sometimes it gets rather discouraging training your kids. when there are 5, it is interesting because there is only a few minutes break between each training session. one person screams, a few seconds later one tattles, one disobeys, a few minutes later the next. it is endless from breakfast to bedtime. if it is not training for things done in the negative, it is training for the future in the positive. i am always amazed how easy my days are when my mom takes just one or two kids. it really really is easy due to the whole dynamic of the house being changed. those days are usually very very peaceful and filled with all 4 getting along very well. there is just something about all of them that just stirs the pot just enough.
then there are the days you realize that something has sunk in. those moments where a child repeats something in a way that makes you realize you really are making a difference. or they spontaneously empathize with a sibling. like Ian today when Isaiah had last his quarter for the candy machine, he was unable to get any. all the other kids had candy, but not isaiah. when Ian discovered this, he lovingly shared his last peice of candy and started dividing his left over money with Isaiah also. those moments make you proud.
Bella is definitely our hardest. she has been given a quality of stubornness from the Lord. i wait in great anticipation to see where God will channel this quality in my sweet girl. it is deep in the fabric of her being so i know God has a plan for it. but on a day to day basis it is quite frustrating to deal with. however, the other day bella asked for a pasketti (spaghetti) stick (noodle). i said she could not have one. but lo and behold in bella fashion she reached up and got one anyway. i said nothing partly to calm myself, partly to see what she would do and yet another part to plan my response. then the amazing happened. she looks at me and says, "mommy, did i disobey?" i silently nodded my head waiting to see where this would lead. and then she placed the noodle back on the counter and said, " i don't want to disobey, mommy!" in the quietest, sweetest spirit i have ever seen in my bella. i, of course, praised her up and down with hugs, kisses and scripture flowing from my mouth about what she had just done! i was thrilled. i was only a thrilled a fraction of what God is when she obeyed or even when we, as his children, obey. i can't imagine what he thinks when we finally get something.
a couple of weeks ago, Ian and bella were fighting over sharing something. ian was very frustrated and came running in the room yelling in desperation his two bible verses, yet mixing them up and tangling them together. he yells, "mommy, the bible says do everything in love, without listening or that is your folly and your shame. and bella is not doing everything in love!!!" i asked his what he thought he should do and he says ask bella to share in a nice way. i hear him run into the other room, out of breath, quickly say "bella the bible says do everything in love or it's your folly and your shame so you need to share, do you want to?" to everyone's surprise bella says, "sure, i know where we can sit..." and they blissfully run together to sit at the front door and share the water bottle.
those instances refreshed me as a mom. in a way that only your own child can. we all already know how hard parenting can be and how we will see our fruits years from whence we began. but we secretly, silently wait for those moments. the moments where we can plainly see what fruit our labor is bearing. the moments where you see God's Word really being hidden in thier hearts. the moments where the lesson really becomes a real life lesson for them in thier own way. Those spur us on!! they come small...they come infrequently...but they come.
i am so proud of my little one's hearts. i thank God for His grace and mercy on me to allow me to teach them and allow them to learn from such a broken vessel...
