A lesson on love

I have to write about a recent incident in the life of Sheridan, my 5 year old. Last week after church, she told me that there was a girl in her class that day with a "strange hand." She proceeded to point the little girl out to me and sure enough, one of her hands looked as if it had a birth defect. I cringed as Sheridan related to me that she had asked the little girl "what's that?" and "does that hurt?" This began a long conversation (it actually lasted throughout the week!) on why this little girls hand was different, why God made her that way, how Sheridan felt about it, and other various topics related to this.
I realized quickly, that this was the first time Sheridan had seen someone with a disability, other than someone in a wheel chair. Both Michael and I spent a lot of time processing this with Sheridan, and we focused specifically on the fact that Jesus doesn't make mistakes, that He had made her that way on purpose, and that Jesus looks at what people are like on the inside, not the outside, and so should we. Sheridan admitted that she had felt "scared" when she first saw the little girls hand, and we normalized that. One other thing we talked about was the fact that despite having a hand that looked different, the little girl was likely fun, kind, smart and would make a great friend. We even gave Sheridan suggestions on what she could say the next time she saw the little girl, such as "do you want to be my friend?"
So, yesterday when I picked Sheridan up from her class, she was playing with this particular little girl. As Sheridan came toward the door, the little girl followed and I got to meet her. It was clear that they had become friends! The conversation that I had with Sheridan later brought tears to my eyes and thankfulness to my heart!! She told me that when she saw the little girl, she said to her "do you want to be friends?" Sheridan reported that the little girl got a huge smile on her face and said "yes!" Sheridan also told me how much fun they had had at church, and all the things they had done together that day. She ended by saying to me "mom, you were right! Even someone with a different hand can be a great friend!"
I was so grateful to the Lord for providing this wonderful opportunity for Sheridan to learn about how God loves us, how we can love others, and the value of other people, even those that look "different"!!

Not just an Ark!

Have you read Genesis 9 lately? If you are a parent, you need to consider it! I was reading it recently and came to the end of the chapter, to a part that has always been a little bit of a mystery to me. Let me give you a recap...........Noah has begun farming, grows a vineyard, gets drunk and lays naked in his tent. His son Ham came in and saw him, went out, told his 2 brothers who then took a blanket, walked in to the tent backwards, and covered Noah. So what, right? Did you know that because of what Ham did, his son Canaan was cursed and that all of his descendants have become extinct? Seriously, what did he do?? My study Bible says that Ham dishonored his father and sinned. This is where the "mystery" comes in, this just never made sense to me!! So, I consulted my handy dandy Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties and this is what it said...."Ham derided and dishonored his father after he found him naked, sleeping off a drunken stupor. Ham should have treated his father respectfully even though he had made a fool of himself."
Flash forward to present day.....if God feels that just LOOKING at your father in that situation is dishonoring him, what can he think of our children now???? Our children who talk back, disobey, sin daily against us!
Another part to this is found in Deuteronomy 21 where it says that if any man has a "stubborn and rebellious" son, who "will not obey his father or his mother" he should be brought out to the elders of the city and (are you ready for this??) STONED TO DEATH. Yes, you read that right! Can you imagine that being a law today? I doubt if my children would have made it to their 2nd birthdays!!
So, what does all this mean? Here's what it means........God takes children's obedience and respect for parents very seriously! After reading these passages, it really motivated me to commit myself even more to the discipleship of my children, not just to make my life easy, but so that my children can be pleasing to the Lord!

An investment in the future

Have you noticed how much WORK it is to raise kids? I don't mean cooking, cleaning and doing laundry either! That is hard work, but it is mindless hard work! The hard work I am referring to is DISCIPLESHIP!! That is what is so time consuming and tiring.
I have been working with Sheridan lately on the way she speaks to me. Sometimes she speaks with less than the respect she is supposed to! So, I have undertaken this and my goal is to increase her respectful attitude and speech. DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH WORK THIS TAKES? I can honestly say that I understand how some parents just give up and say "oh well, hopefully it will work out someday!" Because this type of teaching, this type of discipling takes hard work. Redirecting her speech takes time and effort. I have to stop what I am doing, go over to her, crouch down and help her to rephrase what she has just said. On top of that is the discipline that takes place if she refuses, and the heart work that needs to take place between her and the Lord to complete this process. I am constantly using scripture with her and helping her to say things differently. I am constantly paying attention to her attitude and ability to submit. I am constantly praising her when she does a great job.........and the list goes on.
And guess what? It is starting to pay off. When asked to clean up the playroom the other day you know what she said? "Sure mom!", and she got right to it! She is learning to submit, obey and with the right heart attitude!!!! Is she perfect at this yet? NOT! Am I always consistent? NOT! But, with the Lord's help we will persevere, believing that ALL things are possible through the Lord, and that he has a plan for my daughter and I need to be faithful to prepare her for it!