William has been learning his Fruit of the Spirit in his Wednesday night class. He can repeat all but a few already– and has earned a trip to the Detroit Zoo with all of his buddies in June. When he first started learning them a few weeks ago, he would say, “Love, joy, patienence (think patience + gentleness?), and remote control (think self-control)!” So here is my list of the Fruit in the life of William Thomas. . .
Love– William likes to say, “Mommy, I have a secwret.” He will put his ear next to my ear and say, “I wove you!”
Joy- One of the most rewarding things about having kids is the joy that I have in watching him discover things. Life is so simple when looking for dandelions can last hours. Going down a slide 50 times never gets old- and neither does hide-and-seek with Daddy. Getting a package in the mail– never gets better than that. And the imagination the goes along with the joy is so fun. William loves to call himself “Charlie”. We have no idea where that came from. And he loves to sing us “Happy Birthday” and give us pretend presents. I mean, the kid lives to poop so he can blow bubbles on the toilet! How crazy is that!?
Peace- We have been praying for William to have peace when he goes into his room. For some reason he thinks that his ceiling fan is a scary monster. Once he’s in his room he isn’t scared, but he often will not walk into his room unless the light is on. So we told him that Jesus protects him and lives with him in his room. “Where?” he asked. “Where in my room does Jesus live?”
Patience- Yesterday was a tough day for Mommy’s patience. God keeps stretching it until I think it will surely snap! Throughout the day William spilled an entire bowl of cereal, “missed” the toilet when he went to the bathroom, then “forgot” he had to go to the bathroom until it was too late. At dinner the glass of milk also spilled. I finally said, “Too many liquids today!” Kate looked at me, giggled, and spit up everywhere.
Kindness-William is without a doubt a great big brother! He can always be found soothing Kate when she’s crying. “It’s ok Kate-Girl. You don’t have to cry. Brother’s here.” My heart melts each time.
Goodness- Never was I so proud as when William’s beloved teacher, Mrs. Swaddling, told me that William is a leader in his class. Each week he prays out loud for each child by name. At night when we pray together, he has an incredible list of people that must be prayed for. And whenever we bring up something to pray for we have to stop and pray right away.
Faithfulness- This is my challenge to teach my children. I found William a little Bible and a devotion book for boys. He loves to do his “lotions”. What a fun lesson to teach both He and Kate to daily love God and take time for Him each day.
Gentleness- We don’t really have the gentle thing down yet. Something is always flying through the air at our house. Thankfully it doesn’t often land on Kate or break anything. In fact, William isn’t gentle on his clothing or shoes (always a stain or a hole in the sock), he isn’t gentle when he eats (he ‘scoops and dumps’ his bites from the bowl to the mouth), he isn’t gentle when he runs (it usually ends with a scraped knee or bruise), or when he sings (loud and not quite on pitch)
Self-Control- This is definitely hard for a busy 2 year old! But William gets so excited when he does have self-control. Something I love to experience is his excitement when he finally gets it! Many times when I ask him to do something, he’ll refuse. We have a bit of a battle that most of the time includes a time out (or 4) and a spanking. But when he finally bends and obeys (He just can’t seem to understand that Mommy WILL always win!), he is just so happy! His eyes shine and he hugs and kisses me and yells, “I did it! I did it, Mommy! Are you so proud of me?!”
What a blessing our kids are to us!