We are a party in a package. If you need friends to come to your party, just invite us! That's what we've become for some of our friends. It is much simpler really. Instead of sending out all sorts of invitations to 10 different people, you just send one to us and we'll show up...voila! Instant party!
That's what we've been doing all winter with this one family, simply attending their fun birthday parties! Each time one of their kids gets a year older, you got it, we're there! This past weekend it was roller skating - how fun is that?! Well, I should clarify....fun for ME, not for my little ones....They were crying their eyes out as they just couldn't quite figure it out. I had such sore muscles the next day as I had been bending over as we went around and around the rink, constantly picking them up off the concrete.....fortunately no injuries. My friend called it an "epic fail" as far as fun ideas went for little kids, but the adults and older kids all had a great time! The little ones ended up just sitting around drinking slushies, so it couldn't have been that bad!
This past week has been a fantastic week full of life lessons for our kids. We're trying to get them busy and "off the streets", looking for work, ways to make money, etc. Most of the time they are with us and get why we are pushing them, but recently we got a little push-back.
We had heard of an opportunity to work in a booth selling books at an upcoming homeschool convention. It just so happens our children have quite a bit of experience selling books as we also used to do that a few years ago. We encouraged our older two to do this. No, no, no.....they were not interested one bit. What?! We couldn't believe it. Why not? They both have been dying to make more money and were willing to do just about anything, why not this? Then, the truth came out.....they'd be missing out on hanging with their buddies at the fair, which they looooove to do (I think I've mentioned how social my kids are....blame me.....) Aaahhhh....the life lesson began....
We explained how, especially at 18 (which my oldest is now) and 17 (the next one willing be turning that in May), they needed to seriously stop thinking about fun and more about sacrifice and hard work. A few eye rolls later, we got them back on board.
They wrote the vendor and she was happy to have them....until she found out how far away we lived. It would involve training and she figured it was too far. Whew! My kids were off the hook....or so they thought...HA! We said, "Not so fast....." and made them write her another email saying, "Oh, don't worry! We'll travel! We're willing to go wherever it takes to get trained!" (They were gritting their teeth as they wrote this....fun was so elusive!)
This is where is gets great.....She wrote back again, "That's great! Ok, you're hired! I'm impressed with your persistence!" "I TOLD YOU SO!" was immediately communicated to the kids. "Don't you see now?" was all we could say. It was awesome to get immediate feedback from this woman. She said exactly what we hoped - she hired them because of their persistence. Their attitudes immediately changed. I know they will still have fun at the trade show, but now it will be because of who they will meet at the booth. God is going to use them and will bless them for doing the right thing. It was a great parenting moment.
The younger kids also had some neat life lessons this week - same thing. They wanted to go roller skating so badly. It was going to be an all day affair. Skating by day, pizza by night. We really couldn't sacrifice the time. RM had a contract that needed to be shipped out yesterday. He had planned on working all day Monday, which, in Ontario, happened to be "Family Day", a holiday. I was going to go on my own with the kids, but he pictured the skating nightmare and said, "No, I'm coming. We'll work when we get home." So we told the kids, "We'll go, but we're all going to have to chip in and work later when we get home. We can't stay late. Got it?" "Got it, " they all agreed.
So, we got home around 7:30 pm or so and the sweat shop began. It was easy work, just packaging up all the things that needed to be shipped, but it was tiring as there were hundreds of items. Suddenly, they started to see there was a sacrifice. Family Day had become Family NIGHT. The little ones dropped off by 8 or 9 pm....couldn't make it! The older ones lasted until 10. But up early the next day! It was another great opportunity for everyone to see we'll let you have fun, but we have to make up for it somewhere. Sacrifice. Hard work. But then...reward! We'll get paid and then the kids get to eat! Having RM work from home teaches these lessons so much more clearly as the kids actually witness what rewards come from work and what work looks like.
My son was very disappointed this week. He had applied for other jobs that he was so certain he would get, but then nothing. They either weren't hiring or hadn't made a decision. He couldn't understand why it wouldn't work out. He questioned, "Why do these things happen?" But I read this morning in 1 Samuel 17 about David and Goliath. David went down to bring bread and cheese to his brothers. He heard Goliath challenge the Israelites and thought out loud, "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?" When it came back to Saul he was told, "You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him for you are but a youth and he has been a man of war from his youth." But David said to Saul, "Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has struck down both lions and bears and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.
(1 Sam.17:33-36)
It doesn't seem that different from my son. I'm sure David wondered why God would allow such near tragedies to happen in his life, fighting a bear and a lion! Yet God used these battles to prepare him, to give him courage, to teach him the character he would one day need as king. My son has hardly fought a lion or a bear, but he is fighting for a job and keeps coming up against disappointment after disappointment. I can only think and tell him, God is preparing him, teaching him character for the day he will be a king. A king? Not of a country, but a leader in his family, a leader in his church, in his community. All men are to be leaders. He can't escape it and God is doing what it takes to prepare him. I would much rather that he never experience disappointment, but God is bringing those types of bears and lions in his life and if he fights and wins and perseveres as he did with the book selling opportunity, then he will be an even better leader one day. So I'm grateful for these ups and downs he's going through. It's our job to help him to see what God is doing, otherwise he just gets ticked off!
Because of his perseverance, Saul was convinced! David had run through his life resume and said, "I'm the guy for the job. Hire me!" So Saul then said to David, "Go, and the Lord be with you!" Just like the book vendor told our kids, "I'm impressed with your persistence!" It was as if she were saying, "Go, and the Lord be with you!" Great lessons. Ironically, we have literally a Jesse and a David in our family....names we chose years ago, never knowing how they would actually come to experience the very lessons the Biblical Jesse and David learned.
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