Monday, May 01, 2006

As iron sharpens iron, so man sharpens another!


We love sitting down together for our evening meal. It's usually during meal times that we really hear about everyone's day. Both Jonathan and Karissa share their thoughts during this time. Some of these thoughts are serious and some are not so serious. Frequently, we end up laughing until we cry.

Just last week we had one of those laughing/crying episodes. We were having a meeting at the house that night and I (mom) had just changed the tablecloth and vacumed the rugs. Jonathan, our 15 year old son, served himself as well as the tablecloth to some spanish rice. Immediately, I commented on how dirty the previous tablecloth was at his spot. We left it at that and continued with our meal and conversation. For dessert, Jonathan got up to get a cookie and decided that he couldn't wait until he got to the table. He then took a bite with crumbs falling onto the rug. He looked at the floor and not seeing the crumb sat down. Of course I piped in, "Did you get my rug dirty too?" To this his father replies, "Well, at least he didn't get the tablecloth!" To which we all burst out laughing.

You know, there was a little voice inside of me that said, "Clean tablecloths and clean rugs are not so important...but how you make your child feel with the things that you say are". I knew that encouraging my son to be a little neater was a good mom thing to do, but my heart attitude was not so correct that night. I was correcting him with a critical spirit. I wasn't necessarily encouraging my child to do better as much as I was venting my frustrations.

It's hard sometimes to teach and train our children with a right spirit. I need to be reminded every once in awhile that training comes from a heart that wants to bless a child. I need to be wise and build up my house instead of tearing it down with my own hands (or mouth as the case may be). I'm so thankful for that still small voice that directs me in my parenting. My prayer is that I be faithful in obeying it!

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