What Am I Learning Friday

You know sometimes things just click. Do you know what I mean, that light bulb moment, the stop you in your tracks type of moment, the ah ha- wow taken back moment. Yesterday I was laying in bed checking my email on the laptop, the younger two were in my son's room watching a DVD and my oldest was on the computer finishing up a Quiz he was creating for an Assignment in his Science Class. He had just finished and asked if I would read it. I said sure, bring me your flash drive- wow aren't those handy!

I plugged in the flash drive and looked it over. Made two changes one to a question and one to an answer-- it was just one word in both and was just amazed! It dawned on me where we were in life- Jakob and I. He will be 13 on the 12th and he is in all College Prep courses, the boy reads more than I do, probably as much as I did as a child for sure- he is an all A student. I can depend on him to help with things around the house and his week he just didn't need my help. I had not even realized he didn't need my help. I am looking over the assignment, was impressed at the quality and said wow, great job. He said Thank you and walked away.

I was sitting their for a minute reflecting on the week- the Legend he wrote for Science, this quiz I had just read, the fact that Tue morning he had me email every teacher for assignments since he was missing school- how wed right after school he was on top of his homework, preparing for a test he missed just handling it all and still managing to do his chores.

I was just so impressed at his attitude. He didn't feel good, he could have complained and griped and been in a pity party but he didn't. He knew what he had to do and he did it. How easy it would have been to just brush it off and make an excuse.

I called him in my room after he showered and just used some Godly wisdom from James 3:10 "From the Same mouth come blessing and cursing." I just expressed how impressed that I was, how much I appreciated his hard work and how I felt he was doing a wonderful job with school. I told him how pleased I was with the quality of his work.

You see while his room may not be clean, while he washes the dishes (which is his chore) but fails to see the kitchen includes:dishes, counters, stove etc. I saw the good work he was doing. I did not want to be upset over his shortcomings - the area he cuts corners in, but I wanted to praise his GOOD WORK- work of EXCELLENCE.

There will be a day where we will go over the steps of how properly clean a kitchen again but I did not want to miss the opportunity last night to speak Blessings from my mouth. I have a theory that as I raise my children I want to constantly pay attention to those things that impress me, the areas they go out of their way to do something wonderful, in turn I want to speak blessings upon those areas, build character, help them feel amazing about the achievements they have made, their strengths. My theory is that my Choosing to speak blessings instead of point out the areas they are weak and get upset over them which could tear them down, they might just apply some of that same effort into their weaker areas.

I do point out when something is not done, or when they need to redo things, but I want to make sure I am praising them far more than always showing them where they fall short.

It is amazing what we can do with our words. As Jakob left my room last night, there was a sense of love in his step. I could tell he appreciated me taking the time to tell him he did a great job and that I was proud of him.

Even in our own live's I think we all want to hear how proud our heavenly father is of us. I know for me I want the Lord to be very proud of the mother I am becoming, the mother he wants us all to be.

So this weekend make sure you praise your child or someone in your life for something they have done, give a boost to their spirit.

Sunshine