A Happy Heart

"It's my way or an angry fit will be thrown!" I'm pretty sure this was my son's motto for the day. He may not have voiced those exact words, but his actions and attitude were stating it very clearly. Time after time I went through these steps: Correct, Discipline, Remind him to change his attitude/behavior.

After what seemed like the 5000th time of repeating these steps, it dawned on me! I was leaving out the most crucial and exciting part of the "formula".

Was correction necessary? Yes! Was Discipline necessary? Yes! Did he need to be reminded to change his attitude/behavior? Yes! But the part I forgot to share with my boy is the fact that none of the change can come from him just trying harder!!

I went in to my upset son and talked with him and prayed with him that Jesus would change his angry heart to a happy heart. It was there, kneeling beside a toddler bed, that I finally took the time to explain to him that he can't do it on his own. Jesus died on the cross to take away all of his sins, sins like an angry heart.

We can't just have a "try harder" attitude toward our sin! It will never be enough. But what is enough... Christ's sacrifice on our behalf!!! I'm not going to say that it wasn't a very hard day for my son (and me). But I am so very grateful that the Lord was faithful to remind me of my need for Him. And that I was given an opportunity to share that with my son as well.

Laugh About It

My kids have wanted to get pet fish for quite some time now. I knew that fish were super easy to care for and I also knew my kids would love it. But I just didn't feel like adding on another responsibility (even a little one).

But on Saturday I decided to surprise my kids and let them each pick out their own fish. They were so excited and to be honest, I was too. We went to Petco and they made their selections. My son chose a black and orange fish and my daughter chose a small pink one. We bought some colorful rocks and of course food.

I have very little fish raising experience. I have owned a few in my lifetime, but was not ever very knowledgable. I did know that fish will die at some point. So I decided to tell my kids that sometimes fish die and we don't always know why. I told them that if anything happened to these ones, we would just get more.

The kids were thrilled! They named them "Cupcake" & "Basketball". I felt like the best mom. My kids were pet owners and the fish were still alive after 24 hours!

The excitement was short lived though. We woke up to two dead fish on Tuesday morning. So much for my best mom award I was hoping to receive:) I figured my kids might have a hard time and be sad. I was wrong. When I told my daughter that the fish had died and we have to get new ones, her response was "Ok!" No tears, no sadness, just "Ok!" My son, when I told him, said "Ok, can I get a blue one?"

I just had to laugh! I felt like I had let my kids down and there response showed me otherwise.

So, here we go again! Second round of fish was purchased today. Hopefully we can keep these ones alive a little longer. Lesson learned: sometimes you just gotta laugh! Life can be so overwhelming and serious. It's nice to take the time to laugh and enjoy the moment! Even if that moment is spent buying and re-buying fish.

Meet "Football" & "Lemonade" :)