Give Me Thine Heart

"My son, give me thine heart . . . "  Proverbs 23:26  This verse from the Bible has been running through my mind over and over lately, and I have really been pondering what those words mean.  I can't say that I have it all figured out yet.  If I want Seth to someday give me his heart, what should I do now to cause him to want to give it to me?  This is a very sobering question for me, one that I desperately want the answer to now while my son is still young.

I began trying to remember people in my childhood whom I gave my heart to.  Several people came to mind.  My next question was:  What was it about those people that made me admire and love them enough to give them my little girl heart so readily? 

Of course, somewhere along the line, I gave my heart to my parents because I loved them so much.  This I know because it is what kept me leaning on God through Bible college.  Bible college was the first and only time in my life that I had been away from my parents and during those three years, there was an ocean between us.  It would have been easy for me to do anything I wanted behind their backs and they would have never known.  But I feared hurting them and disappointing them more than anything.  They had my heart.

When I was about 7 or 8 years old, I had a Sunday School teacher whom I fell in love with.  What was it about that lady that made me love her so?  She treated me like a real person, not just a child.  She was truly interested in what I had to say.  She would look at me full in the face as if what I was saying was the most important thing in the world.  Then one day, she had me over to her house, and we made bead necklaces together.  To a little girl, those necklaces were so beautiful, and she helped me make one for my very own.  After that, I nearly worshiped her, I think!

When I was 9, I had a little girlfriend.  We decided to be best friends forever.  I took it seriously.  We were best friends for a couple of years.    Then a year of furlough parted us.  She came back to the field and proudly showed me a picture of her best friend.  It was not me.  Talk about tearing my heart out.  After that I decided that I would never have a best friend again except the Lord.  Of course, now Hubby is my best friend next to the Lord!

Anyway, what have I learned from my recent ponderings?    I have learned that my son's heart is a delicate thing.  The way I handle his heart now will determine whether or not he will give it to me five, ten, or fifteen years down the road.  Is that not a scary thing?  It sure is to me.

I know every child is different, and they each have different needs.  What means a lot to one may not be what means so much to another.  I do know, however, what Seth's love language is, and I know where I so often fall short.  Seth feels most loved through spending quality time together, and he enjoys conversing the entire time.  I do try to spend time with him when I can, but the constant conversation is a tough one for me.  Many times I tend to tune him out, and my standard answer many times is, "I don't know."  I don't know because I am not truly listening to him.  I wonder if I don't make the effort to listen to him now, will he someday find someone who will listen to him?  Will that person get his heart instead of me?  I know I need to do better at making him feel that what he has to say is important to me.

Another thing I've felt God caution me about is MY words to Seth.  When I speak to him, what does he hear?  Is every other word out of my mouth an order or a command?  "Don't do that.  Stop.  Be careful.  Don't spill that.  Lean over your plate."  Rules and expectations are needful, but if that is all he hears from me, he may start to feel like he can't do anything right.  So I am trying (It's not easy) to let the petty things go.  Instead, I've decided to watch for opportunities to praise him.  "Oh, good job for leaning over your plate!"

I need to gather him in my arms more and talk to him, really talk to him about things that matter to him.  I have a feeling that if I do that often . . . like every day . . . eventually, I will have his heart.

"Oh, God, I am so new at this.  I tremble not knowing if I am doing things right as a mother.  But I want to raise my boy for you.  I want to have his heart.  I want YOU to have his heart.  Give me wisdom, O God!"

Keeping Those Little Hands Busy

Here is a wonderful idea that I stumbled across today!  After putting a pan of pizza pockets in the oven, I stared at the leftover ball of dough in my hand.  And I had a brainstorm!  Why throw it away when it just might buy me some peace and quiet by keeping Seth entertained for who knows how long?  I gladly offered him my rolling pin and a bunch of cookie cutters with fun, interesting shapes.  He was so excited to get to play with real dough!  

Grandma and Grandpa, notice his tongue out in effort just like someone else I know!

 

He sat there cutting out dough shapes for almost an hour while I got my kitchen cleaned up and those pizza pockets baked!  Definitely a tip that I'm filing away in the back of my mind to use on another day.  Bread dough will work great too.  Gotta keep those little hands busy being creative!

Frisbee Family Fun

"Mommy, will you play frisbee with me?"  Mommy doesn't know how to throw a frisbe, but sure, let's give it a try.  I had to smile at my son's incredulous reply.  "Really, Mommy, you?"  I think he thinks girls can't do certain things!

