Discipleship with Children: Seven Principles (Part 3)

Very slowly over the last 2 months, I have been studying and writing about the principles of discipleship that I have seen in the Gospel of Mark.

In my first post, I wrote about how a teacher must develop a relationship with their student, identify with their student, and use all opportunities to teach a student the truth.

In my second post, I wrote about how a teacher must give opportunity for guided practice and must pray for their students.

Today I want to address the final two principles: A Teacher prepares a student for the future and A Teacher lives the example his students will follow.

6.  A Teacher Prepares His Students for the Future

When I was cleaning out my garage this past weekend, I came across a binder that contained a syllabus I wrote for my Seventh Grade English class (I taught at a small Christian school).  My first paragraph included the words, ” To succeed in today’s world and to impart the gospel to today’s people, Christians need to  know how to write, speak, and read well.”

My ultimate goal for my students was to prepare them for their future.

In Mark and the other gospels, Jesus, their Rabbi, or Teacher, takes the time to warn and prepare His disciples for the future.

He warns them about his coming death and resurrection:

“He was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.”  Mark 9:31

He warned them about the persecutions and tribulations they would have to endure and about the false prophets they would encounter so that they could be on their guard, remain faithful and continue doing God’s work, despite discouragement:

“ But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand.”  Mark 13:23

He comforts them and gives them hope with the promise of His return:

“And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.” Mark 13:26

Preparing for the future is something we all know that we should do.  I’m sure we have all heard or read Aesop’s Fable, The Grasshopper and the Ant, that warns us of the foolishness of not practically preparing for hard times that come in life.  Financial advisers tell us to have six or twelve months expenses saved for a crisis.  If there is a busy morning the next day, it is helpful to get things ready the night before.  I love having pre-prepared meals in the freezer to pull out on busy evenings.

We must also prepare our hearts spiritually for our future.  None of us know how long we have here on earth.  It is of vital importance to first, be sure you know where you are spending your future.

God’s perfect and absolute holiness and justice means that sin can not be brushed aside, excused or ignored.  It must be paid for. We all make wrong choices and do unkind and hurtful things.  We sin.  We break God’s law and we must accept the consequences for our crimes.  That means eternal separation from God.

But His mercy and love toward us could not leave us in such a desperate situation.  He had to make a way to rescue us.  And He did.  His heartbreaking yet glorious plan included God’s Son coming to earth as a man to  live a sinless life and suffer and die in our place.  He took the punishment for our sins.  He paid the price for our crimes.

Now forgiveness is freely available for those who accept it.  Those who do have their future secured for them.  This is the most important decision any human will make on this earth.

Once we have that settled, we still must work to be ready for our future by being busy at God’s work all the time.  We must live responsibly, love wholeheartedly, serve cheerfully.  We must be ready at all times to share with others the reason for the hope we have.

As a mother, one of my God ordained tasks is to disciple my children.  I must tell them about how they can be spiritually ready for the future.  I also train them and teach them practical things so that they will be prepared to live the life God wants them to live here on earth until they go to be with Him.

Therefore, Biblical and hymn studies come first in our schedule as it is first in our hearts and priorities.  Then reading, writing, math, science, history, fine arts, crafts, and life skills are all a part of week as they are important ingredients in my discipleship of my children.

7. A Teacher Lives the Example His Students Will Follow 

When I was a young teacher, one day, I misunderstood one of my students, a seventh grade girl and snapped at her.  Immediately, I realized that I had misunderstood and I had been completely unfair.  Her face fell and froze.  I got the other students busy at their task and then quickly went up to her and humbly apologized for my words.

The next year, I was subbing for another teacher in a class that she was in.  The students decided to play a classic let’s-see-what-we-can-get-away-with-because-there-is-a-sub trick on me (I think it had to do with the seating chart).  When I realized what they were up to, I was a little disappointed in the students and told them so.  Then I got them busy with whatever work was assigned to them and sat at the teacher’s desk with my own work.

