Word of the Day: "Doggie"

I was reading to Lea today, and I pointed to a puppy in one of the pictures. "Doggie," I said to her. "Doggie," she repeated back. Then she flipped through the pages of the book and had me come back to the page with the puppy. She took my finger and had me point to it again. "Doggie." That was the only word she would say. I'd point to other things and say their names: kitten, ant, worm, dress...she'd just look at them...but whenever I came back to the puppy, she would say it again, "Doggie."

I was sharing with my 6th graders today that we all struggle with various temptations throughout our lives, and that I continue to fight against my own temptations every day - especially when I am frustrated with a person or a situation and I just want to vent instead of praying about it and giving it to God. So last night, I was talking to Gary about someone that I was losing my patience with, using a tone and an attitude that was not very Christian-like. In the middle of the conversation, Meleana happened to reach under the futon where we keep her reading cards, pulls one out, and walks over from the living room to hand it to me in the dining room. I take the card from her and tell her what it says..."JESUS". In that moment, the Lord brought me back to a previous lesson I had shared with my kids about how we need to understand that "whatsoever you do to the least of My brethren, that you do unto Me." And so I decided to stop my ranting. It was a good reminder...