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Nov. 30, 2007
How to Tell Your Child Has a Good Attitude
They might draw something like this--drawn by my 3rd grade daughter a couple of weeks ago.
Or they might leave you a note on your Bible like this, as written by the same child last week:
To: Mommy
From: *****
Dear Mom,
You are a wonderful mom. I have looked around, and I haven't seen any better moms than you. I love the History we started. I hope we can keep working on it. I also like our Proverbs study we're doing. It's pretty cool. I've read threw 10 and I didn't really understand until we started the Bible study. It helped me a lot.
I love you.
Love,
*********
I am so blessed by this joyful daughter, who is also a writer at heart. In addition to her piles of drawings, stories, books, and articles that she writes, she showers me with loving notes. She is a true gift and blessing from God and He uses her to bring a lot of grace and joy into our home! Not to mention what a joyful worker she is! She joyfully responds to any command--even unloading the dishwasher, taking her little brother potty, or reading him books. She is such a blessing! (I know, I already said that, but God has blessed me!)
I also want to share this writing assignment done by my son this week for school. I was teaching my children to be able to share their testimonies--to share God's work in their life--in their own language, like they were speaking to other children around their own age--children who might benefit from hearing about their experiences and what God has taught them. Especially for my older son, as I teach him to write things down, I am also teaching him to add scriptures and prepare how to speak his testimonies, too. But this first attempt was a nice glimpse into the heart of my 8th grade son:
My Attitude towards My Younger Siblings
Hello, my name is *****. I’m 13 years old, and I have a younger sister who is 8, and a younger brother who is 2.
Some of you may have younger brothers or sisters, and most of you probably think they are snotty nosed brats. Well I used to think that, too. My sister would annoy me. She would ask me to play these “little kiddie games,” or ask me to set up her doll house for her, and so on. She would do something wrong and blame it on me. If I didn’t do what she wanted to do, she would hit me and stomp away. She would boss me around and act like my superior when my friends or her friends were over till it drove me mad.
One night I was telling God how unfairly I was being treated by my sister and how bad she was. Then all of a sudden I couldn’t think. Then in my conscience I heard the words, “Why are you complaining like a two year old? You’re more selfish, self-centered, and prideful than she is. All she wants is your attention, care, and love. Is your playing more valuable than she is? If you want to be such a godly person as you say you are, then you need to humble yourself and make time for your sister and brother. Your sister looks up to you, and with how you treat her, how do you think she will treat her little brother?”
I didn’t know what to do so first I asked God to forgive me. Then I asked for help being humble towards my sister (for honestly I’m a prideful kid). Then I promised myself I would play a game with my sister the next morning. And you know what? I did, and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be! It felt good to serve others. Even though this was quite awhile ago, I still tease my sister a little and I don’t always do what she wants to do, but I’m still working on it.
Instead of looking at your brother or sister as a nuisance, look at them as a sharpening tool for you to grow stronger in the Lord. Since I changed, my sister changed, and hopefully my brother will follow our examples with a new baby on the way.
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I know God has certainly blessed me with wonderful children, but I also know God gives me glimpses like this to confirm and encourage the child training path He is leading us down (my children haven't always been THIS wonderful!). We have trained these attitudes, we have taught Truth. I am so thankful God is merciful and gracious and shows me things like this to let us know His way is working and we are on the right path! I am so thankful to God for answering our fervent prayers to show us how to raise our children the way He wants us to--even though it is contrary to what most of the world thinks! He is so good!
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Nov. 30, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Ruth