Giving Thanks

After taking down all our Christmas decorations, I finally took down the tree of thanks our family made this November. Some of the leaves were funny like when we decided that the thing J was most thankful for was his feet. Of course we also had the Sunday school answers like God and Jesus. Here are some of the unique responses the boys gave when I asked them what they were thankful for:

S (3yo): Aha
The Moon
Green Mountain

R (5yo): Our baby
Crafts
Reading

You can see that S tends to be our dreamer while R is more practical!

Suffering

This week a friend of mine prayed for my soon to be born third son to be a Joseph. She spoke of how he was a leader to his brothers. He was also a Godly man who helped lead Egypt in a time of crisis. He knew how to forgive, he was full of wisdom, he loved his own sons...there are just so many great qualities about him. As she prayed, I eagerly yearned for those same things for my little guy.

The thing that made Joseph so great was that he knew how to suffer. Throughout his life he had many horrible things happen to him. Without these things he never would have risen to a position that was just below the Pharaoh. God's hand was on him from the beginning through all of those hardships and misunderstandings. Not once does the Bible say that Joseph threw up his hands in anger yelling at God about how unfair life was. He just suffered through it.

This story drives home for me the importance of teaching my boys how to suffer. Life is not fair and there is always going to be some suffering. I want them to learn that it's okay to suffer, that good comes from suffering and they will grow from it. I want for them to run to God when suffering comes and not away from Him. I also want them to know how to suffer with others when they are going through tough times.

This is a hard thing for me to want for my boys, but the fruit that will come from it will be worth it in the end.

Things I like about having boys.

Here is a short list of things I'm enjoying about having boys right now.

1. Fresh flowers every day (today I have some small yellow flowers)
2. If it's pink I know it's mine
3. Discussions about Tornadoes
4. Turning every task into a competition (to avoid fighting and increase efficiency I have had to create a 2 year old bracket and 4 year old bracket so they both win)
5. Stuffed animals that double as tackling dummies
6. Giggling over words that sound similar to potty words but haven't crossed the line (ex: belly button)
7. A sandbox full of carefully built roads and buildings
8. Quick cuddles and quiet words of comfort when rough play gets out of hand.
9. Matching means wearing everything that's the same color.
10. Favorite bible stories - Crucifixion, Jesus calms the storm, Jonah getting eaten by a whale

Saint George and the Dragon

I came home with a picture book for the boys about Saint George. The pictures are beautiful and they love to look at them even when I'm not reading it to them. At the end of the story the dragon is dead and Saint George gets to marry Princess Una. I do find it a bit funny that they only care about the dragon and how it died. They don't care a bit for the last page that shows them living happily ever after. I guess two and four year old boys just want to see a good battle and that is satisfying enough.