Good vs Evil, Teachable Moments, and the Old Testament

Sister loves a princess story--Cinderella, Snow White, etc. Recently she has been asking about "the bad guys"-the wicked stepmother, the queen, and specifically Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty. "Why did Maleficent want to hurt Sleeping Beauty? Was Sleeping Beauty scared of Maleficent?" I can't think of a time that she has encountered intentional malice and I think the concept is hard her to understand, and I tried to use this as a teachable moment with her.

I learned the idea of teachable moments while working in youth ministry in college. The goal of the teachable moment is to relate scripture and the truths of God into what is going on in your daily life. For example, we have been having our Spring overhaul in the yard. So while planting and pulling weeds (lots of weeds this year), these were a few of the scriptures that ran through my head to talk about with sister.

1 Corinthians 3:7 "So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow," or the parable of the sower in Matthew 13, or John 15:1-8 . I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener...Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

So, that's the idea of the teachable moment, now back to Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. I thought, aha, teachable moment. I explained that Sleeping Beauty might have been scared when Maleficent turned herself into a dragon because she was big and strong. The good part was that even though Maleficent was strong, Philip loved Sleeping Beauty, fought for her, and defeated Maleficent. Just like we might have times that something is somehow bigger or stronger than we are and it seems we will be defeated, but God is always bigger and stronger than whatever our circumstances are and He defends us like Philip defended Sleeping Beauty.

I have to confess I thought, "good job, way to use an overcommercialized Disney story and use it to teach about God."

Her response? "Right Mommy, like Joshua at Jericho, or David and Goliath, or Moses and the Israelites with Pharaoh and the Egyptians?" That's right, she went Old Testament on me.

Me {proud of her, but also surprised, and somewhat dumbfounded} "Umm, why, yes, those are all good examples."

Apparently she has this "big guy vs the little guy" thing down already. Maybe we should start working on the larger catechism :). Seriously though, I love a teachable moment and I love that she is learning scripture. I hope that these lessons will stick with her and she can think back to them when she is older and in situations needing direction.

50 mm

My hubby is good to me, really good to me {on most days :)}. We each got cash from family for Christmas presents.
I'm sure he considered getting himself manly things like a fishing rod, gun, duck hunting paraphernalia, a new pair of boots, or something else along these lines.
Instead, with HIS Christmas money, he bought ME a 50 mm lens for my camera. Cause he loves me and is very generous.

So, I've been having a good time practicing with it. Nothing spectacular, but I'm learning.
Oh my word, brother is so adorable.

Brain Damage

These are the shoes that I wore to church this morning. Together. At the same time. I would like to say that I was being a sacrificial mom who let her children pick out her clothing. I would also like to say that I realized it quickly, like when we got in the car, but J said we didn't have time for me to run back into the house and change shoes. Alas, neither are the truth.

The truth is I slipped my shoes on (thinking they were both the black shoes on my right foot), grabbed my purse and diaper bag and walked out the door to get in the car. I didn't realize it when I was in the car. I also didn't realize it while I walked through the house to the car, on the way to church, as I carried brother to the nursery, or as I walked into the sanctuary......even though they have a slight difference in heel height. No, I didn't realize until there was about 10 minutes left in the service. I thought, "huh, why do my shoes feel weird? Are my pants caught in the back of my shoes? Why does it feel like I have one backless shoes on and one with a back?" Oh, that would be because I WORE 2 DIFFERENT SHOES church...that are 2 DIFFERENT COLORS!!

This is what it actually looked like at church. Maybe not TOO terribly noticeable. Right? Right?!? Well, if it was noticed, nobody said anything to me. Probably because they were snickering as I walked away :). I'm pretty sure they weren't wondering if I'm on the cutting edge of the newest fashion trend.

Does anyone else out there feel like your IQ has plummeted since you had kids? And does it get worse with each subsequent child? J has a theory that those stinkers somehow suck your brains out when you're nursing. He may be onto something there.

