We’re moving on from Intelligent in our “God Wants Me To Be” book to Ethusiastic (still taken from our Christian Characteristic Traits list)… 

Enthusiastic – Being excited and zealous about life!

Isn’t that kid enthusiastic?  I believe he is jumping on a bed…  What kid wouldn’t be enthusiastic about that?  It’s really easy to be enthusiastic about fun things, like jumping on a bed, or running through a sprinkler, or chocolate.  But when it comes to things we’re not so keen on…

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not men.” Colossians 3:23

The Word says “Whatever you do…” and “work at it… as working…” – God calls us to be enthusiastic about everything.  Everything we do – whatever we do.  In play and work.  In chocolate and…

…learning from your mother.  Yes, enthusiasm flowed very nicely from my last post about intelligence.  Remember?  God wants us to be intelligent – someone who is eager to learn!  Our first day using our new curriculum was Monday.  And it was like pulling nails.  We started off very simple – I asked him to circle the date on a little calendar I made for him.  And he started crying… saying he couldn’t.  That he didn’t know how to – when I know full well he circles everything under the sun on a normal day!

This actually has been a phrase he’s been repeating recently: “I can’t!” From putting down the toilet seats to drawing circles on a calendar – all things he has done many times before… When he doesn’t want to do it, all of a sudden he “can’t.”

We stopped right there, with red crayon in his hand, tears running down his cheeks.  Since this was an issue of control, not of actual ability, I grabbed up a Bible and read to him Philippians 2:14 (fresh on my mind from Amanda’s post ): “Do everything without complaining or arguing.” I gave him a huge hug, and I told him that when I asked him to do things, I knew he could do them!  I wouldn’t ask him to do something I knew he couldn’t do – and if I did, I would help him do it!  God wants him to have a happy heart at all times, not a complaining (crying) or arguing (angry) heart.  When Daddy or Mommy asked him to do anything, he should do it with a happy heart!

Elias started laughing through his tears – all it took was hearing that God wanted him to have a happy heart!  He took his red crayon and drew a careful circle around the date, and then we continued on with our little lesson – no more arguing or crying!  I dare say he even had fun doing our “school time” together.  Later that morning, we came up with a new chart for him:

When he does things with a happy heart, he gets a mark under the happy heart side.  If he argues, complains, or disobeys, he gets a mark under the angry heart.  Granted, right now the angry heart is winning out.  But he is working on it!

For example – today was Elias’s 3rd dentist appointment ever.  The first two times were rather unsuccessful – no cleanings involved, and last time, he wouldn’t even open his mouth.  But today… boy!  We had some “trial runs” in our bathroom during the past week, starring me as a dentist, and we talked the way there about being brave and excited about seeing the dentist.  We even talked about not arguing with Mommy while we were there or complaining to the dentist.  The appointment was wonderful – with a little breakdown in the middle, between cleaning the bottom and top teeth.  He started crying and saying, “I can’t!” again.   But with a prayer and some encouragement, he got the top teeth cleaned, too!  He was very enthusiastic about the whole appointment afterwards, and he has told everyone we’ve seen for the rest of the day about it.

It seems like a silly example – being enthusiastic about seeing the dentist.  But that’s a part of “whatever we do” – a part of everyday life.  It’s not always going to be fun and chocolate.  It’s going to get boring and painful and un-fun for Elias at times.  If his heart can be happy in all things, at all times, in playing cars and in homeschool, he will learn a part of Philippians 4:11: …for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.

What else can we do to help our children be enthusiastic about the un-fun things?  How can we help model this character trait for them in our lives?

this post submitted to Your Life Your Blog!

I love the Olympics!  I love everything about them – the excitement, the competition, the athletes, the sports themselves – and every two years when they come around, I watch them vigilantly.  When I was younger, I used to dream about being in the Olympics – specifically in the gymnastics or ice skating competition (this is particularly laughable, as I often trip over my own feet while walking across a room).

I think what always made the Olympics special to me was the potential. The media always highlights a “regular Joe” who trains for the Olympics after school/in between 2 jobs/taking care of a sick relative – last year, the “regular Joe” was an unknown, but this year, he won the gold medal!  It made me feel that everyone had the potential to win a gold medal if they worked hard – yes, even a clumsy, un-athletic girl like me.

