Skip to main content

DO HARD THINGS!

Image
By

Kayla, Maddie and I are reading a book called, well, you can see in the picture what it is called. It is so good! Maddie in the past has had a problem with doing hard things. If I had a nickel for every time she said "It's too hard!", well I would be about 10.00 richer! This book has challenged them to rise to the occasion and do what is hard. It has challenged me to raise my expectations for them and not listen to the little nagging guilty voice in my head that tells me 'they are only kids, what do you expect?'. It has also got me to thinking about my part in providing them with hard things to do!!!!! Some thoughts off the cuff are:
  • volunteering at Children's hunger fund on a regular basis
  • street witnessing
  • babysitting for free for our sick neighbor
  • the jr. lifeguard program at Hanson Dam (next summer~ if the Lord provides 650.00 for them both to do it!)
  • Mission Trips with our church
  • ?????????
On a smaller scale I am having them(K, M, D & A) do things like:
  • Make phone calls to dr.s offices
  • wash, dry and put away their meal time dishes every time they eat
  • pull weeds in the backyard with a happy heart
  • cooking from recipes and cleaning up completely
  • Asking people what time it is~Allison
  • Looking people in the eyes when they speak to them and responding with a Yes, Mrs. so and so when they are given instructions
I want to teach them how to have conversations with adults and am open to any ideas on this or any other suggestions you might have. I am especially thinking Kayla is ready to have some kind of summer internship somewhere. Let me know if you can think of anything that might be an option for her. Okay, what is hard for me now is falling asleep. So off I go. "Do hard things, Do hard things!" 1 Cor 9:27 but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

Comments

  1. Jocelyne SadeSeptember 22, 2008 at 8:29 PM

    My 13 year old son has just read this and calls it the best book he ever read... we plan to read it again next time as a family... as
    soon as we finish Mistaken Identity.
    Thank God for good books... and for your posting your own resolve as a parent. I can't wait to read the book myself!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Building that is our Family

By
There is story after story of families torn apart through the process of adoption. Families who are working to put their lives back together because of a child or children who have torn them apart with their own hands. Disruptions, parental right terminations, institutionalizations.... I don't want to be another statistic. I don't want to earn the rights through losing this battle to join the masses of those who've gone before us & have been destroyed. With God's help, can our experience be different? As I was praying and asking God to help our family this morning, He spoke to my heart. Our sons and one, in particular, are attempting to tear our family apart. Daily, through their dysfunction, they pull the blocks down that have held this family together for the last 24 years. And with every fiber of their being, they throw those blocks around and turn a once beautiful building into a pile of rubble and chaos. Through their physical abuse, verbal a...
Post a Comment
Read more

“Almost perfect… but not quite.”

By
“Almost perfect… but not quite.” Those were the words of Mary Hume At her seventh birthday party, Looking ‘round the ribboned room. “This tablecloth is pink not white— Almost perfect…but not quite.” “Almost perfect…but not quite.” Those were the words of grown-up Mary Talking about her handsome beau, The one she wasn’t gonna marry. “Squeezes me a bit too tight— Almost perfect…but not quite.” “Almost perfect…but not quite.” Those were the words of ol’ Miss Hume. Teaching in the seventh grade, Grading papers in the gloom Late at night up in her room. “They never cross their t’s just right— Almost perfect…but not quite.” Ninety-eight the day she died Complainin’ bout the spotless floor. People shook their heads and sighed, “Guess that she’ll like heaven more.” Up went her soul on feathered wings, Out the door, up out of sight. Another voice from heaven came— “Almost...
Post a Comment
Read more

Teaching your child about the S** word~ Part 1

By
Last year a mom approached me and asked me about how we approached the topic of sex with our girls. From that conversation we planned to have a informal moms night where I would teach how we did it in our home and provide an opportunity for moms to share what has worked for them. Last night, a mom mentioned to me that she noticed how open we are about talking to our kids about the topic of sex, love & relationships. She asked me some questions and it got me to thinking about this topic again. What we are doing in our home is STARKLY different from how I was raised and how this subject was broached by my parents as a young person. Many parents find this topic intimidating and awkward to say the least. And because it is so awkward they postpone bringing it up. Moms, I want to challenge you to rethink waiting and ask yourself if now might be the right time to begin to introduce your children to the topic of God's view on sex. I pulled up the file I had written and wanted ...
4 comments
Read more