Have Courage and Be Kind


I haven’t blogged for 2 months.  I always mean to, but then I get sidetracked by an adorable little bundle named Oliver.  I’m either feeding him when he’s hungry, rocking him when he cries, or staring at his beautiful face when he sleeps.  My days keep slipping by that way and I find it hard to keep up with lots of my regular activities.  It’s wonderful J

It’s been a few years since I’ve had an infant, and the stark comparison between my now 6 & 7 year olds and this tiny little man is huge.  My older two feel like giants when I hug them.  I am struck fresh with the knowledge of how quickly time passes.  It seems like yesterday and an eternity ago when Robbie and Maddie were this small.  Already Oliver has more than doubled his birth weight and developed a lovely second chin with his pudge.  The rate at which children grow and develop is astonishing.  Every day brings something new that I notice about Oliver and each photo looks different than the ones days before.  Meanwhile my older two while not changing as noticeably in a physical sense, are impressing me daily with their intake of new knowledge and skill.  My kindergartener is researching a famous historical figure on the internet this week.  What?  I don’t think I researched anything online until college.  But this isn’t a strange idea for her.  She’s excited to dive in.  My older son is doing his math homework online, competing against other kids around the world in his race to spit out times tables.  All 3 of them learn and grow like little sponges, absorbing everything that comes their way. 

Among all of this growth of knowledge, I am acutely aware of the short window I have in which to help them learn the things that are really important.  Who is God and what is my relationship to Him?  How should I treat other people?  Why is truth and honesty important?  What does it mean to work hard and not give up?  How can I be thankful instead of always complaining?  So I am constantly on the lookout for teachable moments, ways I can relate these deep concepts of character and truth into a language and context they connect with. 


I unexpectedly had one of those moments last night and it is still making me smile.  Not surprisingly, as a 6 year old, Maddie LOVES princesses.  She would dress as Elsa every day if that was possible.  Princess toys adorn her bedroom, princess books line her shelves, and princess dresses fill her closet.  Every little girl wants to be a princess in some way I suppose.    So, when I heard the new Cinderella movie was playing in town, I excitedly planned a girls night out for the two of us.  Since Oliver was born, I haven’t gotten out much and certainly not just me and her, so she was thrilled.  Not shockingly, she donned her Elsa dress, and helped me pick out a skirt and jewelry (she has informed me that ladies shouldn’t wear jeans, they should wear skirts because jeans aren’t pretty).  Off we went to see Cinderella which is a favorite story, second only to Frozen.  As we watched the story unfold, many times through tears, I was taken back not just by the beautiful dresses and the fairy tale happy ending, but much more so by the message of the movie:  “Have courage and be kind”.  That’s a lesson I am always trying to teach.  Courage comes more naturally to my beautiful daughter, kindness not always as much.  So I was thrilled to watch the heroine choose to be kind and make hard right choices again and again, and finally choose even to forgive those who so cruelly hurt her.  It was a beautiful story inside and out.  As we sat after the movie eating ice cream, we talked about what that meant.  Maddie’s conclusion was that Cinderella and her mommy must know Jesus because they were doing just what He teaches us to do.  Wow!  Moments like these are rare, when an important lesson collides with something that my daughter fully connects to.  What a great chance to talk about the person she is becoming and the opportunity she has to choose to be a woman of great kindness and courage and how Jesus  will always be there to help her on that journey.   It’s a lesson I’m still struggling to learn for myself but one I hope my beautiful daughter will master with His help.  Its not enough to be beautiful on the outside, a truly beautiful woman is beautiful from the inside out.  So I hope my little princes, daughter of the king of kings, learns this lesson and for the sake of her king becomes a woman marked by courage and kindness.  

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