This particular girl came up to me right away.  She apologized to me for her part.  I was impressed and blessed by her apology.  This incident with this girl has remained in my heart and mind all these years.  I had not really thought of my first apology as an example for my students to follow.  It was humbling and sobering to think that not just my academic lessons but my daily actions might influence them.

The whole book of Mark and actually, all of the gospels describe the perfect example in the life of Christ.  They recount his deeds, his teachings, his heart, his will, his obedience to the Father and his love for his people.

“For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.”  I Peter 2:21

“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  Mark 10:45

“If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.  For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.”  John 13:14-15

Have you ever heard your words, phrases, turns of speech come out of your children’s mouths?  It might be a frightening idea that what we say in our homes might get broadcasted to the whole world.

More than that, our children see what we do and do it too.  My mom was a teacher, an enthusiastic and thematic party planner, and a crazy list-maker.  I am too.  But unfortunately, kids don’t just pick up on the good things.  They’ll pick up our bad habits and unattractive traits too.  The whole idea of “Do as I say and not as I do” is really just a joke.

So the only way to live the example I want for my children is to spend time with the Lord in his Word and in prayer every single day.  If I abide in Him and his words abide in me, then I will be prepared to live the best example I can for my children and for anyone else who might be watching.

And in it all: my marriage, my relationship and discipleship of my children, my service to others, my life, the grace of God envelops and enables me.  I stand through his power and his grace alone.  To God be the glory forever!

 

(I wrote a version of the poem “I Took His Hand and Followed.”  It is about following Christ’s example, so take a look if you’d like.)

Outdoor Hour Challenge: Welcome to Spring!

This month in our nature walks, observations, and studies, we’ve been watching the weather change.  Not that the weather was winter at the beginning of March and now the weather is gradually changing to spring by the end.  No, more like one day it rains and then the next day it is warm and sunny and then the next day it is cold and gray and then the next day it is terribly hot and then the next day it rains again.  We have been seeing some signs of spring, though, like the rose in our backyard.  (My daughter named her new doll Rose after her favorite flower.)  After last month’s adventures in the snow, these signs of spring are very welcome to us all.

The first sign of spring in our backyard- a very lovely rose.

If March Comes In Like a Lion, It Will Go Out Like a Lamb.  In the Outdoor Hour Challenge newsletter, Barb told us to observe the weather at the beginning and the end of March to see if this saying held true.    I don’t think it did.  At least not in my area.  I’m not really sure what ‘coming in like a lion’ would look like in Northern California, but we had mild -and much needed- rain for the first few days of March.  These last few days of March contain the same: some mild and much needed rain.  The kids and I decided to draw our view of the backyard from our back door in our nature journals.

First weekend of March

Winter Birds- Last year, when we lived 2 hours south of here, we put up a bird feeder in our backyard and discovered a love of bird watching none of us knew we had.  In the move, we lost pieces of the bird feeder.  I kept hoping we’d find them, but I finally just sent my hubby to the store to get a new one.  You can imagine my excitement when I finally filled it and put it up in our backyard, anxiously awaiting the arrival of new birds to get to know and enjoy.

Well, my bird feeder has remained distressingly full all month.  I’ve spotted perhaps 1 or 2 birds at it- and only briefly.  Not long enough to even see what color they were.  I think I need to do some experimenting with the placement.  Perhaps there will be a more tantalizing spot to hang the thing.

A distressingly full bird feeder

Signs of Spring- The cherry blossom trees have been blooming- they are such a lovely sight.  There have been many trees bursting into white blossoms all over as well.  My three year old thought they looked fuzzy.  When we went to a park, I tried to give everyone a chance to feel the flowers on the tree, but he had run off in the direction of the tennis court and didn’t end up getting to touch the blossoms.  He never mentioned it again, so I think he’ll be ok.

The cherry blossom tree across the street

Fuzzy flowers- and if you look closely, you can spot Z-urchin in the tennis court

My oldest wanted to make a ball out of nature things, so he set to work on that one beautiful day at  the park.  My daughter found a very large dandelion and my youngest had fun on the slide.

Ball of Nature

Dandelion

Fun on the slide!

