Aside from "Jesus Loves Me" that is the only song I remember from nursery Sunday School. We would all sit around in a circle and put our little hands over our eyes, ears, mouth, etc. when it got to that part of the verse. I don't know if that was on the set list of all denominations back then, but it was a crowd favorite for my little Southern Baptist children's program. 30 (something) years later the message that little jingle conveys still rings true. Especially in parenting.
Have you ever put a sponge in a bucket of clean wash water? It soaks it up. Put it in a bucket of nasty sewer water. It soaks it up. Put it in a bucket of gasoline. It soaks it up. That liquid will stay in that sponge until you wring it out. If a sponge has soaked up something undesirable, it takes work to get it clean enough to be used for wash water again. Often it is discarded and a new one takes its place.
My sons are living, breathing sponges right now. They repeat EVERYTHING they hear, mimic EVERYTHING they see, and have NO scruples when it comes to saying what's on their mind. They just walk around soaking everything up. The good and the bad.
Greyson has somehow confused the word "no" with "not." So.. whenever something doesn't go his way or something happens that he doesn't like, he will sound off with a sharp, loud "NOT!!" He sounds like a ticked off Nazi. Braxton sees all his superhero buddies on TV flying around carefree so he assumes that he can too. Anything he can climb up on he will try to fly off of no matter what the height. He hasn't actually taken flight yet but when he does I will blog about it. One of their favorite movies is the "Wizard of Oz" or "woz" as Grey calls it. The other day B just happened to mention that he was headed out to "kill me a witch." SAY WHAT? I never looked at "woz" as being ultra-violent and creating behavioral problems in kids. I don't know.. they dropped a house on one witch and straight up melted another. Anyway, it spurred my eldest boy into wanting to go Old Testament on him a witch.
In the grand scheme of things, do I want my sons soaking up clean wash water that can be used for good over and over or do I want them soaking up gasoline that will hang around and never really go away. When I spit, they spit. When I yell, they yell. When I pray, they pray. Braxton already wants a beard like daddy. I used some of my camo face paint to hook him up.
Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:1-2 "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."
Am I trying to imitate my Heavenly Father like my boys imitate their earthly father? Do I hang on His every word like my kids hang on mine? Do I really concentrate and listen when I KNOW that He's trying to tell me something, like Grey concentrates on me when I'm teaching him his letters? Am I careful what I see, hear and say? "NOT!"
I once heard an evangelist say that what comes in your ears and is seen through your eyes will settle on your heart and eventually come out of your mouth. It all starts with me and my relationship with my Father in Heaven. If I am on good terms with Him, then the anointing will roll down to my kids. If they see a God fearing, hard working, love-their-mamma man then they WILL imitate me. That's just what they do. They are little sponges. It's only by His Grace that I have been given the honor and privilege of being a husband and father. Thank you, Jesus!
