My Sweet Boy

Well, I feel like I'm often ( I guess that depends on how you define 'often' *snort*) here exclaiming about what wonderful children I have. Hopefully y'all don't get tired of that. I certainly don't :) "Behold children are a blessing from the Lord"!!!
You see, if you make it on over here to read my blog, I'd LOVE for you to leave feeling refreshed, encouraged and smiling. These precious moments with my children that I blog about are my way of "pondering all of these things" in my heart, like Mary, the mother of Jesus, did. There are going to be hard times. There are going to be rough days, weeks and/or months. But we're not in it for the money ;D These precious little souls we've been entrusted with are ours to "train up in the way they should go." Now and then I get a glimpse of just what that looks like, particularly in Quenton, being our oldest.


Here's how it went: See, the other day Daddy came home from work and was noodling around on the computer. Quenton, who is swiftly becoming his little shadow, was at his side, watching every move Geoffrey made. All at once, out of the blue, Quenton turned to his Daddy and said "Dad, I don't want to do anything that bothers you or makes you mad, because I want to be just like you!" I thought "Well, what a wonderfully sweet thing to say!" It got better. You see, about 10 minutes later, Geoffrey was rallying to give Quenton his "nightly bop". It's a cute game he plays with the children, playfully bopping them on the head out of ritual. Quenton got quite serious and said "Please don't Dadda". When asked "why" he explained "I don't want you to do that because I'll want to punch you back and you don't like it when I punch you. I don't want to do things that you don't like." *jaw drop* This boy was SERIOUS!

Well, a little while later, I was in the kitchen finishing up cooking dinner. I attempted, and failed miserably at pouring boiling hot broth from my crockpot into a pan to make gravy. See, the hotpad slipped on me and I succeeded in spilling said chicken broth all down the front of me. In immense pain, I squeaked out a shocked "Ow!" Both Quen and Ari came running, and I could hear Geoffrey who was upstairs heading quickly down. One of the kids asked what was wrong and I said "I spilled hot broth all down me." Quenton was looking at me very worried, but he waited for a moment, and then in the kindest, most sensitive tone said simply "I'm sorry Mama." I could have cried right then and there out of sheer love for him. In his sweet little boy heart he knew I wasn't "alright" so he didn't even ask. He just sympathized in a way I very much needed right then.

Then, that night as I was putting him and his sister to bed, we were taking turns praying. He said a very simple, and even generic prayer, which I was a bit disappointed with. I have a tendency to want to correct when he's obviously not praying from his heart, but I felt like I needed to keep my mouth closed, so we just moved on to Ari's turn. As she was praying though, he checked as though he had something else he wanted to say. Once she was done he confirmed there was something else and went on to pray "And Jesus, please help Ari and me to obey our parents like it says to do in the Bible." *Happy grin* Praise God for helping me to keep my critical nature in check. I'm so glad for his sweet teachable spirit. Lord, please give me wisdom!

Bubbles!!!

Not a whole lot to say on this particular post, but enough cuteness to go around. Who doesn't enjoy watching their children playing with bubbles?

Even the cat had to get in on the action... in a manner of speaking.

Aha!

You know that feeling, or sometimes that rut you get in, where you're reading along in your Bible, and you come across something that simply does NOT make sense to you? I'm sure we've all been there. Well, I hit one of those spots this morning. I was reading Galatians 4 where Paul is talking about Hagar and Sarah and their two sons. One is born in the ordinary way, and is under the law, while the other is born of a promise and is part of the new covenant. Ok, so I got all of that. But then he starts talking about how :25 "Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is a slave with her children." Ok, I can get that too. She corresponds to Mt. Sinai, because that's where the 10 commandments came from, and thus the Law. Then :26 "But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. :27 For it is written:
'Be glad, O barren woman,
who bears no children;
break forth and cry aloud,
you who have no labor pains;
because more are the children of the
desolate woman
than of her who has a husband.' (Isaiah 54:1)"

I sat there looking at that for a bit, and then went back and read it another time thinking "Wha...?" Then it was like God just breathed the meaning of it into my mind, and it all made sense. And to me, it's something all of us mother's think about, worry about, and hopefully more than anything, PRAY about. See, he's saying: Be glad you ladies who don't have children, because more are the children who will be heirs of the law (unbelievers) than those who are heirs of the promise (Christians).

It's a battle, my friends. A battle for the hearts, minds and souls of our children. Teach them, train them, while they are young, for the Bible promises "... When they are old they will not depart from it."
Pray for your children to have a heart knowledge/belief in Jesus Christ. That they will have a personal relationship with Him. So many children grow up with only a head knowledge of God, and when that is tested, it is found lacking. By and large, their faith will not last if they're basing it ONLY on what you tell/have taught them. They must experience God for themselves.