Now that the athletes in the Olympics are closer to my children’s ages than mine, the potential has shifted.  Yes, my Olympic dreams are over… but my boys?  It’s a possibility!  Elias with his crazy-creative karate moves (which also double as his break-dancing moves) or his 4 year old throwing arm…. Donovan with his freaky-fast-for-a-2-year-old running speed… They are both untapped potential for…. WHATEVER!  Isn’t that dizzying to think about? (I just pray they get their father’s athletic abilities and not mine…)

As I’ve been thinking about my children’s athletic potential, Junior Asparagus’s voice has been ringing through my head, singing “I am a promise…” from this CD – it’s his voice because I did not learn this song as a child.  In fact, I just started learning it with my kids lately, and the only part that I know by heart are the first four lines.  So I looked the words up online to see what the rest of the song says….

I am a promise
I am a possibility
I am a promise with a capital “P”
I am a great big bundle of potentiality
And I am learnin’ to hear God’s voice
And I am tryin’ to make the right choice
I am a promise to be anything God wants me to be.

I can go anywhere that He wants me to go
I can be anything He wants me to be
I can climb the high mountains
I can cross the wide sea
I’m a great big promise you see!

I am a promise
I am a possibility
I am a promise with a capital “P”
I am a great big bundle of potentiality
And I am learnin’ to hear God’s voice
And I am tryin’ to make the right choice
I’m a promise to be anything God wants me to be
Anything God wants me to be!

Isn’t that fabulous?!  Anything God wants me to be! And guess what?  God’s reality for my children is greater than anything I can dream up for them!!!  Ephesians 3:20 says, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…” Even if I try to dream up potential futures for my kids, or if I try to project my frustrated musical ambitions (or Olympic dreams) on them, God’s plan for them is far above anything that I could imagine!

God’s Word includes another promise… “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).” I clung to these words after graduation, when I had no idea where I was going – but I didn’t think about clinging to that promise for my children.  And what is our hope, our future?  Christ Jesus is our Hope (1 Timothy 1:1)!

The Lord may not have the Olympics anywhere in my children’s futures – He may not have Broadway, Hollywood, or Mount Everest anywhere in there, either.   What if my sons’ high mountains are mountains of pain or depression?  What if the wide seas in their lives are loneliness or grief?  “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful… (Hebrews 10:23).” Praise the Lord that He is faithful! The promise, possibility, and potentiality that is in my children right now is already fulfilled by the Father – and what ever high mountain or wide sea that will be in their lives they will be able to overcome in Christ – He has promised, and He is faithful!

The thing that I crave for my boys is that they become men of God – that is the potential I want to be fulfilled in their lives.  It would be wonderful if they wound up on Broadway or in the Olympics – there is nothing wrong with those possibilities!  But that they know God and have His life in them…  With God in their lives, they can do anything! Talk about a great big bundle of potentiality!

Will you pray with me for the potential in our children? No matter what the dreams that you have for your children, we want to stand with you in lifting your children up to the Lord (here are some great prayer resources you can look into to help with praying for your children).  I hope that we can continue to watch the potential grow in our children together!

Full of Grace – unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification – Grace is the good pleasure of God that inclines Him to grant merit where it is undeserved and to forgive debt that cannot be repaid.

Ephesians 1:5-8

He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us…

The story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32) is an amazing parable showing us God’s grace.  The message is simple: we should never be afraid to ask for forgiveness.  This parable can give us courage that God is nothing but gentle and loving when we repent.  God has unlimited grace for us no matter what we’ve done.

Lord, we are so thankful for Your grace!

In preparing this year for Advent, I researched the purpose of the season and many ways to celebrate Advent.  I decided to focus this Advent on the names and attributes of God – helping my family learn more about our Lord and Saviour, preparing our hearts to celebrate the birth of Christ, and allowing us to press closer into Him through knowing Him more intimately.

Ever since this post from Amanda (2 years ago!), I have had the idea of a mini Christmas tree in the back of my mind.  And when I started thinking about Advent this year, a miniature tree seemed to fit the bill… part Advent calendar, part new family tradition…

Remember this sneak peek that I gave you a couple of weeks ago?  I made mini-ornaments for our little Advent tree, adding a name or attribute of God to each one.  Each day, we’ll hang a new ornament on the tree, read some verses associated with the name, and do a craft or activity to help Elias and Donovan learn more about God and prepare their hearts for this special season.

We started with the name and attribute Almighty.  The Merriam-Webster dictionary defined “Almighty” as God.  Praise the Lord!  It also said that “Almighty” means having absolute power over all.

