I don't know about you, but I personally would rather go without character lessons. For myself. I'm perfectly willing to teach my kids these lessons and I want to have these qualities too.....but to actually go through the training and testing part......I'd be okay skipping that part.
I know, I know. That's impossible. Wishful, selfish thinking.
This past week our family went on vacation. We got a rental house and on the property that it was located on was a Lazy River, two water slides, and a kids splash pad. It was amazing fun!!! Last Wednesday, the day before we left for all this water fun, Aunt Flo decided to make her visit.
Are. You. Serious. ???
I wondered if this would happen and had been preparing myself mentally for just this thing. So I wasn't angry or even upset about this. I was disappointed and sad yes, but I was working hard to have a good attitude about this. To be cheerful in the midst of this.
One thing you have to understand about me is that I *love* swimming. And a lazy river is my most favorite thing EVER!! And we rarely get to go swimming. So having a week of all these pools is pretty exciting to me.
Lots of prayer was going on, lots of thinking about what I could replace my swim time with....I actually got excited about what the LORD might have for me in place of swimming. I was excited I was excited. 😃 Would I get to witness to someone? Meet a mama and be able to encourage her? Would something happen with one of the kids and I would be free to help them? I had no idea, but I was excited to see what would come my way.
During a conversation with my husband about these change of plans to our trip, he made some comment about having a hard time getting ready for vacation or even being excited about it. There was a lot going on at the church level, at the Presbytery level, plus he's taking a class to get his ThM....he's had a lot going on. And was exhausted, both physically and mentally.
Then I realized this was what one of my replacement activities would be. My not being able to swim would allow my husband more down time since I wouldn't be heading to the pool during babies naps. (He knows how much I love to swim and tries to get me in the water as much as he can, even if that means he doesn't get to go or has to give up some down time.) He would be free to rest, get a nap in, or go swimming himself - which he did a *lot* of. He fell in love with the water slides. For realz.
Once I realized that I would be letting my husband get more fun time in and more mental rest in, which was a huge goal of this trip, I was thankful I was handling this so well and passing my character training. Since I wasn't sad or upset, it helped him a lot out. He felt oh so bad for me though. It was sweet.
This quote from J.R. Miller fits this perfectly. "We have a mission to others - to add to their cheer. This we cannot do unless we have first learned this lesson of cheerfulness ourselves."
I was so happy that I got to help my husband out. Did I do it perfectly? Nope. I had times where I was feeling down because I was tired or it was a struggle to keep kids entertained in a house that wasn't ours. I didn't always choose joy.
Even when we fail, we need to keep trying. We need to keep working on our character lessons. Even as mama's.
I know, I know. That's impossible. Wishful, selfish thinking.
This past week our family went on vacation. We got a rental house and on the property that it was located on was a Lazy River, two water slides, and a kids splash pad. It was amazing fun!!! Last Wednesday, the day before we left for all this water fun, Aunt Flo decided to make her visit.
Are. You. Serious. ???
I wondered if this would happen and had been preparing myself mentally for just this thing. So I wasn't angry or even upset about this. I was disappointed and sad yes, but I was working hard to have a good attitude about this. To be cheerful in the midst of this.
One thing you have to understand about me is that I *love* swimming. And a lazy river is my most favorite thing EVER!! And we rarely get to go swimming. So having a week of all these pools is pretty exciting to me.
Lots of prayer was going on, lots of thinking about what I could replace my swim time with....I actually got excited about what the LORD might have for me in place of swimming. I was excited I was excited. 😃 Would I get to witness to someone? Meet a mama and be able to encourage her? Would something happen with one of the kids and I would be free to help them? I had no idea, but I was excited to see what would come my way.
During a conversation with my husband about these change of plans to our trip, he made some comment about having a hard time getting ready for vacation or even being excited about it. There was a lot going on at the church level, at the Presbytery level, plus he's taking a class to get his ThM....he's had a lot going on. And was exhausted, both physically and mentally.
Then I realized this was what one of my replacement activities would be. My not being able to swim would allow my husband more down time since I wouldn't be heading to the pool during babies naps. (He knows how much I love to swim and tries to get me in the water as much as he can, even if that means he doesn't get to go or has to give up some down time.) He would be free to rest, get a nap in, or go swimming himself - which he did a *lot* of. He fell in love with the water slides. For realz.
Once I realized that I would be letting my husband get more fun time in and more mental rest in, which was a huge goal of this trip, I was thankful I was handling this so well and passing my character training. Since I wasn't sad or upset, it helped him a lot out. He felt oh so bad for me though. It was sweet.
This quote from J.R. Miller fits this perfectly. "We have a mission to others - to add to their cheer. This we cannot do unless we have first learned this lesson of cheerfulness ourselves."
I was so happy that I got to help my husband out. Did I do it perfectly? Nope. I had times where I was feeling down because I was tired or it was a struggle to keep kids entertained in a house that wasn't ours. I didn't always choose joy.
Even when we fail, we need to keep trying. We need to keep working on our character lessons. Even as mama's.
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