Quiet, humble service

Just yesterday morning I awoke, got showered and ready for the day and made my way downstairs to find my EXTREMELY dirty kitchen had been TOTALLY cleaned but someone? Who could that be I wondered? Jaydn had washed all the dishes, put them away, wiped down the counters and swept the floors! This was a great surprise, well not really a surprise because my wonder boy does these kinds of really nice things for me just because he is a great kid. I went to the store and bought him 3 giant candy bars and a thank you card and "surprised" him after school with his "reward". Kole must have taken notice of this??? To my delighted surprise this morning when I went downstairs to what I thought would be a trashed kitchen from last nights dinner...TA DAH!!! Kole , yes Kole , had single handedly cleaned the dishes, wiped the counters, put the garbage away and swept the floors!!!!!!! How do I say this tactfully? Well.. Kole is not the kid I would EVER expect this from...so needless to say, he BLEW ME AWAY! You can't tell me that they don't learn by example and aren't motivated by "rewards"!!!!! A little competition here and there never hurts either! I am SSOOOOOOO PROUD of Kole for following his brothers example, even if he is motivated by candy( I will get him a reward as well, he deserves it!) This experience motivates me to not be so quick to judge my kids on their behavior. The middle child often gets ignored and underestimated, when they really want and need extra attention. I have been "hyper-aware " of this for some time now. Kole gets the blame for many things that he didn't even do but because earlier he was less trustworthy and lost some of our trust..he is the ONE that gets the blame most times. He is making such progress and showing ,even more than ever, his gentle heart and willingness to want to obey and be trusted! He lies less, almost never now. I really don't want to "ruin" this sweet child of mine. I am so grateful I have seen his potential and I recognize my weaknesses when parenting his little delightful spirit. There will always be room for improvement in my parenting but by using the spirit to guide me and praying to be more effective, especially with Kole, I have found that parenting him is such a joy and I marvel at the ways he takes me by surprise with the choices he is making now. When I ask him to do something 90% of the time he responds with " yes mom " and he ACTUALLY does it! He is even trying to be more detailed in how he get his chores done, not the bare minimum!

What a great adventure parenting has become for myself and Robert! This is a learning experience like no other here on Earth! I feel blessed and privileged to have this chance, these children! I know my Father in Heaven loves me and walks with me...such a great gift that is!

I am grateful today for Jaydn and his STELLAR example and Kole and his willingness to be parented and his desire to be a FANTASTIC KID!


I AM TRULY BLESSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!