A few weeks later, on another sunny, warm day, we took a walk by a nearby small lake.  We found plenty of mud, moss on a rock, and poppies.  Now poppies have replaced the rose as my daughter’s favorite flower.

Even the littlest gets in on the nature study when he feels the moss on the rock

Exploration

The California Poppy

The Lake on a Beautiful Day

Snack time

We decided to draw in our journals the things we saw the first day of spring.  I saw cherry blossom trees, butterflies, and poppies.  My observant older two had also noticed some flowering on the lemon tree in our backyard and had to add that to their page.

Journal entries from the first day of spring

The kids have also done some fun nature exploration in the backyard.  Well, it was clearly fun for them anyway.

Free nature play in the backyard

I don’t know.  Maybe the saying held true in a backwards fashion for us.  March came in like a lamb and (so my kids decided to help it go) out like a lion.  A very, very muddy lion.

A Tale of Two Journeys: The Return

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”  

Charles Dickens, in A Tale of Two Cities

Last week, I shared the tale of my flight to Virginia with four small children.  That was the worst of times I’ve flown with children.  It is time to move on to the best of times I’ve flown with children: my return trip.

Mind you, it was still hard.  But the difference was figuratively (and literally, as it happens) night and day.

#1- The day of the week.  When I flew out to Virginia, it was Saturday, a busy travel day.  When I flew home, it was Tuesday.  The security checkpoint line was absolutely empty.  So instead of feeling pressured and rushed to get all of my things unloaded and on the conveyor belt while trying to keep my children from running to who knows where, there was no one in line behind me.  No pressure.  I was able to take my time and had 5 TSA agents around  to guard all exit points and keep an eye on the kids.

#2 I was much better prepared.  I was more careful with what food I packed and I had a plan of action for which toys and activities I would bring out at which times. When we got to the gate, we had about 2 hours before our flight was scheduled to leave.  So, we started with a snack.  Then (since I really didn’t want to unpack their backpacks and have their stuff spread throughout the gate waiting area), we used the iPad (see #3 below) to watch a show.  Next, we took a field trip to the family restroom nearby.  Then it was time to board the airplane.

My happy toddler

#3 My sister’s iPad.  On the flight from home to the East Coast, as I evaluated my options, I kept vascillating between moving to Charlotte (so I would never have to get on an airplane with children again) and spending my life savings purchasing a handheld electronic device for each child and perhaps a few spares as well.  A few days after I had arrived in Virginia, the stresses of the day had faded a little so that I was a bit more reasonable.   But still, I did talk to my husband about the possibility of purchasing some sort of handheld electronic device for the flight home.  My sister later asked me, “Are you wanting an iPad for good, or is this just for the flight?  Because if you just want something for the flight, you can borrow mine.”

Oh, what an amazing gift that was!  Sacrificing her iPad for a few days for the sake of my sanity.  How MUCH my sister loves me!

I did end up borrowing her iPad and we downloaded a few episodes of a few shows my kids enjoy.  There were also a whole battery of kid games my sister has downloaded on her iPad for her neefs (her brilliant abbreviation of neices and nephews).  While at the airport, they watched an episode or two and then after the restroom trip there was time for the older two to each have a turn playing a game of their choice.  Then it was time to board the airplane.

The magical iPad

#4 Many, many angels God sent to help me on my way.  On the way to Virginia, God did provide several very helpful people to carry my carseat or call ahead and hold the flight.  But it was crazy how many people He sent on the way home.  I wish I could properly express to them how significant their help was to me.  Perhaps they saw it on my face.  I hope that God richly blessed them on their journeys.

It started at the end of the bridge as we were boarding the first airplane.  I had dropped off the stroller where I was supposed to (so that I might pick it up to get me to through the next airport) and had the diaper bag, the leash, the backpacks and all.  I hefted the car seat up to rest upside down on my head (which trick I discovered on the way to Virginia) and behind me I heard a few men speaking, “She’s superwoman,” and “She’s just making us look bad,” or some such nonsense like that which nonetheless, I appreciated.  Then a kind man stepped forward and asked if he could carry my carseat.  I gratefully accepted the offer.  He then gave up his seat, which was the aisle seat directly across from my children and took  the window seat I was supposed to sit in.  I’m sure everyone was grateful for his sacrifice.

