Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Breakthrough

Today, I had a such an amazing victory with my son, Josiah. I have to share it with you all. My sister told me I should blog about it, so I decided to take her advice. Besides, I want my son to see this someday and know how God's hand was working in his life even at such a tender age. 

This last month as been one of extreme testing. He's been working the system, if you know what I mean. As a parent, you think your doing good, being consistent, but then you get tired and let a couple of things go (without even realizing) and before you know it, you've got an all out war on your hands. We finally got a handle on it a couple of weeks ago. Things have been much better since, but I could tell he has been obeying simply because he doesn't want to get in trouble. I've been reading a book called, "Growing Kid's God's Way" and it is giving me a fresh perspective on parenting. I think I was actually trying too hard, doing and saying too much. Trying to tackle too many virtues and character issues at once. This month, we are working on lying. We picked a verse (Proverbs 12:22) and put in on the fridge. It will stay there all month for us to refer back to it. The idea is that it takes a month to kick a habit, and we're hoping that he will learn this virtue through and through by the end of the month. 

Anyway, back to today. I was having him do his chores and we've been working on "First-Time Obedience" a principle in Growing Kid's God's Way. This is something I thought I was doing, but upon further self-examination, I realized I was still giving him too many chances because I was hoping he'd be successful. Since I've been working on this with both my kids, things have been going smoother, although there has been more conflict. Well today, I told him to clean his room. He kept getting distracted and I caught him playing with his Legos. He lied to me and told me he was just pushing them off to the side to clean his room. I told him I'd been standing there and don't lie to me. I told him he couldn't play with Legos for the rest of the day. Of course, here comes the freak out moment. I just shut the door to his room and walked away. He was in his room saying how horrible he was and on and on. I decided to just ignore it and started praying that God would give me the words to say to him when it was time to talk about it. 

I started doing the dishes. Here comes Josiah and I'm braced for what is to come, fully ready to discipline him some more if he starts getting disrespectful. He comes up to me and says "I don't care how many codes you give me or what I have to do as punishment". I made the mistake of interrupting at that point because I thought he was getting disrespectful with me. So I told him, "Them's fightin' words, don't threaten me because you'll be in your room the rest of the day". I basically told him I wasn't going to put up with anymore attitude. He had a really confused look on his face and then very seriously repeated himself, but then added, "I'm going to take my punishment like a man."  Huh? O.K. This is where the Holy Spirit stopped me in my tracks and prompted me to start asking questions. 

I asked Josiah what he meant by that, and he said he wanted Jesus to come into his heart. I told him Jesus was already there because I had witnessed him ask Jesus into his heart. He told me that he would take whatever punishment I would give him like a man for all the bad things he had done and all the bad things he might do in the future. Oh my, can anyone say, "teachable moment?!!" I was amazed that even at his young age (7) he was able to understand that his sin had to be paid for. I was able to explain to him that he didn't have to take that punishment, that Jesus already did that for him on the cross, for his past, present and future sins. All he needs to do is repent when he knows he has sinned and try not to do those things again. Yes, there would be consequences and yes he needs to take those consequences like a man, however, he didn't have to pay for those sins himself. We hugged and cried together. He was literally crying out of happiness.

The rest of the day I saw a transformation in him that I've never seen before. He was obeying me to please God, not out of fear of punishment or even to please me. I could see the difference and it was incredible and startling all at once. Josiah was so kind the rest of the day, not only to me, but to his sister and to others when we ran errands. He was opening doors for people, having good manners, OBEYING! It was wonderful. While he was making lunch, he asked me, "Mom, I bet you're wondering where that other boy is, huh?" Doesn't that just say it all?!!! I don't know how long this will last, but God KNEW how much I needed this encouragement. I know the Holy Spirit is working in Josiah's life and it encourages me to pray for him. I'm ashamed to admit that I don't pray for my kids the way I know I should. This shows me that God honors even those little SOS prayers that we send up when we don't know what else to do. He is so good!

If you are struggling with parenting issues right now, I sure hope this encourages you. I know that parenting is like a roller coaster. It feels like I'm mostly in the valleys, but man, being on the mountain top, even for a moment is sometimes all we need to regroup, keep focused and keep going. 

God Bless,
Jackie 

26 comments:

Kim @ Homesteader's Heart said...

That is wonderful my friend. And I hope you copy and paste this, print it and put it in a safe spot for later.
I love it when they make that breakthrough don't you?
Stay strong and steady my friend.
HUGS
Kim

Stacie, A Firefighter's Wife said...

You tell my little Josiah, that his Auntie is sooooo proud of him! I'm going to put this on my blog tomorrow. I'm just so thankful for this breakthrough. God is answering our prayers for him.

Sarah said...

Jackie! This is so wonderful for you and your son! Way to go Josiah!

Also it is such a coincidence that I have just commented on Stacie's post about 'Being A Praying Parent'. My eldest daughter has a persistent issue with being truthful...she can sometimes lie to us very easily to get herself out of trouble...it causes alot of heartache for us at those times.

With what Stacie shared in her post really convicted me that I need to pray for my children more!

Congratulations to you all on this wonderful breakthrough!

God Bless

Catherine said...

Whew! I'm going to recommend this post of your blog to the parents of the kids I teach, Jackie. It was incredible!

Cheesemakin' Mamma said...

Thanks ladies! I'm so honored by your comments and encouraged even more!

