blessings

dear emily,

my children heard me say "be a blessing!" every time they walked out the door.

i wanted them to be cheerful, kind, obedient, peaceful, and helpful.  they understood that all these actions were necessary to be a blessing, and we practiced them every day at home.  

this required me to conform to the same standard, and i can assure you, they would let me know when i was grumpy or impatient.  all of us continuously fell below the benchmark,  but we asked forgiveness and then tried harder.

i used to dread teachers' conferences for fear of what i might hear.  there were comments like, "hailey is just the sweetest thing, but she falls asleep during history every day."  that teacher eventually had the other students color while she took her nap!

another teacher remarked, "shelby is easily the brightest and most helpful child in the class, but would you remind her that i am the teacher?"

on several occasions, teachers would burst into tears and say, "your child has been the biggest blessing in my classroom.  i have never had a more caring or obedient student!"  then i would burst into tears.

that didn't happen often in high school...

love,
lea

galatians 5:24
'the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.'