Favorite Lessons from my Kids

Have you ever learned a lesson from your child? It's usually the parent teaching the child, but I think God gives us kids to teach us the lessons we didn't even know we needed to learn. My girls teach me lessons all the time, and I'm sure you have learned similar lessons from your own kiddos. Here are a few of my favorites:

Be a goober as often as possible- I'm usually the serious one, but after having two of the funniest goobers on earth (and being married to one), I'm finally learning how to NOT be so serious all the time. (as is evident by my mustache wearing IPK above).

God gives us lots of chances- Punkin' must have learned this at school, and she says it a lot at home. It's a welcome reminder to me that as long as we are walking towards God and seeking him earnestly, He has wide open arms, ready to give us another chance.

If you are sorry, act like it- When my kids do something wrong, and especially if they accidentally hurt someone, their regret is evident in their tears of sorrow. They may retreat to their rooms, burry their head, and sob, until I go to them and let them know they are forgiven. Then they look up at me with big, teary eyes and say "I'm so sorry Mommy!". Then it's time for a big hug and kiss. When we do something wrong, it's important to show our sorrow to God and to anyone we offend. It's a part of the process of forgiving ourselves too.

It can't hurt to ask (so ask good questions)- Kids are really good at asking tons of great questions. Lately I've tried to listen to their good questions in order to get better at this skill myself. I make too many assumptions when I talk to someone, and I miss questions I can ask. Kids will ask everything. Who, what, when, why, why not, where, how, how big, how small, how long, etc. Asking better questions will get us better information, so I guess this is factory installed in children to help them learn.

Don't hold back on "I Love You"- Personally, I find myself holding back an "I love you" every now and then. I don't know why. It's such a bad thing to do. I don't do it on purpose- I just tend to over think things. Maybe we are in public and I don't want to embarass them (or Mr. Extraordinary). Anyways, my kids will just look at me out of the blue and lay it on me, and I LOVE that. We should all be more like that.

Earnest prayer- Oh if you could just hear the prayers of my girls! We have tried our best to instill in them the value of heart felt prayer, and I think it's worked. They often remind us, through what they say, that God is always listening to us every time we pray, and all we have to do is open our heart and just let it flow. How often do I find myself filtering what I'm saying... like God doesn't know what I'm thinking about. Like he doesn't know my fears or reservations. I wish I could finally learn to really pray my heart out to God (I'm still working on this).

My kids teach me new stuff daily, and my journey with them is a blessing. What do your kids teach you?

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