Well, I’m cutting it close for my May goal of 20 posts. I have to make sure to not miss a day for the rest of the month in order to achieve this goal.
The good news is, I really feel I can do even better next month…
This weekend was really fun: we went camping up Mapleton Canyon with the Folkmans and Bensons. We had a great time cooking tin-foil dinners on Friday night and just talking around the camp fire until past 1:00 a.m. Today we woke up EARLY due to the sun-light and got things cleaned up, had breakfast, and then moved on out. The guys and kids went fishing at Spanish Fork Reservoir and the ladies went home, cleaned up, and then met us for a picnic lunch.
Overall it was a really great time!
I struggled with Caleb today. When he gets tired (which he was for the majority of this trip) he becomes so zippy, obstinate, and wild. He also gets really whinny when things don’t go his way and will start doing things he KNOWS he shouldn’t. Initially when we got home, I was pretty upset with him and raised my voice some.
Eventually I calmed down and took him downstairs by ourselves to just talk things out. I really tried to pray for help to know how to best handle the situation we were in.
Things that came to mind as we talked:
- His actions are very similar to mine when I’m really tired – I do things I KNOW I shouldn’t if I haven’t got the proper rest
- He said that Satan made him do things. I told him we CHOOSE to let Satan influence us but we have more power than Satan because God and His Son are on our team. I told him prayer really does work as we ask God for help to fight off temptation.
- I found talking to him calmly had a night and day difference on how the conversation went.
- I told him how much I loved him and how much we didn’t want to be “mean” or have to discipline him like we do sometimes.
- I told him he is such a smart boy, a leader, and that everyone likes him. I told him that Heavenly Father is really disappointed when he acts this way because he knows Caleb can and is so much better (I’m sure Heavenly Father feels that about ALL of His children…)
- Eventually we took a rest and that seemed to really help.
Overall I felt it was a great experience, a way to show God that I was willing to stop and submit my will to Him in this situation. I felt directed and hope that I will REMEMBER this experience the next time. I know writing it all down will help so much.
This is all for now – I’m dead tired.
Nate
Wow, I’m so glad I wrote this experience down, as I wouldn’t have remember all the details. It’s interesting, TODAY (6.28.10), Caleb talked about some of these things we discussed.
We went fishing up at the Spanish Fork reservoir and somehow it came up that Jesus is the most powerful person and has much more power than Satan ever will. This was Caleb talking. I guess it’s proof that you never know how much the little guy will remember and implement quite a while after the fact.
We had a great time fishing – Caleb, Madi, Chloe and I – while Mom was at aerobics. Caleb caught his first little fish at the reservoir (a little trout that we let go).
I feel I can learn a lot about humility as I work hard to be a better parent and father. Becky and I had a good talk about what our children “should know better” versus what WE “should know better”.
Both Becky and I get bothered by Caleb most right now because we feel “he should know better”. But the bottom line is, he’s 5 years old and WE “should know better” to not lose our tempers over silly kid mistakes.
Recognizing this is the first step; but REMEMBERING the concept is easy to forget in the heat of the moment – that time when being tired, frustrated, and on edge causes me to get over-irritated.
One other thing I remember Caleb saying today is, “It’s so fun to be with you Dad when you don’t yell at us…” It doesn’t get anymore clear than that.
I love my children and wife and feel so blessed to have them in my life.
Again, it’s nice to be able to go back and read this as a good reminder on feelings I had back then and even today.
I love Caleb and Madi and Chloe. I know I’m not perfect with them but I know that through humility I can raise them in truth.
Tonight was Caleb’s first soccer game. Overall we did really well as a kindergarden “swarm of bee’s” soccer team. We won 1-0 – little Max scored the only goal.
Caleb did pretty good, although by the end he started just pushing and not really playing the game. But I worked hard to be positive with all the boys and really talk them up. It felt good.