Playtime

We have a little demolition/reconstruction project going on in the playroom, so other rooms in the house are now getting their fair share of playtime. Somehow our bathroom gets a large percentage of it.
It's actually sister's favorite spot to practice gymnastics {even though she has a mini trampoline and a balance beam J built for her in the basement}. It's oddly large for a bathroom. Even enough space to throw the tennis ball with Lily, which is quite entertaining to brother.
Sister, who used to be quite camera shy, is always interested in having her picture taken now that there's another kiddo around.
She has a knack for jumping in front of camera right before I snap a picture, which is OK since it makes me giggle right along with her.
So what do you think about the bathroom? If you're wondering, yes, in fact that IS carpet in my bathroom. It's a little strange to me, but at least my feet stay warm in the morning. I recently read that Heloise {the cleaning queen of Good Housekeeping} has her entire house, including the kitchen, carpeted, so it could be worse I suppose.
Can you tell it was done in the 90's? Carpet, gold fixtures, and wallpaper, oh the wallpaper. It's blue, forest green, cream, and maroon striped. But it gets better. There's also a foiled/reflective flower pattern on it along with the stripes. If only it were also textured, that would really seal the deal. I hope to change some things eventually.
In the meantime I'll just have to ignore the background and focus on those blue eyes and rosy cheeks instead, which isn't too much of a challenge for me.

Sally sells seashells..

We have a slight seashell obsession in our house. I thought this would be a fad of sister's, but this fad has lasted for over a year now. I find them in her play kitchen, by the bathtub, in her dress up, in my purse, decorating the table, you get the idea. The most common use for them is play food, specifically Creme de La. At least according to sister they are. You might think "Creme de La what?" Creme de la creme? No, just Creme de la, as in "Mommy, I made creme de la for you and all my babies, come have some." Here's what she had prepared for us on the coffee table recently.

I should be used to all of this by now but I have to admit that this surprised me:
This was a new one. Seashells might not be a common find in the average produce drawer, but not around here. Sister walked in right as I opened the drawer and {in a very proud of herself manner} announced "I made you apple pie with sauce and ice cream!!!!!! Eat some Mommy, it's delicious!" I love how she even put spoons in all the containers.
I certainly get my daily dose of laughter from her. She melts my heart and brings me more joy than I can put into words. She's also a REALLY great big sis.

Don't worry, she's not feeding brother creme de la here, just oatmeal :).

More Conversations

Yes, I know the last post was also a recent conversation with A, but these are the things that I never want to forget. I LOVE this age. I can see that she is trying so hard to process life and make sense of everything. I love that she has questions and opinions and is still at the age that almost anything and everything that comes to her mind also comes out of her mouth.

Between she and J (Papa to her) in the car recently

A: Papa, when I grow up I am going to get married, my husband's name will be Fritz and we will live in Arizona. We are going to have 2 kids, a girl named Abby and a boy named Shepherd. I am going to drive a red car with musical stickers, a crown, boots, and a veil on it. Fritz is going to be a, um, a, uhh, Papa what are you?

J: I'm a project manager

A: Fritz will be a project manager and work in Connecticut. I'm going to be a nurse-doctor-nurse. We are going to have 17 cats, named Abby (even though her daughter will also be Abby), Sninka, Nina, and, um, 13 others. [I guess she got tired of coming up with names, but at least her math was close :)]. Mommy won't be able to come see us since she's allergic to cats, but you can come over!

J: Ummm, well good, I'm glad I'll be able to come and visit you.

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Another one in the car with me recently. I'm seeing a theme here. I think maybe she knows that in the car she has our full attention-no phone ringing, dinner cooking, laundry folding, etc, and I think she also knows that, in a sense, she has us cornered!

A: How do we get to heaven?

Me: Well, when you know Jesus, you go to heaven when you die.

A: Right, but how do we get there?

Me: To heaven?

A: Yes

Me: (totally dumbfounded on how to answer this and starting to sweat at where this conversation is going) I don't know exactly, but Jesus will take us to heaven after we die, and we'll know then

A: Hmmmm, I think {pauses as she comes up with an answer, because she always has an answer} that he comes down with a rope and takes us up to heaven.

Me: Well, maybe that's what happens.

A: And I think there are lots of cats in heaven.