One of God’s names in Hebrew, El-Shaddai, means “God Almighty.”  God who is all-sufficient and all-bountiful—the source of all blessings, fullness, and fruitfulness – is also all-powerful and worthy to be praised!

Some verses that we read about God as Almighty are…

Genesis 49:22-25

²²“Joseph is a fruitful bough,
A fruitful bough by a spring;
Its branches run over a wall.
²³“The archers bitterly attacked him,
And shot at him and harassed him;
²⁴But his bow remained firm,
And his arms were agile,
From the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob
(From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),
²⁵From the God of your father who helps you,
And by the Almighty who blesses you
With blessings of heaven above,
Blessings of the deep that lies beneath,
Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.

Psalm 91:1
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

2 Corinthians 6:18
” And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” says the Lord Almighty.

Revelation 1:8
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, ” who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

When I think of the Almighty power of God, I think of the stars – the amazing might of the One who created such beauty and such power in themselves!  So we made a star for the top of our Advent tree… I glued popsicle sticks together to form a star, and Elias set about decorating it with glitter glue.

I used a heavy-duty craft glue (E6000), and I’m glad I did.  This star has already taken a beating, and there’s no sign that it’s coming apart at all.  I also “clamped” the star together with binder clips while the glue was drying – again, I’m glad I did that, because the star shape was shifting all around and popping apart where the popsicle sticks were not touching each other directly.

When the glitter was dry, we topped our little tree with Elias’s star, and we hung two others that we made in the window with the tree… and we have a visible reminder of our Almighty God!

*

I am already loving our Advent tree – it is in our dining room, which we use for all meals, and is frequently played in throughout the day.  Elias and Donovan are quite smitten with it – lots of “Oooo’s” and Ahhh’s”, and I overheard Elias explaining to Donovan how God made the stars in the sky, just like he made the stars on top of the tree.

God is ALMIGHTY!

*yes, that is Mary and Joseph in the school bus… and apparently the 3 wise men were waiting to be picked up, too.

Continuing on our theme of respect, we are learning to respect God’s word!  I have a couple verses we will be sharing about God’s word, and we started with a new memory verse… Do not merely listen to the word.  Do what it says.  James 1:22

I really want to impress on Elias that God’s word is truth, and we need to not only listen to the word (stories, rules, promises, etc), we need to actually do what it says.  I want this to help lay the foundation for respect and obedience to God.

So in the spirit of doing, we did a memory verse activity game – something to get Elias moving and doing…

To prepare, write and cut out 2 sets of the individual words in the Bible verse… we’re doing another matching game, so the different colors for the words help a lot.

Then we placed one set of words at the far end of our living room, and I sat at the other end and handed Elias the words of the Bible verse in order, having him run to the other end of the room to match up the words and bring them back.  I have a video to illustrate (and some words to say about the video: see note at bottom of post):

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Elias had a lot of fun doing this – and despite Donovan’s fussing in the background, he had fun, too – once I made sure he had 2 pieces of paper in his hands, just like Elias.  If you have a chance, double check yourself with the words – I was missing a couple words on the coffee table, so the nice little edit you see in the middle of the video was actually me running to the other end of the room to figure out what I did wrong, tripping over both boys in the process, and generally creating mayhem.  Ehem…

After the activity, we strung the words together to hang our verse up – this is so easy!  I’ll be making banners like this for everything in the future!

All I did was punch a hole in each top corner of the word and string them on some yarn – WAY too easy!  Not as pretty as some of the bunting that is out there right now, but a quick and fun alternative!

I really like that this is out in the main rooms of our house for everyone to see – I already have it memorized, and it is a constant reminder for me to set a good example for the boys, and really work on obeying God’s word in all I do.

**Note on video – a quick apology for the state of my living room – you get a far away view of my sewing corner… and the coffee table is pushed over to the side like that to prevent the boys from playing with my sewing stuff.  It’s just how our home functions on a daily basis, and it’s not the showcase I’d like it to be… and now I know why Josh thinks I talk too loud.  Man – I am loud!  OK – enough apologizing about the video – I’m just nervous because it’s my first time to post one… and now I’m over it!

After learning about how awesome God is, I wanted to move to respecting God’s sanctuary, as in the verse, “Have reverence for my sanctuary…” Leviticus 19:30.  But my beliefs about physical church buildings have changed through the years – going from an extreme where the altar is a holy place that only a priest can walk behind, to almost the other extreme where it is not an actual place that is holy – it is what happens there that makes it a place to be respected.