Puzzles, mazes, coloring, and other fun activities

Z-urchin then took his turn on the magical iPad while the older kids pulled out their various fun activities from their backpacks.  Shortstop promptly fell asleep (Hallelujah!) and Z-urchin’s iPad turn pretty much covered the whole hour flight to our connection.  I found that this worked really well in keeping him seated.  And it worked as motivation for him to keep his seatbelt on as well, since I told him he couldn’t play the iPad unless his seatbelt was on.

A very long iPad turn

The same man from before carried the car seat to my stroller at the end of the bridge and then Angel #2 came and made my connection possible.  He had four children too, though only one was with him.  But he understood and very kindly offered to carry my carseat to the gate (his connecting gate was nearby mine, which was quite a blessing from the Lord).  Then, about halfway there, Z-urchin dashed the opposite way down a moving sidewalk.  He dropped everything and rushed after him.  Then this very kind man carried both Z-urchin and my carseat to the gate.  I really wish I could send that man and his wife a gift certificate to their favorite restaurant.

I barely made it into to the airplane before they closed the doors and once on, my children and I were such a sight that all kinds of people surrounded us to help us.  A man from first class carried my car seat to my seat, a kind and experienced mother installed it while I arranged my children and stuff.  A man gave up the seat next to his wife so that my children could all sit in a row with me.  The wife, a new grandma herself (her grandson is an extremely fortunate little boy- she’s amazing!), sat by X-man and chatted with them.  They were full of chatter about their trip and their Auntie Suzie.  “Oh! My name is also Suzie!” she exclaimed and trust between them was instantly developped.

So the older two took a few turns with the iPad while Z-urchin and I did a sticker book.  I handed out sandwiches and snacks for dinner and helped Shortstop color and play with a few toys.  Then the kind Suzie read the older two Frog and Toad while the young woman in the row behind me begged to hold Shortstop for awhile.  She colored with him, fed him snacks and chatted with him for an hour.  She told me he remined her of her adopted baby brother whom she missed. My heart overflowed with thankfulness.  I was even able to use the restroom by myself!

I tell you what, when I grow up (or you know, travel somewhere without children), I want to be just like these angels God sent to me.

#5 We flew at night.  Our first flight took off at 4 and our second flight left at 6:30.  That meant that about 2 hours into the flight, the kids got very sleepy.  Only this time it was a good kind of sleepy.  Not a cranky sleepy which is what you would expect.  The kind of sleepy that made my daughter say, “I’m tired, I think I want to go to sleep.”  And she did.  And then so did Z-urchin.  And then when I took Shortstop back, he fell asleep too.

Blissfully sleeping

This left only X-man awake.  I handed him the iPad and he played Angry Birds Star Wars for the remainder of the flight.  I hardly knew what to do with myself.  I figured it out pretty quickly though.  I took a nap and then read several chapters in my Georgette Heyer book.

What in the world?  Wow!  Such a difference from my last trip!

Finally, the flight was over.  The man who had given up the seat next to his wife for me carried my car seat out of the plane and all the way to the baggage claim.  Suzie held X-man’s hand while I pushed the stroller with the other three kids (and backpacks, blankets, diaper bag, and doll) all piled into it.

My husband met us there with a bouquet of flowers in his hand.  Everyone there cheered him on and an awesome woman from first class told him, with quite a bit of attitude infused in her voice, “That’s right.  You better have gotten her flowers.”  Another woman chimed in, “And a key to a hotel room for a night by herself!”

 

 

Teaching Among Tornadoes: Trick #8 Sticky Sticks

With Ice Skating lessons for the older children, and airplane trips across the country, I’ve needed to use these tricks to occupy preschoolers for more than just school time.

This is my eighth trick for entertaining preschoolers so that I can get some school done with the older kids.  But this trick is particularly portable, so I took it with us to the ice skating rink and then on the airplane and to the other coast of the country.

