-Isaiah 55:11
This verse has been on my mind a lot lately.
I'm the type of gal who likes things just so. Everything in its place. All my ducks in a row.
I'm the type of mom who has all the toys organized, tries to stick to a schedule and loves a clean house and a clean kid.
I'm not naturally the "fun-let's-make-a-mess-and-play-in-the-mud-mom". I know that it's important to step out of my comfort zone for my kids' sake and do those things once in a while. And I do. See...
This was fun for Sam. Did I have to breathe deeply the whole time to control my heart rate as the cloud dough went flying all over the kitchen? Yes. Did I have to control my urge to immediately clean it all and not yell at him to "keep it on the trash bag!!" Yes. Was it worth it? No.
Just kidding. Sam had fun and that made it worth it.
The point is that I have to constantly fight an internal struggle to want to control each situation. Whether it's the toys strewn about the floor or the way a certain situation or event is going to go. I have a specific idea of how I want my children (even my 4 month old) to react and respond and when that doesn't happen, I can get bent out of shape.
This Christmas season has been no different. Do you see that hand up there trying to decorate my child's foam Christmas tree?
I heard myself saying "Why don't we put that one here? It would look a lot better...more festive!"
Anywhoo...I've wanted to elicit a certain response from my child about Christmas. One that shows recognition of the real reason we celebrate. So we talked about it every day. And every day he got excited about it.
The response wasn't always the way I hoped it would be.
There were rude comments about the wise men's "funky hair" (hats) while slurping cereal...
There were looks of disgust at the angel and her yellow hair and declarations of "I don't like the way she is looking at me!"
And then there were irrational threats by mommy to cancel Christmas if someone didn't remove his bib from his head while we read about Jesus.
But through our advent process, even when Sam was paying more attention to the candle than the lesson, the words were sinking in.
Is that an open flame next to my son's face you ask? Why, yes it is. Because nothing says Merry Christmas like charred lips. He likes to blow the candle out, m'kay?
And when Sam would request for me to light the candle and read the stories for the fifth time that day...
And when I was trying to hide a bad attitude about reading the same story for the fifth time that day...
He would recite to me that Jesus is God's son and he came to save us. And then he would remind me that Jesus was born in a manger in the city of Bethlehem. Oh...and by the way mom...David fought Goliath and won because God helped him to.
And Isaiah 55:11 sunk in. His word will never return void. Even when I don't think Sam is listening or the lessons aren't getting through...they are. Thank God :)
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