Within a few minutes, BJ had joined our fun.  Oops!  On one of my first throws, it sailed over the fence . . . the fence that is covered with long acacia thorns.  With a long stick, however, Daddy rescued our frisbee from the thorn bush.

I didn't know throwing a piece of plastic back and forth could be so much fun!  Of course, Seth and BJ had to teach me the correct way to stand and the right way to hold it.  After about 30 minutes of practice, my throws drastically improved!

Even Mr. Roger got involved and soon learned how to throw a frisbee! 

I'm glad I said, "Yes."  We made a memory together!

Homeschool Plans and Family Photo

Here is our most recent family picture--all four of us, though the littlest one is still kinda hard to see!  We had it taken at church today.  

Another week has come and gone.  Not much new has been happening around here; just staying busy doing the same routine things.  My mind has been full of teaching options, especially in the area of music.  What to teach and how to teach it.  After much research, I finally decided that I will do better with some kind of curriculum when it comes to music.  I feel confident teaching Seth the Bible; I do not feel confident trying to put together a basic music curriculum.  And I am the kind of teacher who needs a curriculum, something to tell me what to say and do next.  I am leaning toward the Bob Jones music curriculum because it's starts in Kindergarten, but if anyone has anymore ideas on good curriculum or ways to teach music to children, I love all the input I can get.  Thanks to all of you who have already helped me with your comments!

I've also been working on other teaching helps this past week.  First, I composed a list of rules for our "classroom", and Seth has really taken to them!  He wants me to read them over and over to him throughout the day after school, and they are beginning to have an effect in class.  Here is our list of rules in case anyone is interested.  We are still working on Rule #1!

1.  NO talking.
2.  Raise your hand to speak.
3.  Listening ears and watching eyes.
4.  Have a good attitude.
5.  Do your BEST!

Pretty basic, but they seem to cover all the areas that we need help in.  Like I said, the first rule is still a work in progress.  He does raise his hand to speak sometimes (he thinks it is fun), but ummm, Seth is used to talking a lot!  So we are working on learning to use the ears more than the mouth during class!  I am thinking of using a smiley face, frowny face system on the chalkboard for how he does with the rules throughout the day, but I am still working on the details of that.

Then we needed a new chart for our Bible memorization.  The mountain we were using was pretty beat up after so many months on the wall, and it was also very large taking up most of my wall space.  So I down scaled to a piece of poster board, and we made a train track this time with a little train that inches its way around the track as we learn the passage.

Seth loves the Thomas the Tank Engine theme!

With our mountain, Seth memorized Psalm 23, Psalm 100, and Psalm 1.  He's also committed a bunch of single verses to memory, and we keep going over them to keep them all fresh in his mind.  Tomorrow we will start a new Scripture passage with our choo choo train.  He loves seeing our progress on the chart. 

And that's been my busy life this past week.  I love Sundays--church and time to relax together as a family.

Teaching Music?

I have a desire to begin teaching Seth some basic music principles, but I am not sure where or how to start.  My knowledge of music is pretty basic, however, I can read simple music.  Just wondering if any of you out there have any ideas or perhaps things you may have done with your own children to introduce them to music.  Right now I am trying to gather ideas before I launch into something without having a clue what I am doing!  My goal is simply to lay a foundation and to give him an appreciation for music at a young age.  Any tips, ideas, or sites that have been helpful to any of you would be greatly appreciated!  Thanks so much!

Changing My Goals . . . and Craving Curry

Seth and I cleaned the house this morning.  It was in sad need of cleaning!  It is amazing how wood and tile floors can get so dirty so fast . . . and bathrooms too!  I have been inspired this week to let Seth help me around the house more.  My friend, Hannah, gave some great ideas here about teaching children to help and be independent by letting them (the hard part) do things by themselves.  Oftentimes I would rather rush around and try to do it all myself because I can get it done faster and better that way, right?  But I have realized this week that I have had the wrong goal--getting my house clean or supper cooked or whatever the task is, done.  This morning, I changed my goal to teaching Seth how to clean and help me around the house.  This also builds character in him too.  By the way, for some reason, he loves cleaning the bathrooms, and I say, "Have at it!"  I was amazed to find that by noon, the house was clean with one load of laundry on the line and a second one in the wash.  How in the world did that happen?  Maybe with four hands doing the work instead of just two?  Hmmmm, I definitely learned a lesson today!

