He is a rule follower...to a "T"! It has been bothering him A Lot lately when his little friends at school aren't following the rules. He steps into teacher mode and scolds them. Not so bad you say? Well, it is when you get socked in the gut two times for yelling at a kid to pay attention and follow the rules!
I'm sort of at my wits end. He truly is a Good Kid! I believe that through and through. But it breaks my heart, and scares me a little, that he is mean to other children in this manner. I have been watching myself lately in the way I get him around in the morning...trying not to be too bossy myself and making sure that my tone of voice and intensity is kept in check. But it is hard. He is a dawdler! Bless his heart he would never get to the roses to stop to smell them in the first place! He needs lots of prodding along the way.
So without really knowing what I was getting myself into, I suggested to our senior minister at church that there should be a study focused more on families and parenting during our Wednesday night class activities. She thought that was a great idea and told me I should lead such a study. I have learned my lesson in making suggestions... I am facilitating the new class!
I chose Guarding Your Child's Heart by Dr. Gary Smalley. Tomorrow will be week four and it has been a success. I have enjoyed getting to know more about several members of the church family. It is just amazing to me that I have known a couple of the individuals in the study for the 10 years I have been a member of our church and yet have not had an experience with them quite like this one.
One of the major things that Dr. Smalley suggests as a practice of guarding your heart as a parent and your child's heart is to memorize scripture together. He encourages memorizing a new scripture once a week.
Well, we haven't been that ambitious, but Andrew and I have been working on our first scripture in the car on the way to school/work - "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength." Mark 13:20.
Andrew repeated it by memory twice in the car on the way to school and then once more for my aunt at the dinner table. He was beaming.
I know he will turn out just fine, but it takes a village... and it takes hard work, dedication, patience, God-given grace and peace, humbleness, a thankful heart, and a lot of love.
To the moon and back, Andrew, I love you.
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