One of the ladies who "adopted" our family when the kids were born stopped by the house this morning with several bags of groceries. I call her the The Grocery Fairy, but the kids like to call her Aunt Sandy.
Seriously though, Sandy and her family have been nothing short of blessings direct from Heaven to our family over the last 4 years and I never have to worry if I'll run out of basic pantry staples like peanut butter and jelly, soup, ketchup and Cheerios because I know she'll be by with a basket of those items and a dozen other things she finds on sale, too. She also makes the most wonderful meatloafs, but when she heard that the kids didn't like onions in theirs, she started making a smaller "plain" loaf just for them....She's really too good to be true!
This morning after she dropped off her goodies, the kids were helping me to put the various cans and boxes away when L abruptly asked me the following question:
"Mommy, how is Aunt Sandy's heart feeling?"
I was a bit perplexed since I hadn't mentioned that Aunt Sandy was sick, but thought maybe L was confusing her with someone else we were praying for.
"Do you mean Miss Deb? I think she's doing better."
"No, Aunt Sandy's heart," she insisted.
"Well, Aunt Sandy isn't feeling sick. Maybe you're thinking of baby Aleena who had heart surgery."
"No, I mean how is Aunt Sandy's heart feeling right now," she said with firmness as I tried to think of what she might possible mean.
She saw that I wasn't following her, so she continued, "You know. It's full of Jesus because she is doing a really kind thing for us. What does that feel like?"
Then I realized she wasn't talking about a sick heart, but rather a heart that was very healthy and whole.
"I think Aunt Sandy's heart feels very happy right now," I replied with understanding.
Before skipping off, she added, "Yeah, and I think Jesus' heart is feeling pretty happy, too."
Matthew 21:16
3 comments:
Jen - this is Angie - Jim G's wife. THANK YOU SO MUCH for the encouragement regarding potty training. I have been beating myself up a bit lately and had a hard day yesterday with Daniel. I held back a bit today and we had not a single time in the toilet or on the potty seat! Oh well. He's VERY bright and VERY stubborn. Not a great combo for learning and new skill (since he knows everything already!). I will work on a chart of some sort - I like the days with two sections for each day. He enjoys stickers so I may be able to do a combo of stickers and MnMs. Thanks again. I'll try and keep you posted. He is currently 3 years and almost two months old so I feel that 3 and half may be our goal. Blessings!
Hi Angie!
So nice to hear from you :-) I could have written a whole lot more, but didn't want to hog the blog - LOL!
Taking a few days off (even a week a few times, I seem to remember) seemed to help, esp. when it was becoming a power struggle. When we started again, there was more enthusiasm about it and progress was made. I remember when I realized that it's very hard to put our mind into the mind of a child who doesn't know how to control (or doesn't see the need to control) those functions. I tried to think of a situation as an adult where I would be expected to do something I couldn't and how I'd be hoping for a lot of grace while I mastered it. Maybe something like making my first Thanksgiving meal for the entire family or going to a country where I only spoke a little bit of the language. Getting my perspective into the child's mind really helped me on the days when the whole things seemed hopeless. We're so used to using the bathroom that we don't even give the complexities of it a thought. Wait til you have to teach him how to clean up after himself! That was our summer project since the kids' preschool won't clean them when they go potty. They're pretty good now, but it's really hard to demonstrate that skill and we had to change underpants just as often as we did when they were first training.
Hang in there and take breaks when needed. Chances are, Daniel (love that name, by the way!) might enjoy a little respite, too.
I'll say some special potty prayers for you all tonight. Keep me in the loop and don't hesitate to get in touch if needed!
Have a great day tomorrow, too :-)
In Him,
Jen
This is such a sweet story! LOVE that your kids know the heart of Jesus when they see it!! Those are the sweetest moments....enjoyed reading this, thanks for sharing.
Come to Disney soon....it'd be FUN! ;-)
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