watching.
she comes toddling in the room as i sit in the chair with the twins. i spend enough
time there that i've got a Bible on the arm of the chair to read throughout the day.
today she climbs up with us and i watch as she joyfully opens the book &
intensely 'reads' along with her finger. she tells me all about it and then asks,
right, mom?!
yes, you've got it right. He has the whole world in his hands and loves everyone.
i'm struck again by how much she watches, hears and models.
she tucks her babies under her shirt to nourish them and into
slings to carry them around. she's kinda obsessed with pretend coffee
and loves to have a cup on hand. she gets this grown up mommy voice
sometimes as she tries to encourage her twin brother to obey the rules,
she turns her head and raises her eyebrows a bit as she says,
cway, you need to make a choice to obey or you get a [wrinkles nose up] con-sack-quence.
i'm thankful for these things, but let's not kid ourselves. this picture reminded me
that i see her sigh in impatience. i cringe that she has seen that sigh from
me. she gets frustrated at a task and says my go-to word in frustration
SUGAR! not so bad, but she's also picked up the one that slips other times,
DANGIT! not pretty to see come out of your 3 year old in frustration.
i'm reminded that they watch everything--the good and the bad.
i'm humbly resolved to work on my times of impatience...
to honor the Lord with the way that i deal with frustration...
to be the model that i desire to be for our children.
[for His glory.]
Oh Love, where wAs your insight when mine were itty bitty? Needed this. Striving for more patience, less yelling, more hugs. We are all His works in progress. Xo
ReplyDeleteNothing more humbling in the entire world. Oh. Oh, how they watch us. And all that they learn.
ReplyDeleteLOVE. I was just thinking about this the other day when my son was frustrated with something. (he is so like me)
ReplyDeleteI saw myself......in him.........
THanks for the sweet reminder! xoxo!
So thankful for His grace. And that we can teach them so much by choosing that grace & love...one day at a time :). Your family is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI have been thinking a lot about this as I get ready to take Ashton to UG. I want to be more purposeful about what I am "giving" my kids to model. I give them plenty of yuck, ya know? Anger, frustration, distraction… the list is long. So instead for thinking about the "don't model.." [i have even made myself signs before] I need to spend more time on the "do model(s)." Just a few thoughts boppin' around in my head these days… hope it made sense. XO
ReplyDelete