From Boiling to Melting

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If boiling means a substance is changing from a liquid to a gas, and melting means it is changing from a solid to a liquid, I'm not quite sure it's possible for something to go from boiling to melting.

Except, that is, for this mother's heart within me.

On Tuesday I referred to the fact that I had a "moment" with my boys last week. To be perfectly honest, Joshua was the greater of the two offenders. I was quite angry with him.
Some might have described me as boiling mad.

But later that same evening (The one on which his behavior made me so angry!) Joshua knocked on my bedroom door, came in, and apologized for yelling at me.
It was a sincere apology.
And the boiling stopped.

The next day when I got home from work, I went to my room to change my clothes and saw two unusual things on my bed. A pot of flowers, and an essay. The title of the essay was "My Michigan Hero" and I recognized it as a standard eighth grade Language Arts assignment. Elizabeth had to do the same thing two years ago.
But I was shocked surprised when I read the essay.
Joshua had written all about his mom and dad (That would be Brian and I!) being his heroes. He wrote that while he sometimes thinks we're wrong, he realizes we know what's best for him and that we're trying to be of help to him as he grows. He also talked about the extent to which he appreciates the support we offer him. Said he realizes much of his direction is dependent on himself - he has to do the work and make the right choices - but he knows he can't do it without dear ol' mom and dad. We are his heroes!

And as I sat the paper down, I realized my heart had started melting. It had gone from boiling mad to melting in less than 24 hours.
Oh! The power of words!