What am I craving these days?  A strange one--the taste of curry.  I recently found a great recipe site that I believe is quickly becoming my online cookbook.  It is called Simply Recipes.  There are tons of recipes over there that I want to try--way to many too write down on 3 x 5 cards!  I tried this egg salad sandwich recipe today, and it was delicious!  Probably for me at this time in my life, it had to do with the slight taste of curry.  I can't seem to get enough of it!  By the way, I have hated the taste of curry all of my life . . . till now.  Pregnancy does weird things to you.

Tonight I am trying a new chicken recipe, and yes, it has curry in it too.  Shhhhhh!  When BJ asked what was on today's menu, I simply smiled and told him it was a secret.  Hee hee  You have to do that sometimes with husbands, you know.  Else they might get a preconceived idea by the name of something that they don't like it before they even try it!  I've even renamed recipes before setting it on the table!  The word "casserole" never works in my house.  I always have to get creative and think up some yummy-sounding name to say in place of casserole!  We've had quite a few laughs at the table when he's suspected that what he was eating possibly had had a different name to begin with!

Out-of-this-World Baked Potatoes

I've decided I'll never make a plain baked potato again!

I got this recipe from my sister, and we absolutely love it!  Potatoes baked like this are packed full of flavor.  We had them tonight with Spicy Salisbury Hamburger Steaks.  Here is the potato recipe:

6 baking potatoes
6 Tablespoons butter
1/2 large onion, sliced
Seasoned salt
Dry ranch dressing seasoning mix

Instructions:
Wash and pierce the potatoes, and place on squares of foil.  Cut the onion in half.   From one half, cut 1/8 inch slices for small potatoes or 1/4 inch slices for larger potatoes.  Place one slice of onion on each potato (or more if desired.  I love the onions!)  Then spread 1 Tablespoon butter all over each potato.  Sprinkle on seasoned salt and Ranch dressing mix.

Tightly wrap potatoes and place in a 400-degree oven for one hour until done through.  Hope ya'll enjoy this recipe as much as we do!

Carpentry Class with Daddy

BJ got involved with our homeschooling today!  We had a carpentry class, and boy, was Seth excited about it!

After three weeks teaching about the birth of Christ, this week I taught about Jesus as a boy.  I had some trouble coming up with creative things to do with him to help him better understand the lesson.  The internet doesn't seem to have much in the way of crafts relating to Jesus as a boy, and I am simply not creative enough to come up with my own ideas.  However, I did come across a couple of ideas, one of which was carpentry.  Seth was all ears as his daddy explained about saws and hammers, drills and sand paper!

The drill was Seth's favorite tool!  I was pleased to see that it helped him relate to what Jesus probably did as a boy growing up. 

How thankful I am that BJ was willing to step in and explain all about the tools and how they work.  I know I probably could have done it.  (Fortunately, with small children you can bluff, and they take it for granted that you know what you're talking about!)  But I would've been just a little bit out of my element . . . okay, a lot out of my element!  

Although Seth is doing very well in Math and Phonics/Writing, Bible Time is definitely his favorite subject each day, and I am glad it's that way.  He is very hands-on and loves using his hands to learn, so it has been a blessing to combine art and crafts with Bible stories to help him learn them.  I want the truths of God's Word to stick with him all his life through.

Seth's Personality in Pictures

First of all, I promised an update about the baby after my doctor's appointment.  The good news is that everything is still looks great.  I was happy with the scales; they said I've only gained about 5 pounds so far, and I'm almost halfway through!  The baby's heartbeat is good, and he or she is very active.  I was disappointed to not get an ultrasound done this week to determine if the baby is a boy or a girl.  My doctor told me that the equipment they have here works best at 21 weeks to determine the sex of the baby, so he advised me to wait another couple of weeks.  I did appreciate his honesty.  There is no sense paying for an ultrasound and then having to pay for another one in a couple of weeks.  So we decided that we will just have it done at my next doctor's appointment which means I have to wait another whole month.  Groan!

So today, I decided to do a post about Seth.  I thought you might like to see our little boy's personality in some pictures that BJ has been taking lately.  He is a MUCH better photographer than I am, and my blog definitely benefits from it whenever he gets in the mood and has the time to take pictures!

My favorite!  The wonder and delight in his eyes!

 

Playing with Mommy's spray bottle.  (It makes a great squirt gun!)

 

I dearly love my little boy . . . even if he does talk nonstop!  =)