Nicholas started another round of swimming lessons on Tuesday. There are four kids this time, and one he knew from his last class. She and Nicholas definitely felt comfortable, especially since it is the same teacher too.
He is so close to swimming completely on his own. He just needs to get his bottom up and his legs out. It will click eventually. He also is great at swimming on his back. He just wraps the noodle around himself and can go pretty far.
This month we are stopping at the post office in our All Around Town curriculum. Nicholas worked on writing out our address. He also wrote his first letter and mailed it. I think he’ll be checking the mailbox everyday waiting for a reply.
We also did a fun craft I found on http://www.education.com./ It was a way to display the four seasons, showing how a tree would look during each one.
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| Spring with popcorn flowers |
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| Winter |
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| Autumn |
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| Summer |
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| Eating the rest of the "flowers" |
We also had computer time today. We found a fun game on pbskids.org where he could use the webcam to play hands-free. When I turned it on, he said, "Why am I on the computer?" He had a lot of fun with it.
While I am happy that Nicholas is learning so much, I am also happy when I see his heart softening toward Christ. On Wednesday night he attends the children’s program at our church. At the same time, is a prayer meeting for the adults, which Evan and I have been attending until youth group moves to that time next week. This week they brought the kids in for the last fifteen minutes, so they could pray and be prayed over. The worship pastor asked some questions and of course, Nicholas had an answer (he's not shy). Then, it was time to pray. Nicholas was the first one to pray, asking Jesus to take the “yuckies out of my heart”.
We also use the word sin, but we want him to understand just how ugly our hearts and actions can be sometimes and why we can’t do things alone. Lately, Nicholas has been telling me that he just can’t listen. So, I directed him to Jesus and told him to ask Jesus to help him to listen to us.
When Nicholas was scared a couple of weeks ago, we taught him to pray. We taught him to ask Jesus for courage and for protection. We don’t want a perfect child. We don’t want a robot. I want a child who desires Jesus in his life.
I always tell Nicholas that he’s going to make mistakes. But, when he does, he needs to stop the bad behavior; say he is sorry and ask for forgiveness; then turn and have the right behavior. This is repentance. I screw up all the time myself, so every time I tell him those words, I am reminding myself. I’ve had to humble myself on more than one occasion and go in and apologize to him for speaking in anger rather than with kindness and grace. I don’t always have humility either. We’re all sinners. It is what we decide to do when we sin that is important.
So, when I see Nicholas’ heart exhibiting kindness, gentleness, patience, self-control, and love for Christ, it brings me great joy. It encourages me because it is easy to forget that this is a marathon and not a sprint.
Finally, we have had no sales for the Ordinary Hero contest. There is still time. Anyone interested in buying a sheep or a donkey? You could really change someone’s life, not just ours. It runs until Sunday, October 9th at midnight (CST). The top prize wins $500, in addition to the 40% we receive for each purchase. You just need to choose my name from the affiliate drop-down box at check out. Thanks for thinking of us!
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