Love

You thought I forgot, didn't you?
We have been working on the character trait LOVE. I meant to sit with them every morning and discuss the many ways we can show love, with a reciting of our memory verse and maybe a few activities to go along with this. But our talks ended up being a little here, a little there, and more privately than as a group. Which ended up being just fine.



I tried to stress two key points.
* It is a decision.
We all know people that can't seem to get along with anyone. They need to ask themselves, is there really so much to hate about so many people or do I just have a lot of hate to share? Whether we hate or love relys more on ourselves than the actions of those we pour out our emotions on. We need to make a conscious decision to love.

* Love comes from God.
"He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." 1 Jo 4:8
"God pours His love out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit living in us."

Though I didn't involve the kids as much as I had planned, I ended up learning how to display this trait more myself, so that I can be a better example for them.For a little over a week, we kept a chart (an apple cutout taped to the wall) and they got a star (they each had their own color) for every time they showed love.
(A few stars were peeled off after an argument, but I explained to them that this was not how it worked.)

What I found is that this, of course, did not solve our lack of loving issues. We still argue, bicker. But it gave us a good understanding of what to strive for and what, ideally, is to be expected.

A quote from Joseph "'Memer we were talking 'bout love? ...well, Courtney's not showing me any."

So there, I followed through. Now we're on to JOY!

Building Character

Now that summer is here...

We can begin a few activities that have been floating around in my mind but we just haven't had the time to follow through with.
One of those ideas is our character study. I'm really excited about this one.
Here's the plan...

We begin by making some apples out of card stock and writing the character traits on each. At the beginning of the week (or however long we feel like spending on each one) we put up our apple on the wall, discuss the word, its definition, and read the corresponding verse. And of course, we talk about the different ways to express it.
Every time I see them demonstrating this trait, a star goes up on the apple (each child has a designated color - It wont be discussed who's color is who's, I don't want it to turn into a competition, I want them to focus on their own personal growth.) There will be more to it, activities to go along with, depending on my energy level ;)

It's simple, but I think it will be enjoyable, and hopefully, it will be a wonderful learning experience.



Our list...
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness,temperance, ..." Gal 5:22



A few quotes from the Pearls keep coming to mind as I prepare for this that I thought were worth sharing.

"Discontented parents breed discontented children."
"A bitter root cannot produce sweet fruit."
"If "the joy of the Lord is our strength," then surely the joy of the parents is the strength of a child."

Savor those words for a minute.
We easily recognise the weaknesses and areas in need of improvement in our children, but often fail to see the source of their undesirable traits. It is learned from the parents. How can we expect our child to show perfect patience when we so easily loose our temper? How will they learn contentment when they witness our covetousness?
I realised that this is more important for me than it is for the kids. I cannot expect anything from them until I correct myself first.

So now that I've told you, I HAVE to follow through. You can hold me to it. I'll let you know in a week how much "love" we have expressed.

On Joy...

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth" (3 John 4)


Joy- this is my "word" for the year. Back in January, everyone was deciding on their words, a sort of new years resolution with a bit more meaning than the usual "I'm gonna loose 10 pounds." I loved the idea but had a hard time settling on a word of my own. Then I walked into Sunday school and was handed the study titled "discovering joy". Yup, that was it.

I read every article I could get my hands on, searched many websites, read and reread every verse on joy I could find in my concordance, but still longed for that clear and simple "formula".

Talking it over with the girls one night, I expressed this to them and Courtney plainly said "Jesus first, others second, yourself last."
"Hmm?"
"What, you've never heard of that?"
"Uh, no, I haven't."
(Roaring laughter at my sake)
"The J stands for Jesus, put Him first in your life. The O stands for others, do for others next, then Y for yourself. Then you will find joy."
I just love the way a child can take something so complicated and make it so simple.
So that's (only a small part of) my story on discovering joy.

While reading No Greater Joy, (not a book on joy, but on child rearing) I found a wonderful quote that I would like to share...

"Look into the face of your child and smile. Let your child look into your face and see someone delighting in their presence. Don't withhold your joy on the condition that your child earn your smile. Who deserves a good friend? Who deserves the Savior's love? ... Don't just smile at your kids; smile into them; smile through them. Let joy flow, and your family will be swept along in the current."



Click here for updates on everyone else's words for 2009