I’m posting this list to keep me accountable.  If my boys are to learn these habits, I need to model these for them.  I cannot preach what I don’t practice…  so I need to practice these habits myself!

1. Patience. Need I say anymore?

2. Loving nature. I love the idea of nature – and I know that I used to love being outside.  But at this stage in my life, I hate heat and bugs, so I don’t like being outside.  If my boys are to learn to love nature, I need to get outdoors with them and not complain about those nasty bugs…

3. Natural musicality. This is not something I’m going to be able to develop in them…  the natural part, that is.  Did you know that I was a music major?  But through all the years of music training, I knew that music did not come naturally to me.  Intellectually, I got it, and I trained myself to perform well.  But it never was natural to me.  My husband, on the other hand, has music oozing out of him… naturally.  So I pray the boys got Josh’s natural musical talent, and my love of music and dedication to hard work.

4. Compassion for others. Something that has been developed in me through the years – and something I hope that if I keep practicing it, Elias and Donovan will develop it early.

5. A missionary’s heart. I’ve never felt called to a mission field, but I know there are opportunities to spread the gospel in our every days lives.  I pray that the boys know this early on, and that they will listen to the Lord’s will for them in spreading the gospel.

6. Whatever the opposite of procrastination is. I’m working on this post Tuesday morning at 10:30.  ’nuff said.

7. Single-minded determination. This goes hand and hand with the-opposite-of-procrastination for me.  A part of my procrastination is not sticking to one task – I flit from one to the next.  That’s why it’s taken me 3 hours to write this post.

8. Neatness. I used to think I was a neat and tidy person. And then I met my husband, who is the neatest and tidiest person – ever.  I have to practice neatness not only for my husband and my home, but for future generations of women who join this family – for them to be amazed at the neatness of certain men in their lives.

9.  Being comfortable in a room full of people. Not the most comfortable thing for me… I’d love the boys to not have to face any social fears like this.

10. Decisiveness. yeah, I think I’d like them to be decisive.

Yes, I definitely need to model these traits and many more for my children’s sake.

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