His bondservant said...

Jackie,

Prayer and perserverance are paying off. It is so wonderful to see the fruit of our labors developing before us. Keep up the good work my friend. Parenting is not for cowards!

In Christ,
jackie

LizyBeth said...

What an amazingly encouraging testimony! Thank you for sharing; encouragement is always needed when we are daily "in the trenches".

Keep up the hard work, the rewards are definitely worth the effort.

Jill said...

This is a great post! Thanks for sharing. I'm sure you're one proud Momma! :-0

Thanks for the comment on my blog, I have an older post of when we recently went to Gettysburg with the girls and it has more pictures if you're son is interested. It's a fascinating place, we love it there!

Have a great evening!

Blessings,
Jill

Unknown said...

Thank you for sharing this! I have been having a good share of struggles with some of my kiddos. This was very encouraging! ♥

Amy said...

This is great. I love the breakthroughs.

We are working on lies this month. Bri's teacher is helping her too.

I find myself praying every morning to help me teach Bri and not get impatient.

Have a wonderful day.

Nezzy (Cow Patty Surprise) said...

Oh sweetie, this story just makes my heart sing! One of my granddaughters just turned seven and it's amazing the depths they comprehend. I'm also blown away by my Kid's Church more often than not.

Ya'll have the most wonderfully blessed and beautiful 'fall' day now, ya hear!!!

Wanting What I Have said...

Jackie! HOW WONDERFUL! and how encouraging! I am SO HAPPY for your family! Thank you for sharing and being an encouragement! Praising the Lord for His work in little Josiah's life!

RaD said...

That's awesome Jackie, a praise report indeed!

Elly Gilbert said...

That post really touched me. I am struggling right now with disciplining my four year old boys and your words really hit home. I am thankful to have come across your blog!

Blessings!
Elly
http://theunquietlife.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

Thank you! It was soo encouraging to hear that there are others out there that struggle with their children, but that God can help us through every situation.

Carol said...

Wonderful blog. I'll be checking back...love your "train" and the motorcycle. My husband and I each had a Suzuki..
Cant wait to see the "train" all loaded up and rolling.
Your children sound wonderful. You have been blessed.

Cheesemakin' Mamma said...

Thanks again for all your awesome encouraging comments, Ladies!

Elly,
I tried to visit your blog, but is said it had malware attached to it and wouldn't let me proceed.

Elly Gilbert said...

Jackie, I don't know what is up with the mal ware...you are the first person who has mentioned it. I'll check it from my school computer tomorrow. Thanks for the heads up, though!
Elly

Carol said...

I forgot to say "Thank You" to your husband for his service to our country. God Bless you.

Cheesemakin' Mamma said...

That is so sweet, Carol! I'll let him know. Thanks for becoming a follower!

Cheesemakin' Mamma said...

Elly,
When I tried to visit your blog it said that there was malware attached to another site (denise taylor.blogspot.com) that is linked to your website. I wonder if you deleted that link, if you'd be OK.

Good luck! Hope to visit your blog soon :)

Elly Gilbert said...

Okay, I took off that link...wonder if it works now?!
Elly

Camille said...

What a precious time with your Josiah! Oh how wonderful it is to see the Holy Spirit at work in the lives of our children.

A little story for you...

Long ago when Austin was about 5 years old we told our Uncle (godly man who is now with the LORD) that Austin had accepted the LORD as his Saviour. (We were over the moon as you can imagine). His reply? "Those are good signs..." ~ THAT threw us..."good signs"??? But he went on to explain that it is growth in the LORD we need to see...fruit, if you will. Even in a child? Yes, even in a child.

From then on we did not tell Austin that he was saved...we let him tell us. And we prayed that the LORD would seal that to his heart if it was true and reveal his need if he wasn't saved. That is how we have prayed for all our children.

Fast forward about six years. We were on a camping trip and Austin was upset and struggling with whether he was the LORD's or not. We didn't tell him that he was. We wanted the LORD to confirm that to him. He spent some time alone with his Bible and the LORD. About 20 minutes later he came out BEAMING...he was SAVED and the Word of God had been used by the Holy Spirit to confirm it to his heart. What a POWERFUL moment! The verse? John 6:37

May the LORD graciously work in the lives of your children for HIS glory! How precious that HE is doing wonderful things in your Josiah's heart! SUCH a blessing!!

Sorry to take so much space here Jackie...I felt it was important to share. Feel free to delete if it's too long.

With Love,
Camille

He & Me + 3 said...

Wow girl that is awesome. What a sweet moment for both of you.
I have to get that book...sounds wonderful.

Cheesemakin' Mamma said...

Camille,
No you're comment wasn't too long. I savored every word and I wouldn't dream of deleting it.

Thank you for share, my friend!

God Bless,
Jackie

Anonymous said...

Jackie,
I found you through Stacie & I'm so glad I did! What an encouraging article. Thank you so much for sharing your very personal experience. I have 7 children. Two are grown, married & have kids of their own. We have five still at home and every one of our kids has a strong will. In the end, if trained God's way, it is a blessing! Your Josiah will be a blessing to many. My husband & I taught "Preparation for Parenting" for many years and applied the principles to all of our babies. It is the first step in Growing Kids God's Way and we had the best babies. They were so content, happy, rested etc. & consequently so were their parents. I love the principles taught in this program. I'm so glad to hear that other people are still using it. Blessings to you!
Jana

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