Teachable Moments

Among most people who are raising smaller humans you can hear a mantra, "I'm just tired..."

And I'm not sure that it goes away - encouraging, I know.  When you have an infant you are exhausted because of loss of sleep. And the days can be long. And as they grow older you get more sleep - so to speak. But the days can still be long. And see, I'm thinking there is a culprit at the head of the game of tiredness...the things I find where I am loosing my patience the most...

Teachable moments...they draw their weapons and yell "I'll be your huckleberry"...(movie reference) every single time.

The amount of opportunities for me to have a teachable moment with my children is exasperating. It’s not just once a day - more like 20 times a day...per child.

"Hmmm, I haven't had to teach or model or reinforce anything today." said nary a parent.

And that's not to say that I haven't had awesome days filled with wonderful memories of raising my children. However, I find that once I think they have a handle on one concept, it either needs to be revisited, or a new one taught.

And this of course starts early - probably right after you've got them sleeping "through the night" which is all so relative (insert eye roll).

But what I'm referring to are the moments where I have the opportunity to lead and instruct with patience...joy...goodness...self-control...kindness...love...peace...meekness...gentleness. Sometimes I lead with these and other times...not so much.

Just to mention a few of these teachable moments:

potty training...cleaning up after yourself...growing intentional relationships...how to greet someone...respecting others in all aspects...how to speak to an adult...chores...cooking...fitness...sports...how violence isn't ok...reading...patience...time management...gardening...mindfulness of recycling...delayed gratification...proper nutrition...talking to God...persistence...laundry separation...responsibility...stranger danger...

and that's just some of the moments.

No wonder we are all exhausted. Being intentional takes slower moments, ample loads of all the characteristics mentioned above and knowing what is important to you.

I'm here to encourage you that you ARE running the race and your pace is spot on. Maybe you aren't intentional every moment (because I know I'm not), but the intentional outweigh the "not so much."

Parenting isn't all roses, but there is a beautiful garden to cultivate in their hearts. Pull the weeds of chaos and despair and see the beauty and variety in each different blossom. Get ya some sunshine and revel in your work...God's good work...in your children.