A couple things I gleaned from that discussion (1) A apparently thinks Jesus bungee jumps out of heaven, grabs you, and flings right back up (2) she is not pleased with the fact that I'm allergic to cats and therefore we don't have any.

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Again, in the car. Last week we took A, G, and our nieces to the zoo. Our niece, O, was in the third row seat, behind A and G. O propped her feet up on the armrest of G's seat, but not touching A or G.

A: Papa, O has her feet on brother's seat!

J: Don't be a tattletale, O is fine. You don't need to worry about what's going on behind you, just worry about yourself and what's going on in front of you.

A few minutes later J reprimanded A about something, can't remember exactly what it was....A's response?

A: Papa, don't worry about what's going on behind you, just worry about yourself and what's going on in front of you.

I'm impressed J didn't wreck the car he was laughing so hard!

Sometimes I wish I could just jump inside her head and experience what's going on in there.

Cousin

Conversations with 4 year olds are funny, entertaining, tender, and well, sometimes mentally exhausting. Av always keeps me on my toes with the comments she makes and questions she asks.

This weekend we had some issues with her arguing with me and talking back. We had a discussion about her behavior and attitude. After our discussion she had to sit in the dining by herself. When she was allowed back into the kitchen she informed me that I "hurt her feelings and broke her heart." Drama. She then let me know that the next time I argue with or talk back to her, she will put me in the dining room. This brought on a conversation that we have had over and over and over and over .....again. I am the mom, J is the dad, she is child and that God tells children to obey their parents.

I think she pondered all of this for a while and tried to come up with a way to get around it. The next morning we were having breakfast and she informed me that she wasn't my daughter, but actually my cousin! She proceeded to refer to herself as "cousin" for the remainder of the morning. She would also speak in the third person, as in, "Cousin is thirsty, can she please have some milk?" I guess she thought if she could convince me that we're cousins, that would make us equals...and therefore she could do whatever she pleased without consequences or discipline. I will admit that it did give me a good laugh and I was somewhat impressed with her creativity and thought processes on this one, but, oh my, if she is already this (I almost hate to use this word, but if the shoe fits..) calculating, what I am going to have to deal when she is a teenager? Never a dull moment around here right now :)

As is often the case when dealing with kids, it reminds me of my own relationship with God. How often do I try to justify my actions, deny my position, and somehow excuse myself from unwanted consequences?

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Here's another one from her that's not quite so mischievous. We have been discussing some basics of faith. We having been trying to explain that God is Holy, and without sin, and that we have sinned and therefore are not holy, which is why we need God. She is very interested in this one aspect and mentions it quite frequently. We were in the car running errands a few days ago and she asked "if the holiers love the sinners"

Timber

I was out and about recently when J called to inform that lightning had struck a tree in our neighbor's yard. My first thought was "great, where did it fall and what damage did it do?". It ends up it didn't fall, it's more like it exploded. As you can see below, it was as if all that was left was huge shards of the tree. It took out the treehouse and swing set next to it.

J said it sounded like a bomb had gone off outside and he actually felt it in the house. The tree is in the back corner of the neighbor's yard and the "explosion" was so powerful that 8 foot long pieces of tree cleared our yard and ended up in the next yard, easily over 100 ft. away. These pieces were like 4-6 foot long spears sticking out of the ground. They were so firmly in the ground that they stayed like that through the storms and for the next few days until we took them out.
I have to brag on my hubby now. Our neighbor is a single mom with 2 daughters who would not have been able to clean this up on their own. She tried to file with her insurance, but since it is classified as an act of God, they wouldn't cover it. J decided that we (read 90% by him) could handle it for her. I love his integrity, concern for others around him, and how hardworking he is. It was as simple to him as "it's the right thing to do," so we did it! Thankfully J wrangled our nephews into pitching in as well.

J is quite handy with his chainsaw, so he would cut and carried and loaded. The amazing part of the whole thing was that nobody was injured and no major damage was done. The treehouse is no more, but the 2 girls next door are teenagers that don't use it anymore. One piece of our fence was hit, but J fixed it. We were in awe of the power in the storm, God's creation. Oh-and we have firewood to last for quite a while!