What's new

Sorry, that the posts have been less frequent lately. We've been busy with school, the new dog, planning Andrew's 6th birthday party, potty training Hannah, and overall training, training ,and training! You probably know the kind of training I'm in the middle of. I'll give you some examples. I'll use the morning as an example.
Here's what we are focused on at breakfast:
training the kids to not complain
to eat all their food
to eat with their mouths closed
to not talk with food in their mouths
to not eat before praying
to use their napkins
to sit still
to not climb out of her high chair
to not feed the dog their food
to put away their dishes when done
and lastly to not interrupt.
Whew! That's exhausting work, but rewarding!

We are also trying to impress on their little hearts the greatest commandment that Jesus spoke of in Mark 12:29-32 "and you shall love the Lord your God will all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these."

So how do we implement these in a 5, 4, and 1 year old's life? Well, with the boys we are focusing on being kind and serving. A great way that we have done this in the past and are starting this again (good weather permitting)is to bring in all our closest neighbors' garbage cans. After the garbage men come on Thursdays, it is the boys' job to go out to gather all the cans back in from the curb and put them on the sides of the neighbors' houses. They love it and actually fight over who gets to drag in the most. Now, the fighting is another opportunity for correction and training. But, they are getting there. With a quick reminder of the reasons why we do these things, I am able to share one more piece of the puzzle towards them understanding the Bible, ultimately the gospel and serving one another. And it's opened doors with the neighbors too asking why we do it, which is a great opening to share about Jesus. So, how are you serving your neighbors? Got any suggestions for me for things to do with the boys? I'd love to hear them!
Here's Andrew bringing in the Rogers family's garbage cans.




Here's Ethan also helping, you can see just the top of his little head.