Teachable Moments

I love teachable moments with the kids. And I love that I learn so much during those teachable moments. We've had two in the last 12 hours that have especially struck me.

Last night I read the Princess and the Kiss to my kids for the first time. You can find a link to it in this post. Honestly, this book is so contrary to what I grew up thinking and doing, and yet it's so very much what I want for my own kids.

We had a great discussion after reading the book. As we all huddled together on the couch, we talked about how special it is that God has given us the gift of a first kiss and how important it is for us to be choosy about saving it for our mate.

The boys picked up on the part where the young farmer comes and asks permission to talk with the princess. I hope that I planted good seeds in them as we talked about the need to respect not only the princess, but also her parents by asking first before talking with the princess. And especially before asking her to marry.

Abby wondered where her kiss was. In the book it's depicted as a beautiful treasure. As I pointed to her lips, she shyly smiled and said, "Oh. I know about that kiss." And so we talked about her saving that kiss for just one man.

We talked about how easy it is to give your heart away and how important it is to guard it. And we thought about how special it is to give a really treasured gift to someone. But how that gift loses value for the recipeint if it's also been given to many others. I'm excited to continue using this teaching tool with the kids.

This morning, Josh started devotions by telling the kids our newest roof news. We've been saving for quite some time and had enough to get it done and then found out that the quote we were given didn't include labor. So, back to saving.

Josh posed the question to the kids, "Should we be worried that we can't get the roof done before winter?" In unison, the kids answered, "No. God will take care of us!"

Oh, how that warmed my heart! But, such a pat answer was not enough for Josh. He wanted to find out how they knew that God would provide. He asked the kids for evidence from the Bible.

They cited stories such as when Jesus fed the 5,000, Jesus calming the sea during the big storm, Jesus healing the leper. We talked of how God clothes the lillies and provides for the birds and yet loves us even more than these. We discussed Jesus' words about the wise man who builds his house on the rock, and the difference between the wise man and foolish man's houses.

And we talked about how important it is to be faithful with what God gives. How the Bible says we should not be indebted to any man and so instead of borrowing money for the roof, it would be better for us to wait until God provides the funds for us to fix it.

And God has provided. He has provided loving friends from the church who know how to do roofs and are willing to help us out. We have enough saved for the materials, so first thing in the spring, we'll get the roof done. God cares. God provides.

And as my son said, God's big enough that if he wants to, he could even keep the rain and snow from hitting our roof. :) True, very true.

So as for me and my family, we will trust the Lord.