My previous tricks are these:

1. Watercolors

2. Stamping

3. New Toy (i.e. Hot Dots and Sorting Pie)

4. School Supplies (i.e. safety scissors & construction paper, dry erase board & marker)

5. Leap Frog videos

6. Pipe Cleaner Sculpture

7. Seashells

My eighth trick is this: Sticky Sticks.

I forget where I got this idea… probably on some site giving tons of great ideas for toddler busy bags.  To make them, I took some jumbo craft sticks (colored, for good measure) and adhered some velcro dots to the ends and middles.  Presto: a fun open-ended toy that really was super easy and fast to make.

Z-urchin did not need too much help figuring out what to do with these.  He’s played with them a whole lot in the last month and they are still interesting.  He makes simple shapes and more elaborate designs and sometimes just strings them together in one big long line and trails it after him.  They are easily breakable (and very attractive to my sister’s dog it turned out), but since they are so easy to make, I don’t mind.

Conclusion: Easy to make, the possibilities are endless, and it is very portable.  I do need to be careful about overuse- I don’t want this little treasure to get boring!  Perhaps since it is so easy to cart around (it takes up very little space- just a baggie of craft sticks), I’ll keep it in my diaper bag as a out of the house toy rather than using it during school hours.

A Tale of Two Journeys: The Departure

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”  

Charles Dickens, in A Tale of Two Cities

Three weeks ago, my grandfather was admitted to the hospital.  Two days later, surrounded by family and friends singing hymns and sharing memories, he slipped quietly into eternity.  My mother, the middle of his three daughters, had been caring for him and my grandmother in her home on the East Coast for the past year.

She called me in tears to share the news and my heart was ready to do whatever she needed from me.  Somehow, a mother’s tears have magical motivational properties.  At least, my mother’s tears do.  They must.  Because it turned out she and grandma wanted me to come for the services and bring my four young children across the country.  And I agreed.  What in the world?

They found a secret bench in the airport

Before really thinking it through, I scoured the internet for some reasonably priced tickets from California to Washington D.C., found a good deal, and purchased them quickly.  Only then did I get a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach and visions flashed before my eyes.  Airport Security.  Busy airports.  Bathroom breaks on tiny airplane facilities.  Young children sitting for 5 hours on an airplane.  Carrying a car seat (with which hand exactly?).  Short layovers.  Snow storms.

Two days after that, my husband took me and the kids to the airport, helped me check my bags, helped me get everyone to the bathroom and walked me right up to airport security.  He could go no further.  From now on- for the next 10 days- I would be on my own.

Thankfully, the Lord provided a couple right behind me who were about to become grandparents.  Bless them, they helped me wrangle children through security and then carried my car seat to my gate (before it had been wedged in the back seat of my double stroller -I do love my Joovy Caboose!).

I did get a lot of comments from parents taking fewer than four children through the airport: “Wow, you have your hands full!”  (Yes, quite literally) and “You are so brave!” (Yes, I heartily agree).

While at the gate, the kids watched the airplanes take off and land, ate snacks, colored, played with their toys, cried for water, tried to go down forbidden stairs and attempted to enter locked doors.  Meanwhile, I talked to the airline employees to try to arrange my seats so that I would be sitting by my children.  I wasn’t too worried though- I figured even if it didn’t work, once I got on the plane, no one would want the children sitting by anyone but me.

A great place to watch the airplanes

When it was time to board the airplane, a very kind man carried my car seat to the front of the line and then one of the flight crew carried the seat onto the plane for me.  The flight attendant worked out all the seating arrangements so that we ended up with one whole row- three seats on one side and three seats on the other- to ourselves.  I was very thankful.

X-man and Princess K spent the next 5 hours happily coloring, doing sticker books, and playing with their toys they had in their backpacks.  I spent the next 5 hours trying to keep Z-urchin from climbing over the seats and running down the aisle and unbuckling his seat belt when the light was on and trying to keep Shortstop from crying and kicking the seat in front of him.  Snacks worked for awhile.  Shortstop liked to color.  But almost nothing helped Z-urchin for long.  I’ve blocked much of those 5 hours from my memory.

