Inspired: A Proverb A Day

The pastors at our new church (High Point Church) encourage us to have a "priority time". A Priority Time is a daily, unhurried time to read the Word of God to know the God of the Word. It is interactive. You read scripture and then ask the questions who, what, when, where, why and how. Then you work on personal application in your life and have an interactive prayer. I have really enjoyed the time I have been spending with God and my journal is full of so much wisdom He has shown me. I started back in January and in the beginning I always read the pastors entries first. One day I got "brave" and decided to go give it a shot on my own first. I felt as if I was letting God speak to me through them (which there is nothing wrong with) but I desired to know what He had for me. What words of wisdom, love and encouragement did He intend for my heart on those days? I have absolutely felt the love of my God through these times. I can be struggling with something and BOOM He throws His wisdom my way. A few weeks ago Mike and I decided it was time to up the discipline with Isaiah. He is 2 1/2 and is really starting to test those boundaries and loves to point his cute little finger at us and yell "NO". Time outs do not work with him and let's be real: you can't have a conversation with a 2 year old. I know everyone has different views on discipline and this is not intended to be a forum for controversy, this is just our life and the choice we have made for Isaiah. We both firmly believe in spankings. Funny thing about those spankings, mine don't phase him one bit! So, we decided to go with the "wait until your father gets home"! Some may question if a child that young remembers what happened 8 hours earlier, trust me HE DOES! As soon as Mike gets home on those days he looks up at him with those big brown eyes and says "Daddy, you got your belt?" hahahahaha Enter my struggle: After one or two spankings Isaiah realized that we meant business. So in the mornings he would really test and push. After three warnings I would pick up the phone, call Mike and the punishment was set (these were usually pretend calls so I wouldn't really bother Mike at work). Once I hung up the phone I had an angel child for the rest of the day. He was quick to please and so loving. He would wake up from his naps and be his snuggly sweet self (which he always is whether he's in trouble or not). It was those moments laying with him, cuddling him and listening to him say "I wuv you mommy" that my heart would melt and I would think "well maybe today we can let it slide. He's been so good the rest of the day." I truly believe that was satan working on me. Of course he doesn't want us to discipline our kids. Discipline (when done correctly and appropriately) creates a healthy fear in children, it teaches them to respect authority and it shows them that there are consequences for our actions. Apply that biblically: Fear God, respect God and His word, there are consequences when you don't. As parents it is our job to teach our children about God. Your earthly Father is the first glimpse you will have of your heavenly Father. So yes! Satan wants you to fail at this. Fast forward to yesterday. I was having my priority time in the book of Proverbs "A Proverb a Day". Proverbs 13:24 "Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them." Wow! Thank you God for this wisdom right when I needed it. Discipline is an act of love. I am molding Isaiah into who he will one day become. If he never learns consequences early on it may be too late when he finally does! If we don't discipline him he will never fear or respect authority and this could damage his relationship with God. I love my little guy more than anything on this Earth but I love my God more! I want Isaiah to grow up in relationship with Him. I don't want him to think he is self sufficient the way I did. I want him to love, fear, honor and respect his heavenly Father and it starts here!

Soccer

We decided to sign Isaiah up for soccer this year. His friend, Owen, was going to play and since he isn't in school yet we thought it would be a fun way to get him involved with other kids and to get him practicing his listening skills. The first morning he was SO EXCITED to go. We got to the field and found Owen and off they went. They did a whole group activity before they split the teams. Isaiah did a great job listening and seemed pretty pumped. Then it happened, teams were split. Isaiah and Owen were not on the same team. Isaiah ran off with his coach and listened for about 5-10 minutes (until he realized Owen was not with him). After that it became a battle to keep him on the field. He cried, rolled in the grass, ran off the field and pouted. Oh well, we aren't quitters so we toughed it out. The last ten minutes he decided to hop in and play some. First Rule in soccer: NO HANDS! But practice makes perfect! Hoping the rain holds off so we can get in some more practice time.