Some of my Favorite things about Spring
are the smell of fresh grass growing, the bright colors of flowers beginning to bud and bloom, and the promise of more sunshine on my face in the coming months.
I love the newness and freshness of spring.
There’s a freshness to each new season with our children and it’s worth it to take a moment and literally stop and smell the roses with them as those new seasons begin. Celebrate with them when you see God doing something in and through them. Celebrate when they choose the brightness of righteousness over the gloom of selfishness.
New Seasons
When our children first learn and implement a concept we’ve been trying to teach them (completing 2-3 tasks in successive order then coming back to let you know the tasks are complete, completing a responsibility without being asked to do so, cleaning up after themselves, etc.), it’s like the first daffodils popping up through the snow. It’s a beautiful glimmer of hope.
When our children make a decision away from us that shows a personal conviction about a biblical truth (deciding to end a friendship with someone who’s manipulative, asking a teacher for help instead of breaking something out of frustration, leaving an inappropriate situation with peers), it’s like the tips of tulips popping up through the snow. It’s a beautiful glimmer of who your children are becoming.
When our children begin to rely on their biblical foundation in the midst of tricky cultural and worldly circumstances (asking for an alternative book when a teacher gives them a book with inappropriate content even though it means more homework, including a new child in the neighborhood who has 2 mommies when the other children won’t go near him, choosing a class project and presentation about life before birth knowing it may affect her overall grade), it’s like the first blades of grass poking through the snow. It’s a beautiful glimmer of the Holy Spirit’s working in our children’s lives, helping them become like Jesus.
Sometimes the glimmers are few and far between, but still celebrate them.
Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:18
What’s the last thing each of your children did to honor God that you can celebrate with them?