Training

 Hebrews 12:5-11

⁵ And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:
       “ My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD,
      Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
       ⁶ For whom the LORD loves He chastens,
      And scourges every son whom He receives.”

⁷ If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? ⁸ But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. ⁹ Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? ¹⁰ For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. ¹¹Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

 Life for this Grisham household has never been busier! My days consist of chasing The Mess around making sure he isn't putting his fingers in light sockets and playing in the toilet...two things I NEVER had to worry about Freely doing. Freely is learning to sit on the couches because when The Mess finds her playing on the floor he usually attacks her hair or face. She does takes it like a champ, however she gets tired of it quickly. We are trying to teach Freely to be patient, to share, to be gentle, loving, and of course to obey fast, to eat what is set before her and not to complain when we tell her to do something she doesn't like. hmmm interestingly enough God is teaching me to be patient with Freely, to share, to be gentle, loving and obey the Lord fast, and not to complain when the Lord tells me to do something I don't like :)
 We are in the process of teaching The Mess "no no" and this has brought hope back into the area of training our children. The Mess does not rebel against us too much yet so it makes it so sweet to teach him and to see the delight on his face when he "gets" it! o my goodness...it melts my heart. however, proverbs 22:15 says that foolishness is bound up in the heart of every child and my sweet Mess is no exception...rebellion is in there somewhere and it will rear it's ugly head soon enough.

If there is anything I have learned from having kids its that we don't give them enough credit for what they can learn. Kids can learn at an incredibly early age...all kinds of things! Even if you are not actively teaching them they are still learning. They are watching you, picking up your mannerisms, your words, your tones, your body language, your dress, your anger, your habits, your tendencies and rest assured...they will display these things before you even know you are doing them! So why not actively teach them, train them...don't just rebuke when something is wrong. TRAIN them in the way they SHOULD go as well (Prov 22:6).

So while no chastening seems to be joyful at the time- it produces the peaceable fruit of righteousness when we are trained by it! I want that for my own heart and I surely want that for my children's hearts!

happy training