Dad knows the kids look forward to jumping in the leaves. The kids even instigated some of their own piles last week. But while Dad used his day off to blow the leaves, he was sure to create and leave one huge pile for when Vanessa and Zane got home from school, before taking it the rest of the way to the curb so Hilliard could come and suck them all up.
Guess how many kids are buried here. . . .
All three kids are under the leaves here, even Hendrix likes to be buried, which for a toddler shows just how much he trusts his family. This gets me to thinking about acceptance and building trust and how these things in your core family is so very important to avoid damage to self image. When disciplined, the kids typically endure a lecture on trust and how we lose and build trust from others. And beyond that, I also have very intentional discussions with V and Z about the kinds of things that can define us, the things we shouldn't let define us, and why the world feels the need to define things based on a worldly agenda, which sometimes leaves us feeling misunderstood or mischaracterized.
It's confusing because we work so hard to develop integrity and trust when aspects of the world destroy the value of trust and integrity. But we rest in our conversations on how really the only acceptance that is ultimately important is from God and doing what is right in His eyes. We can for sure always trust Him. This all relates to seeking approval from people and things that will inevitably fail us. But God is consistent and constant which encourages me to try my best and will hopefully always encourage my children to do their best too.
It is tempting to allow others to control our direction, hold us back or prevent us from doing what we feel God is leading us to do. Maybe it's a stretch, but I love that Vanessa and Zane didn't allow Dad's schedule to prevent them from seizing the moment last week. They didn't wait on someone else to pave the way, but they took initiative to seek and pursue their own joy and owning it. The consequence was joy.
