Today is a wonderful day so far. Dinner is cooking in the crockpot, a beeswax candle is flickering on the counter, Jack is taking his morning nap, Clara is participating in, as advertised by her mama, "Special Reading Time in Your Room!". This frees me up to clean up the tornado of breakfast and morning activities, sip my yummy americano that Jeff delivered to me on his way from Home Depot to a job, and blog a bit. I'm feeling peaceful and on top of things even though I haven't exercised, don't have makeup or hair done and have tons of other stuff to do the rest of this Columbus day. I just am enjoying this quiet moment, making mental lists, praying and breathing. I am very thankful for this time.
Clara and I have been talking about what it means to have a thankful and happy heart. It's so interesting(convicting) to teach biblical traits and the fruits of the Spirit to a two year old because you really have to spell it out and give real life examples. I've found myself apologizing to her as I did not display patience, self-control, kindness etc. But we also find many ways to practice these things together. With Thanksgiving coming up we are talking about being grateful for what God has shared with us and then sharing it with others. This can mean not saying "MINE!" to Jack when he grabs something she's playing with and it also means picking up toys and clothes around the house that we no longer use and passing them on to other kids. I am probably the one who learns the most as I teach Clara. How often do I cry "Mine!" in my heart about my "stuff". How tightly do I hold onto it? Or do I share it with others? It's not even mine to start with. When Clara says, "Mine", I remind her that it's not hers-it's Gods and he's sharing it with her. Sometimes I think I need my own Mother beside me all day reminding me of these truths. In her sweet way, my mom still does remind me-just this morning she emailed me an Elisabeth Elliot devotional on contentment. Well, explaing and talking about thankfulness is helpful but I think probably the more powerful thing is to live it from my heart in front of my kids. As I repeat "happy heart" reminders to Clara all day, I can hear my Heavenly Father in my ear reminding me not to say "mine" but to have a thankful, happy heart also.
"Give thanks to the Lord!" Psalm 118:1.
2 comments:
I appreciate your post Christy- your desire to be at rest, to be real in front of your children, and intentional in teaching God's truth. I wish you lived closer... it would be fun to hang out!
Jen
What a beautiful morning. :) I appreciate your reflections. Thanks.
Oh, and the new picture up top is fun!
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