"Mommy, Mommy--come here!"
It would have been easy to refuse. Madly punching numbers into the calculator, I had reached midpoint of tracing the convoluted mess of numbers in our checkbook to find the balance. Stopping now meant losing that train of thought. But, the excitement in her voice drew me to her.
"Look at this sunrise! Do you see the purple? Look at that pink! I love how the color goes from red to pink to orange to blue to purple, don't you? And, look over there! Do you see those clouds?"
On and on she went describing the sky, the clouds, and the unfolding landscape. My little six-year-old used words such as "vivid, subtle, and flowing." Where did she get those? Where did she get this eye for detail? This sense of wonder?
As a home schooling mom--when someone mentions something my children need to learn, I so often first focus on "What curriculum would teach that?" or "What book do I need to get?"
Yet again, my children are teaching me the most valuable lessons. This morning's lesson? Pay attention to your children. To cultivate a sense of wonder, of desire for beauty, of appreciating the treasures God lays at our door--we don't need a curriculum or book. I simply need to take interest when my daughter wants to describe something beautiful.
My interests tells her:
It would have been easy to refuse. Madly punching numbers into the calculator, I had reached midpoint of tracing the convoluted mess of numbers in our checkbook to find the balance. Stopping now meant losing that train of thought. But, the excitement in her voice drew me to her.
"Look at this sunrise! Do you see the purple? Look at that pink! I love how the color goes from red to pink to orange to blue to purple, don't you? And, look over there! Do you see those clouds?"
On and on she went describing the sky, the clouds, and the unfolding landscape. My little six-year-old used words such as "vivid, subtle, and flowing." Where did she get those? Where did she get this eye for detail? This sense of wonder?
As a home schooling mom--when someone mentions something my children need to learn, I so often first focus on "What curriculum would teach that?" or "What book do I need to get?"
Yet again, my children are teaching me the most valuable lessons. This morning's lesson? Pay attention to your children. To cultivate a sense of wonder, of desire for beauty, of appreciating the treasures God lays at our door--we don't need a curriculum or book. I simply need to take interest when my daughter wants to describe something beautiful.
My interests tells her:
- beauty matters--if I had kept to the bills when she wanted to describe the sky, lesson would have been that beauty matters far less than bills. My interest says, "It's worth putting away the bills to gaze upon beauty."
- your interests matter--by pulling away to come when she calls, I hope she learned that what matters to her matters to me. I pray that encourages her to follow and explore her interests.
- your expressions matter--her blossoming vocabulary gets its chance to shine when I listen. The longer I listened--the more eloquent and detailed she became. When children get to narrate what they see--they take more in. As they describe the details--the details take hold in their minds. This develops a mind for beauty that no book describing the rudiments of beauty can match.
This month’s topic: What do you think?
This morning I lost it. Really lost it. I actually threw my brush while letting out an "ARRRRRRRRRG" that I'm sure Princess Kate heard across the pond. Stomping and muttering under my breath while throwing anything in my path out of my way--I caught my reflection in the mirror and realized I was doing a fairly good impression of a 2-year-old's temper tantrum.
The cause? I couldn't find a black sock.
Seriously.
I had fielded questions regarding my husband's disability, covered the atrocities of slavery with our history lesson, returned several phone calls regarding speaking deadlines, and put dinner in the crockpot. The paperwork needed refiling due to a clerical error at the insurance office, the children asked agonizing question of how our country allowed slavery, the speaking took renegotiating, and the chicken going into the crockpot landed first on the floor. All this I took in stride. The black sock put me under.
It's the little things.
Sure, it's the little things that put me under. But God says I have to be faithful in the little things to be trusted with more. Matthew 25:21. He knows the little things offer a mirror of where my heart really resides. I can buck up to handle a big crisis, but when little things come along, I let down my guard.
It's then that I, and everyone else, can see what's really in my heart. A nagging selfishness that want's its way in all things. In the little things I show my desperate need for Jesus to save me from this selfishness that is always ready to rear it's ugly head. How I handle the little things offers ongoing teaching and example for my children--either for the good or the bad. The little things show who I really am.
On seeing my reflection, I took myself in hand and asked Jesus yet again to take away the selfishness in me that expects the universe to orient itself in such a way that I can always find what I want when I want it. I asked Him to fill the part of my heart that can't deal with lost socks. I asked Him to be my Savior yet again.
It's the little things that keep bringing me to the foot of the cross and recognizing my need for Him in every part of my life. Thank God for the little things.
The cause? I couldn't find a black sock.
Seriously.
I had fielded questions regarding my husband's disability, covered the atrocities of slavery with our history lesson, returned several phone calls regarding speaking deadlines, and put dinner in the crockpot. The paperwork needed refiling due to a clerical error at the insurance office, the children asked agonizing question of how our country allowed slavery, the speaking took renegotiating, and the chicken going into the crockpot landed first on the floor. All this I took in stride. The black sock put me under.
It's the little things.
Sure, it's the little things that put me under. But God says I have to be faithful in the little things to be trusted with more. Matthew 25:21. He knows the little things offer a mirror of where my heart really resides. I can buck up to handle a big crisis, but when little things come along, I let down my guard.
It's then that I, and everyone else, can see what's really in my heart. A nagging selfishness that want's its way in all things. In the little things I show my desperate need for Jesus to save me from this selfishness that is always ready to rear it's ugly head. How I handle the little things offers ongoing teaching and example for my children--either for the good or the bad. The little things show who I really am.
On seeing my reflection, I took myself in hand and asked Jesus yet again to take away the selfishness in me that expects the universe to orient itself in such a way that I can always find what I want when I want it. I asked Him to fill the part of my heart that can't deal with lost socks. I asked Him to be my Savior yet again.
It's the little things that keep bringing me to the foot of the cross and recognizing my need for Him in every part of my life. Thank God for the little things.
This month’s topic: What do you think?
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