This summer has followed a pace that the Rugged Mountain Man and I don't usually march to.
Fast. Swift. Busy. Crammed.
As he mentioned a few times, "I'm starting to feel chased." I agreed. We planned for what we knew and many variables kicked in. In the process, I felt like I didn't even have time for character training. I felt like that was pushed by the wayside in our efforts to just take care of the next task or get to the next thing. That's the reason we despise that pace. It minimizes the quality parenting that we highly value. But sometimes, you can't help the pace. We gritted our teeth, hunkered down and tried to make it through all the extenuating circumstances the best we could. A friend reminded me that our children are watching us walk through times like those. They are walking with us through the crazy times and that IS character training. I needed that word. The girlies learned about holding the Master's hand, just as we did. They learned about faith, about trusting, about relying heavily on grace, about clinging to the Lord's strength when you're just plain exhausted.
Now we're slowly inching back toward the way of life that lends itself to character training. I don't mean to be vague with "character training;" I'm referring to my following through on the commands I give them. I'm talking about helping children learn to obey immediately. I'm referring to children learning to obey without whining. I'm talking about taking the time to get to the heart of the matter when they're bickering or disobeying. "Just quit it and get in the truck" isn't my preferred method of parenting. So, now that things are slowly slowing down, I was slightly encouraged. Blossom4 seeks far and wide for adventure. In the process, a whole lotta messes are made and my job is not to clean up those messes. I think we've made a little bit of progress. I say, "Blossom4, clean this up before you go outside to play." And she does. I was so busy in the last two months, that I'd unknowingly tell her ten times and then, in frustration end up doing it myself. Thank God. Yes, thank God. I want to be faithful in my part of Godly parenting - that persevering follow-through that so closely resembles steady plodding.
