So, today I just had a really fun experience. I've been taking my kids to swimming lessons two times a week and today was the last day of the session. Usually I would sit with my bag near the side of the pool so that I could hear what the kids and swimming instructor were saying. Today, I happened to wear a skirt so I went to my usual sitting place and realized that there was going to be no comfortable way I was going to be able to sit there. I ended up going over to a bench to sit by a mom who also had a child in the same lesson. I didn't have it in my head to announce to her that I was a believer and pursue a deep spiritual conversation. Though, it turned out that she’s a believer and I got to share examples about what I've been learning in Identity Theft and especially about the strategy of affirming character. (Instead of saying "Good job doing swimming lessons," saying "What great courage/boldness you had today while doing your lessons.") And I got to share some fun moments of things my kids have said. (After my three year old daughter admitted to something this morning, she says, "I was being truthful." After breakfast today, my six year old son says, "I put my dishes away without being asked, that's initiative.") The mom was really interested, especially in the list of character traits. Who would have thought all that just because I happened to wear a skirt today.
When I first saw the list of 49 character traits, my brain was kind of overwhelmed. I just picked a few of the big ones that I best understood, like Truthfulness, Patience, Perseverance, Initiative, Joyfulness, Courage/Boldness, and Gratefulness. The recommended way is to have your family work on one per month. The ones that don't make entire sense to me I'm excited to study and see about getting some Scripture for them. I ordered a book called The POWER for True Success: How to Build Character in Your Life from Focus on Character. I believe the concept in the book is that all the character qualities on the list are things that Jesus showed us about His character. I'm finding that it is so much easier to not yell at my kids because I'm better equipped to teach them about character when they're doing wrong and to re-enforce the concepts when they are doing right. Again, I have to say the Identity Theft book was the perfect tool for helping me understand the concept.
I love the quote Morna (author of Identity Theft) has online:
Excellence is purpose (It is so exciting to get the purpose I'm made for!)
Excellence is a process (And such a fun one, though I'm sure the challenge will be hard at times)
Excellence is possible (I haven't yelled at my kids in 3 whole entire DAYS! This is nothing short of a miracle. When I tell my kids that I'm so pleased with them, they believe me because I haven't been yelling at them!)
God is SO EXCELLENT!!
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica
1 comment:
I really like the reminder about reinforcing the good character traits that our kids do. It seems to help them to understand what it means to obey. Rather than repeating ourselves over and over it helps us to be more specific in explaning what we want them to do. I am iching to get started on reading that book! But one thing at a time. I have to finish my current read first. Thank you for the encouragement sister!
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