teachable moments

As a parent, I am ALWAYS looking for moments to share and teach new things or consistently reinforce the same rules and ideas we've been trying to instill in our kids since they were born. As I'm sure the concept and phrase are not new to anyone, I call these "teachable moments." HOWEVER, the Lord constantly reminds me OVER and OVER and OVER again that my kids are not the only ones who need these teachable moments. One GREAT (and sometimes not so great) thing about having kids is that they teach us just as much, if not MORE, than we teach them. Sometimes, the things our kids teach us are not the EASIEST things to hear and to swallow, BUT if we REALLY listen to them and keep a humble heart, we can realize that the Lord is speaking through them to teach us and show us those icky things in our lives that need fixing, AND it's usually something we need to hear and change.

I had one of these moments last night as I was tucking Ivy into bed. While I was covering her up and leaning down to give her a kiss goodnight, Ivy commented, "Mommy, I can't wait to go to Heaven." I asked her why, to which she responded, "Because I can't wait to see Jesus - the real picture of Jesus." I then asked her what she thought she would do when she saw Jesus, to which she remarked, "I'm going to give Him a really big hug and walk around Heaven with Jesus." Then, she said, "Maybe I'll even get to walk on the clouds, too. I bet they're really soft!" As I thought about what Ivy said, I questioned whether I was as ready and excited to see Jesus as Ivy was, AND if I wasn't, WHY wasn't I? (The irony of this is that our small group Bible study was meeting right downstairs at that very moment where one of things we were getting ready to study was the Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids/Virgins - Matthew 25:1-13 - and where we discussed our readiness to meet the Lord! Isn't it so neat to see how the Lord works?)

"Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming." ~Matthew 25:13

This morning, I had another one of those moments. As Ivy was getting ready for the day, she sparked a conversation about getting older. One thing that she asked about was that when she gets older, she wondered if she would say the bad things that we older people say. When I asked what bad things she was talking about, she responded, "Well, yelling...like when you and Daddy yell at each other." (Yes, sadly, we do have "intense fellowship" with each other - as much as we don't want to...it happens!) Ivy continued to explain that when Daddy yells at Mommy, it hurts Mommy's feelings; when Mommy yells at Daddy, it hurts Daddy's feelings; when Mommy yells at Ivy, it hurts Ivy's feelings; etc. As much as I did NOT want to hear what Ivy had to say, I knew it was the truth and that I needed to humbly accept her lecture. Feeling quite embarrassed and convicted by the truth that was spilling out of Ivy's mouth, I then continued our discussion by asking Ivy to forgive me for yelling and hurting her feelings. I then inquired what I could do to change this, to which we concluded that I needed to go to God and pray when I feel like I have the need to yell and ask Him to help my thoughts, my mind, my actions, and my heart to remain calm even though I don't feel calm (something ONLY the Lord can do!).

"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control..." ~Galatians 5:22-23