade glasses.
A conversation after reading
When you reach this moment together, you might linger over a few questions:
- What does Mercy remember when she offers Mama the glasses?
- How does Mama respond to Mercy’s kindness?
- Can you remember a time someone in our family offered a helpful reminder?
- What is one way we could show patience with each other today?
There is no need to turn every answer into another lesson. Leave room for the child’s own observations—and for yours.
Mercy’s story begins with a girl learning to see differently. By the end, the invitation reaches the person reading beside her.
Mercy’s Eyes of Faith by Martta Eicher Rabago is scheduled to launch November 1, 2026, in paperback and ebook, with a separate companion coloring book.
This reflection and its discussion questions are editorial suggestions, not excerpts from the book.