We have been at our new post for almost 1 month now. All the tears of moving away from a place we loved have dried and we have REALLY been able to make this new place our home. We decided to hit the ground running as soon as we got here so that everyone would have less time to sit around and dwell on what was left behind.
In the process of leaving our kids were VERY emotional. They had to leave some people behind that meant a lot to them and they truly loved our home. It was hard. They were also very certain that the new post was not going to ever be home. I told them a story that I once heard at a PWOC. This lady spoke about moving to Germany last minute and how her kids were so devastated and so they decided to have them pray specifically for something they each wanted upon arrival to Germany. They were VERY specific prayers and they were all answered!! Her message was that God cared about the small things in our lives! So, I had them start praying for very specific things. E prayed hard that a friend from 2 post ago would miraculously have moved to this new post and be living in the same apartment building as us. She took specific to the EXTREME. We convinced her to tack on to the end "or give me a new friend that will be an even better friend".
I am so happy to say that a week ago she exclaimed, "God DID answer my prayer - and I do have a better friend now!" Even better than that God gave all 3 of them several great friends! I prayed for other homeschooling moms I could relate to since that was the one thing I lacked at our last post and that has also been answered several times over! We are so overwhelmed with thankfulness!
Moving on to what's behind this post. Most of those prayers were answered through a local homeschooling group we joined on Yahoo. We meet at a park on Fridays and the kids get a few hours of GREAT playtime. This particular Friday the park was a little crowded. Soon after we arrived I saw my son break down in tears and run to his sister. I went to investigate. He explained, through heaving sobs, that he asked a boy if he wanted to play with him and be in his club and the boy in return called him a "big, fat, dummy". (Let me intervene right here and say that in NO way, shape, or form do my kids hear that kind of talk at home, they do not understand it so to B that boy was literally saying; you are big, you are fat, you are a dummy.) After he explained, E instantly was like, "show me where he is and I will go tell him something." In my mind I was all like, "show me where his mother is and I will go tell her something!". Matter of fact, I didn't even ask him to point the kid out for fear I might "accidentally" trip him later. Yet, trying to be a good mom I reminded them both that they needed to do what they knew was right and forgive. He dried his tears and thankfully ran to find another friend.
We talked about it again tonight so that I could make sure no scarring existed. I told him I was proud that he got back in there and did not let that keep him from trying to make other friends. Then he broke my heart ...
He told me that later he went, with the help of his new friend, and told the boy that what he said to him had really hurt his feelings. The boy responded with, "well I don't have feelings". B just walked away. But he said that telling the boy how it made him feel made him feel so much better! Sometimes I forget how strong our kids can be! I would have been terrified to tell him to do that for fear the boy may say something worse - but B is right - telling someone how they make you feel can make a situation so much better no matter if they respond in kind.
So - looking back - maybe if I had found the mom and told her what I thought about her parenting skills or lack there of I would feel better now instead of still being angry ...
Eventually I will take my own advice and just forgive.
More importantly - why is he not this small still?!
No comments:
Post a Comment