We meet in what many would consider a very large home church – very large because there are almost 300 people meeting together, and we actually do meet in a home – a home with a very large meeting room added on to it.  This meeting room is not only the place where we pray and worship the Lord, but it is also the place where we fellowship together over lunch and where the kids run around to get their energy out after being cooped up in their Sunday school class.  How can I reconcile the idea for Elias that the place where the boys are encouraged to be kids is also the place that at times there needs to be respect and reverence?

Please know that I am not talking about respect for property or even others’ beliefs about their church buildings.  I want my children to fully respect property, a building, a place – and that comes as I correct and train my children.  But I want to get to the heart belief – what makes a place (such as our meeting room) so different two hours after a time of prayer and worship?

Where two or three people meet together in my name, I am there with them. Matthew 18:20 (NIrV) The present spirit of God is what makes a place different!

I prepared a whole bunch of paper dolls (paper people, paper chains, people chains – Josh called them all kinds of things last night as I was cutting them out.  And did you know he didn’t know how to cut out paper dolls?!  He does now!) before the boys were up – they wouldn’t have lasted while I cut out all the chains.

And then I created a little poster for our new memory verse:

And then Elias and I talked about where people meet together in God’s name… church, Sunday school, Bible studies, prayer times, music class, and even when we pray together at meal times and bed times. As we talked, he glued people to a separate piece of paper – we have 6 groups of people for the 6 times we talked about – I thought that was kind of cool!

We’ll continue to talk about this, and I have a couple more crafty ideas up my sleeve to try to illustrate this verse. I will also be trying (or rather, continuing) to impress upon the boys the need for quiet and respect while they are with us in our prayer and worship time.

I’m excited because now Elias knows that God is there when there are even 2 or 3 people coming together in His name! Why didn’t I think about teaching him this before?  This seems like something he was able to grasp right away…

How do you teach your children about respecting the place/time that you meet for worship?

We rarely go to McDonald’s. Ever since I saw Super Size Me I can’t swallow a Chicken McNugget to save my life. So, it makes me smile when Lydia calls it, “Old McDonald’s”. I’m loving that Lydia is so verbal–sometimes I forget she’s only 3. Until she busts out with one of those cute Lydia-isms.

Another one of my favorites is when she gets on her rocking horse or is going to run and she says, “I’m going to be fast as a LIGHTNING BUG!” Ahh, this makes me laugh every time.

This week, I experienced a new funny phrase from her. Asa is not walking yet but is crawling and climbing everywhere. A few days ago, he cleared off Lydia’s baby doll bed and crawled right in the middle of it. Lydia and I laughed and laughed as he sat and giggled on the bed. Finally Lydia shouted, “Asa! You are hilarious and hairy!” then fell on the floor laughing hysterically and even snorting a little.

I could not stop laughing and snickered the rest of the day. I could not figure out where she got that phrase, “hilarious and hairy”?!

Then yesterday I read Mem Fox’s Hello Baby!to Asa before bed. I bought this book for Asa’s birthday. It’s a sweet book that begins with the author asking, “Hello, baby. Who are you?” Then she introduces several fun animals and their unique qualities (like a gecko with a rolling eye). It ends by discovering that the baby is not an animal but instead, “my treasure”. The first time I read it, I thought, “Oh, this is cute.” But the more we read it, the more I like it. It’s a wonderful bedtime book because of the charming ending. Plus the illustrations are kind of Eric Carle-ish but more earthy and textured. It’s one of our new favorites.

Anyway, one of the animals in the book is a warthog—HILARIOUS and HAIRY. Lydia had been quoting the book to Asa! I asked her about it and she knew she was quoting the book, “That’s where I got it!” But I didn’t make the connection for days!

This really got me thinking about her little mind. She can memorize things in a second. She can remember everything I say on the phone to my husband. She can remember songs from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She can remember a phrase from a book and then use it in a conversation (even though it may not be quite the right fit!).

Am I saying things that are worthy of mimicking? Am I reading things to her that are worthy of imitation? Are we watching and listening to words that are worthy of memorization?

Lord, may the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be pleasing in your eyes. You are my Rock and my Redeemer.
Psalm 19:14 NIrV

I have been so out of touch with my normal life the past few days! I was in California for a vacation/bloggy event/family renunion. My kids are wonked (is that a word?) by the time zones, our house is a mess and still the first thing Lydia says to me when we get home is, “I want to make a craft!”.

