We had a great discussion today and I just had to share it....(half the time this blog becomes my journalling anyway! - you guys just have to put up with my rantings, ravings and ramblings!).

We had a kind of difficult day of homeschooling yesterday - the boys were "forgetting" everything we have learned since the beginning of the year and, rather than realizing that we all have those days where our brains won't "plug in" and work (and therefore taking it easy on them), I was easily frustrated and snippy all day long - a mixture which cooks up trouble! What a day! I reminded them of how much we have "forgotten" and how hard we had worked to get to this point to simply forget things, etc....you know, all the things that you later HATE that you say! Then, we all plugged in, worked through it and kept going! (ok...before you begin replaying Oprah or Jerry Springer in your mind - we are not THAT bad - don't call family services - I didn't call them names or throw books around the room! I just never want them to think that when they don't get something, that I am going to fuss at them for it...the very message I sent them loud and clear yesterday!)

Ok...this morning, determined to make it a different day and prayed up and ready to work on my sin of lack of patience and irritable spirit, I began school with a discussion of yesterday - what we all did right, wrong and what was SIN! (We have been studying a workbook called "Young Peacemakers" where it teaches biblical ways of handling conflict with others - and we talked about how avoiding conflict, even by acting like it never happened, doesn't accomplish anything....so we talked through the day before and the boys had to say how they felt about each other as well as how my "fussing" made them feel the day before - not easy to do!) Anyway, this discussion led into a talk about sin - how it gets a stronghold in our lives, how families have to call each other on sin in each other's lives and how we should all help each other through it. We planned how to help each other in some "difficult" areas of sin and then we ended the discussion with talking about how God is working in each of our lives and what He is showing us....

Now, we have family devotions and we read good, solid material as a family....but there is something incredibly reassuring when you see God working in your child - when they can articulate what God is working on in their life and when you see them apply Scripture to a life event/situation they are going through....

Want some ideas to see this? ASK QUESTIONS - and don't be scared of hearing the answers...I'm not talking about with a two year old...but ask your 9 year old if he he thinks our family does a good job of "preferring one another" or if we are primarily "in it for ourselves". Confess when you blow it and let them see you ask them and God for forgiveness and talk about steps toward fixing the area of stronghold...not easy to do! But, when they see growth demonstrated in your life - they know how to do it in theirs...and it is humbling in MINE also! Ouch!

Michele Everson, Proud wife of Pastor Chad Everson and Proud Mama to two wonderful and growing little boys!