Playing with Ace, the Talking Dog Pen

What I do remember is crowding Shortstop and Z-urchin into the airplane bathroom when I had to use the restroom.  It worked better than I expected.  I remember that Shortstop did not take his nap at his normal hour and then when he finally did fall asleep, Z-urchin thoughtfully woke him up so his cries filled the cabin for a short- thankfully- while.

I also remember spending all of those 5 hours worrying about making my next flight.  Due to airplane repairs and the snow storm that had hit the East Coast the few days before, my first flight was nearly an hour delayed.  My layover in Charlotte was only 1 hour long.  The next flight up to D.C. was at 7:30 in the morning.  We would arrive in Charlotte at 11 pm.  What was I going to do with tired cranky kids in the airport?  Certainly not try to go to a hotel for 4 hours. And also I worried about how on earth I was going to get off the plane with four children, four backpacks, four blankets, four coats, a doll, a diaper bag, and a car seat?

The two older are happily engaged with their toys, the younger one is wiggling more than coloring

The pilot’s voice was finally heard over the loudspeaker, “We are beginning our final descent.  Prepare for arrival.”  Immediately, Z-urchin takes off down the aisle.  He gets halfway up the airplane when I call his name.  He looks back and says, “What are you waiting for?”

My answer: “The plane to land, you crazy child.”

Once we touched down, I noticed that would have about 15 minutes to wait for our gate-checked stroller and make it across the airport to our next flight.  There was no way we were going to make it.  The flight attendants had requested that anyone not trying to make a connection remain seated to let those who were get off the plane first, so I decided to be one of the ones who waited.  Me and the four children would only slow everyone down.

So, I took the time to get everyone’s coats on, backpacks on, Shortstop’s monkey backpack leash on, their blankets wrapped around their necks or in their backpacks, and made sure Princess was holding tightly to her doll, Rose.  I got Shortstop out of his car seat, put my own backpack on, and then hoisted the car seat upside down over my head.  I felt a dusting of cracker crumbs land in my hair and trickle down my back, but I was in a hurry and didn’t even care.

With one hand holding Shortstop’s leash and the other hand holding a diaper bag, I followed my running children (whom I could not see due to the car seat hat that covered my eyes) down the aisle and out of the plane.  I was the object of many laughing cheers.  I was quite a sight for sure.  I would have laughed at me too.

When me, the four children, and all of our junk loaded up on the stroller arrived at the gate, I breathlessly asked, “Where is gate 26?”  A very kind pilot surveyed the scene in front of him (cracker crumbs in my hair, children running circles around me, a stroller loaded with carseats, backpacks, and blankets) and took pity on me.  He walked me over to the computer screen and directed me to my flight.  When he saw what time it was scheduled to leave (only 5 minutes from then), he told me to start running and he would call ahead and see what he could do.

I started running.  They held the plane for me.  When I boarded the plane, sweaty and out of breath, I was never more thankful in all of my life.  I would not have to manage any details with small children trying to escape and I would not have to try to get my children to sleep on airport benches.  Praise the Lord!

That second flight was actually much better.  For one, it was only an hour.  Two, Z-urchin was actually sleepy.  He laid down across two seats and dozed.  Shortstop was not, but he happily colored on a drawing pad.  My other two were happily occupied again.  Though my daughter was very loud with her delight at take off.  It is like a roller coaster, apparently.

Once we landed and reached the baggage claim, my brother and sister were there to greet- and help- me.  My checked bags had not made it, but I didn’t even care because we did.  That was a victory right there.

Playing in snow for the first time

Outside, in the parking lot, there was snow.  My two older children squealed with delight as they stomped in the snow, covered by jackets my sister had borrowed for their use. ( We got to play in the snow for the next few days and it was a lot of fun!)

We took two cars to get my brood to my mom’s house.  My Grandmother’s delight in seeing her adorable (if I do say so) great-grandchildren- some for the first time- did not wipe the memory of the day away, but it made it worth it.

Great-Grandma O and her great grandson watching the snow fall

Stay tuned for the next installment of my Tale of Two Journeys: The Return.