So, we jumped right back into our Fruit of the Spirit activities yesterday. I randomly picked an orange to remind us of KINDNESS.* It seemed like a fruit you might share, so orange it is!

I was googling Fruit of the Spirit a few weeks ago and ran across some little books called The Bird With The Word Talks About…by Harvest House Publishers. There are 9 books each covering one of the fruits of the Spirit. The website I found it on showed no pictures whatsoever but the books were only $1, so I bought them all!

I was surprised when the books arrived because they are almost like little pamplets. They are mini-sized with no color pictures. But Lydia thinks they are so fun. The books aren’t amazing or have some unbelievable insight but they do a good job of introducing and giving a solid definition of each Fruit. The Kindness book was about a clown that invited the animals (the main characters of the book) to a Be Kind To Animals Day at the circus. The animals are excited except for the snail. He feels left out because no one will like him. The other animals get ticked that he is ruining their fun. Then the Bird reminds everyone to be kind and nice to snail and to each other. (Really, it was a little more clever than THAT!) Lydia enjoyed it.

Then we picked out Galatians 3:12 as our scripture verse:

You are God’s chosen people. You are holy and dearly loved. So put on tender mercy and kindness as if they were your clothes.

I love this one because it lends itself to so many great activities (I’m thinkin’ collages of clothes, dress up time, dress up an orange day and more!). As we read the verse, Lydia was already confused. She said, “What are they wearing? What are they wearing?”

So, I asked her to get a costume out of her costume box. She of course, brought me a tiara. I asked her what we do when we get out our crowns.

Lydia: I don’t know.

Me: We look at it and say, “Oh! How pretty! A beautiful fairy princess crown!” Then what do we do?

Lydia: I don’t know.

Me: Then we put it on and say, “Oh, Lydia! You are a beautiful fairy princess!” (I put the crown on her.) Then what do we do?

Lydia: (stands up straighter, smiles and pretends to be a fairy princess)

Me: We pretend to be a fairy princess! We talk to all our fairy friends! We say hello to all the princesses!

Then I took the crown off her head and said, “Now, let’s pretend this is our KINDNESS CROWN.” Then we went through the entire conversation again…

Me: What do we do when we see our KINDNESS CROWN?

Lydia: (in awe) I don’t know!

Me: We look at it and say, “Oh! This reminds us to be kind! And nice to everyone we meet.” What do we do next?

Lydia: (shyly) Put it on?

Me: That’s right! Put it on and say, “Oh, look! Lydia is wearing a KINDNESS CROWN. She is so kind!” Then what?

Lydia: (still in awe and puts her arms out again like a fairy princess)

Me: That’s right! We use kindness! We are nice to everyone we meet. Lydia helps people and gives to others.

Then I handed her a few of her stuffed animals. We pretended the animals were having a bad day (they were mean, or someone was mean to them) and I asked Lydia what to do for them since she was wearing the KINDNESS CROWN. She usually came up with an idea like, “Let’s play a game with him!” or “I’ll give you a hug!”

But she was getting it! She was being kind with the same excitement as when she pretends she’s Snow White! Later on when she started playing Doctor or some other game, she ran up to me and said, “Mommy! Mommy! I need my KINDNESS CROWN!” because one of her animals needed some kindness.

I honestly could not have planned this better. She was totally acting out the verse and getting the idea behind PUTTING ON KINDNESS. It was awesome. I can’t wait to do more with this Fruit of the Spirit!

*a word about the Fruit of the Spirit. Some translations give the following nine fruits: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. I’m using the NIRV with Lydia, so we are doing: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, good, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

orange photo by fr antunes

crown photo by swamibu

Heather from Not a DIY Life is guest posting for us today! She is a long time reader, commenter and tweeter of Impress your Kids. But more importantly she is a wonderful mama raising her daughter for the Lord. Heather blogs at Not a DIY Life and believes that life is not meant to be a Do-It-Yourself project . Please follower her on twitter and read her daily updates about her life and daughter. You will be encouraged!

Father, we thank You for the night,
And for the pleasant morning light.
For rest and food and loving care
For friends who make the day so fair.

