Others Minded

I have been attending a small group, through our church, called Mom's Notes. Our last class was Thursday and the topic was Peer Pressure. My kids are still young, and I have the luxury of becoming better focused on where I want them to be in a few years, through this class. I can pro-actively parent them in a way to build character. It is overwhelming at times but comforting to have this class refine my focus.

In the lesson, they mentioned how important it is to train your child to be 'others minded'. One story they shared, was regarding their high school aged daughter welcoming a 'loner' to hang out with her and her friends, for one hour, while on a school outing.

This really stirred me up, I want my kids to be others focused! I feel exhausted some days trying to teach my kids to be kind. My kids ARE SUPER kind, but we all have bad days. Sometimes it is easy to overlook our progress in the middle of these rough moments or days.

I began to wonder, how do my kids interact with others during times I am not there to encourage them to be kind. I am a stay-home mom and the kids are with me all the time, so I do not have many opportunities to peek into their progress from afar. I asked one of my daughter's teachers from her class at church, 'How does she interact with others? Is she friendly with everyone or just specific kids?' I held my breath waiting for the response, hoping I would be proud of what came next! There are several kids in her class that we see weekly through play dates and I expected her to cling to those kids. Her teacher said, "HC really is tender-hearted towards her classmates. If someone is new or sad/crying for their parents, HC will go up to them and sweetly ask 'what's wrong? It will be ok.' and then she sits with them and plays. I had tears in my eyes, overwhelmed with pride. I don't know how that happened, I must have gotten through to her somehow! I just pray I will continue to feed that special gift of my HC's along the way. She really is one who loves to comfort or encourage other people and I pray that through her journey of life, no one will quench her spirit from this blessed love for others!

I don't share this to brag on my efforts or HC. I am bragging on God! Without this class, I would have been focused on other things and missed this chance to shape HC's heart toward the things of God. I know my JB is still young, but I know he too will began to show how God has shaped him, within the next year! I cannot wait to see what God has for him! He is a delight as well and anyone who meets him or even sees him, they are smitten! He is such a magnet! I know he is drawing people to him for a reason! I love this job - the Mommy job! I now see my kids as my talent. You know the scripture of the talents. I feel like I am gaining a profit now on my investment and this is ONLY THE BEGINNING!

Let's not put our kids in a box! Let's water them with the Word and watch God grow them! You can do it and I can do it by sharing our victories and defeats. By encouraging one another on good days and bad! Thanks for sharing life with me!