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I, of course, like every mother I know, think that my children are the best and the smartest children. My daughter is doing first grade work this year, and never has trouble with anything academically. She was able to read within a few weeks of my teaching her, she likes math and loves science and especially history. She is ver attentive and obedient. I am forever thankful to God for His leading me to make letter flash cards to start going through with her when she was only 2 1/2. By the time she was three she had them memorized "A says a" and so on. This has helped her and my immensely!! My son is 4, and he is also reading his sister's first grade books. We used the same cards with him. He is much harder to teach, and requires much repetition and a set schedule without distractions. He will look to me for approval after reading a word and lose his place. This week I have started self-control training with him, more so than I have in the past. I want him to understand that there is a time and a place for squirming and playing, but when he's studying is time to sit still. When he starts fidgeting, I say "When you feel like you want to move, make yourself sit very still" This has worked wonders this week with his school work. I'm also gradually increasing the time of work between breaks. My job is to help him learn to be a successful adult, and one that pleases God. I am also thankful to the Lord for opportunities that he has given for us to minister. Growing up, we were very isolated and didn't do much reaching out in the community. My desire for my children is that they realize the world is bigger than us, and that we should help and give in any way we can to others. In our area, there are many migrant workers- they come into the area for a time, when that work is finished, they move on. On a trip to town the other day, I noticed that there was a young Mexican family in the woods near our house, with a baby. She couldn't have been more than 3 or 4 months old. The mother was holding the baby, trying to work. My daughter turns to me and says "We should ask them if we can take care of their baby so they can work." It's in those moments that I feel like I must be doing something right. I was so moved by her thoughfulness. I told her if they were still there when we came home, we would go ask them- and guess what? They were. I ran in the house and found an English-Spanish interpretation site on the internet. If anything I wrote made sense, I will be shocked. I wrote that my house was right next to them and I would be happy to watch the baby while they worked. I gave the note to my daughter and drove them back to the woods. She and my son took the note ( I could see them) to the family. I saw the father reading it, smile, and then the mother brought the baby to the fence and handed her to me. After a short cell phone conversation with someone who interpreted for us, she let the baby go with me. It broke my heart. I know that they don't get paid much, and they were forced to take the baby with them every day. Raking pine straw is back-breaking work. I couldn't imagine having to do it with a baby, nor could I imagine handing my baby over to someone I'd never met. The lady smiled at me and said "thank you". The few times I spoke in English to her, she just smiled and nodded. I could tell she understood English about as well as I understand Spanish- which is ~none~!. We had the beautiful, fat little baby girl in our home for one day and then the next day. And then they were gone. We will probably never know the family's name or know where they are. But my children got to experience the joy that comes from helping and serving others. I'm thankful that my kids are home with me to learn lessons such as these. |
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