One of many familiar prayers that we can teach our children.  But how do we teach them that prayer is more than reciting a cute rhyme before meals and at bedtime?  (There is nothing wrong with memorizing and reciting rhyming prayers, and we will be teaching our daughter The Lord’s Prayer because we say that prayer at church.)  How do we teach our children to communicate authentically with our Heavenly Father?

Prayer at its core is conversation with God.  Conversation includes both talking and listening.  Since our daughter, Ladybug is 28 months, I really don’t expect her to understand the listening part of prayer yet.  But we are enjoying the talking part of prayer together.

Our first step in teaching Ladybug to pray was to include prayer as part of our bedtime routine.  Kids thrive on routine.  We keep the bedtime prayer simple, using words that she will understand without “talking down” to God.

Our bedtime prayer includes holding hands, bowing our heads, and closing our eyes.  She knows that is the posture for prayer.  So anytime we say, “It’s time to pray,” whether at mealtimes or in church, she knows to be quiet, hold hands, and bow her head.

We include people that Ladybug knows in our bedtime prayers as well.  She recognizes the names and will repeat them.  And if we leave someone off the list, she reminds us, “Pray Baby Erin, Mama.”

Because we acknowledge what she says during prayer time, she is learning that she can participate in prayer and that prayer is not only for someone special like our pastor, but for everyone.

We usually pray together at mealtimes as well.  For our family of three, that is the norm.  But in some in our extended family do not have this practice.  Because family members know that we pray, there is sometimes an awkward moment or two when gathered for a family meal.  Ladybug has broken that awkwardness many times, with her cute toddler voice saying, “Pray, Mama, pray, Daddy.”  What doting aunt or uncle can continue to feel uncomfortable when their adorable niece is asking us to pray?  Ladybug is learning, through the practice of prayer, that it is important to share our faith with others.  (And it makes this Mama want to cry tears of joy when she does that!)

Although we are firm that we pray together at mealtimes and bedtimes, Ladybug does catch us off guard and ask to pray at other times.  And of course, we stop what we are doing and pray!  Even if it’s the third time in a row, stopping to pray teaches her that God is available anytime.

When she sees either myself or Hubby in our prayer posture (head bowed, eyes closed), she knows that we are praying and asks to be included.  She is learning so much by observing our practice of prayer!  I feel that including Ladybug in our prayer times and allowing her to observe our prayer life is one of the most valuable ways that she can learn.

How are you teaching your child to pray?

photo by wesley fryer

Every night around dinner time my son gets whiny clingy loud. He follows me around the kitchen crying. He pulls up and hangs onto my legs. He wails as if the whole world was ending. And honestly, I think it’s less about ME than it is that he knows I’m cooking FOOD.

And every day by the time dinner is done I’m ready to throw the food on the table and lay on the couch while the kids eat! So, today’s fruit has been verrrry convicting helpful.

That’s right, we’re talking about PATIENCE.

Proverbs 14:29 says, “Anyone who is patient has great understanding. But anyone who gets angry quickly shows how foolish he is.” Do you know how many times this verse has gone through my head today?! *deep breath*

Anyway, Lydia and I made a little poster of our verse. (I got this great drawing pad at Target for like 50% for all the back-to-school stuff!) We hung it up under flatLydia but forgot about our aggressive little Asa. We had to tape it back together but it still looks ok…

{{Also a good lesson in patience: not yelling at your brother (or son as the case may be) when he rips your poster off the wall.}}

You can see I wrote Lydia’s name in the verse. We read it normal and then I read it once with her name. She asked to read it “with Lydia” several times. It’s always surprising to me how much she likes it when we read/learn/talk about scripture–and how quickly she remembers it. Even later in the day she heard someone say “quickly” and she said, “Mommy! QUICKLY! Just like our verse! That’s funn-y.”

I chose a kiwi to represent patience because kiwis are hard on the outside but YUMMY on the inside! While we held a kiwi and rubbed it’s rough exterior, we talked about how patience is hard to do on the outside but is well worth it on the inside! Lydia carried the kiwi all around today–even in the car! We never got around to eating it, but I’m sure we will soon.

I’m debating about telling you my plans for the kiwi…if I tell you what I’ve got planned, I’m afraid I won’t do it. Then I’ll look silly or worse, lazy! But if I don’t tell you, well…that just ends my post right here.

Fine.

I’ll tell you.

Stay tuned for more kiwi goodness: Kiwi Polymer Clay Beads, Abraham’s Promise, Patience Practice and much more!

photo by krassycandoit