It's tough taking care of toddlers.
My nephew was pretty hard to deal with yesterday, but that's a good thing. See, he was good one second, and then the next he blows up. I was talking to my mom when he tried to put his head in my shirt (he likes doing that) from behind me, and I pushed him away a bit just to finish my conversation. The next thing I know he tries to get me to sit on a chair to put me on 'time-out'. I thought, are you serious? So I try to talk to him about what he was thinking and all sorts of things, but all that's a blur because he starts hitting me. That prompted me to put HIM on 'time-out'. So I pick him up and plop him on my shoulders to take him to his sister's room to sit him down and talk to him. On my way there his head hits one of the corridor walls, and he starts crying like crazy. I rush him to the room and make sure he's okay (i.e. nothing broken or bleeding), but he is still crying as my brother takes him from me.
So I'm left in the room, feeling bad about the whole thing. Thought come into my head in the form of questions: Am I being too strict? Too lenient? What am I doing wrong?
Then I remembered that my nephew told me that he was just trying to hug me when I pushed him away. I thought I knew his intentions to just mess with me when in fact he just wanted to hug me.
Fast forward to yesterday evening. I needed to talk to my teenage niece after she had an argument with her folks. Long story short, they did not act as she expected, she reacted, and things just got worse. I told her what happened with my nephew this morning, and topped it off by saying that we can't say that we know what people are up to 100% of the time. Though we may think they're up to sneaky things they may be acting with good intentions. This is a uncontrollable thing we have to deal with in this world beyond our control.
I told her (and I was talking to myself too) that we can only control ourselves, and we control ourselves only because of the strength we have through Jesus Christ.
Paola had a bad dream last night, and she testified that when she looked to the Lord, He did not let her down. She lifted the nightmare up to the Lord, and sure enough the peace that went beyond all understanding protected her heart and mind from thinking, saying, or doing anything bad. As I related the story of me relating what happened between me and my nephew to my niece, I just thanked God, because Pao was an example of how Jesus Christ gives us the true strength to practice real self-control.
...And last night, as we ended our call with my brother through Skype, he related a verse that just jumped to him as he spent time with the Lord:
"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." - Matthew 6:33
I find how all this ties together just astounding. Thank God for He truly makes everything, EVERYTHING happen for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.
To God be all the glory and praise. Thank You, Jesus Christ, for everything that comes our way.
Shared in http://jibee.blogspot.com/. יהוה bless you!
My nephew was pretty hard to deal with yesterday, but that's a good thing. See, he was good one second, and then the next he blows up. I was talking to my mom when he tried to put his head in my shirt (he likes doing that) from behind me, and I pushed him away a bit just to finish my conversation. The next thing I know he tries to get me to sit on a chair to put me on 'time-out'. I thought, are you serious? So I try to talk to him about what he was thinking and all sorts of things, but all that's a blur because he starts hitting me. That prompted me to put HIM on 'time-out'. So I pick him up and plop him on my shoulders to take him to his sister's room to sit him down and talk to him. On my way there his head hits one of the corridor walls, and he starts crying like crazy. I rush him to the room and make sure he's okay (i.e. nothing broken or bleeding), but he is still crying as my brother takes him from me.
So I'm left in the room, feeling bad about the whole thing. Thought come into my head in the form of questions: Am I being too strict? Too lenient? What am I doing wrong?
Then I remembered that my nephew told me that he was just trying to hug me when I pushed him away. I thought I knew his intentions to just mess with me when in fact he just wanted to hug me.
Fast forward to yesterday evening. I needed to talk to my teenage niece after she had an argument with her folks. Long story short, they did not act as she expected, she reacted, and things just got worse. I told her what happened with my nephew this morning, and topped it off by saying that we can't say that we know what people are up to 100% of the time. Though we may think they're up to sneaky things they may be acting with good intentions. This is a uncontrollable thing we have to deal with in this world beyond our control.
I told her (and I was talking to myself too) that we can only control ourselves, and we control ourselves only because of the strength we have through Jesus Christ.
Paola had a bad dream last night, and she testified that when she looked to the Lord, He did not let her down. She lifted the nightmare up to the Lord, and sure enough the peace that went beyond all understanding protected her heart and mind from thinking, saying, or doing anything bad. As I related the story of me relating what happened between me and my nephew to my niece, I just thanked God, because Pao was an example of how Jesus Christ gives us the true strength to practice real self-control.
...And last night, as we ended our call with my brother through Skype, he related a verse that just jumped to him as he spent time with the Lord:
"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." - Matthew 6:33
I find how all this ties together just astounding. Thank God for He truly makes everything, EVERYTHING happen for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.
To God be all the glory and praise. Thank You, Jesus Christ, for everything that comes our way.
Shared in http://jibee.blogspot.com/. יהוה bless you!