Before I get into this subject, I must give a little back-story that pertains to today’s lessons in “Having Good Morals” with my daughter.
We’ve been living here for 7 years now, and have slowly become good friends with the neighbors around us. During those 7 years I’ve talked to these particular neighbors who, about 5 years ago, were planning on adopting. They couldn’t have children but really wanted one. It took years for the approval process and all the paper work that is involved with adoption (I believe they were adopting out of the country). And as soon as they got approved, they got pregnant.
Not an unusual story by any means, I’m sure. Instead of jumping into the challenge of rearing two children as first time parents all at once, they chose to just have their blessing (I honestly don’t blame them, being a first time parent is hard enough!)
They had a beautiful little girl who is now 1 1/2 years old. But she is suffering kidney failure, and has been in and out of the hospital since she was a little under one years old. The month of May I believe has been the worst yet. The entire month this little girl has been in the hospital fighting for her life and it breaks my heart.
I try and put my feet in this families shoes and it crushes me. I could never, ever imagine living every day having to pray my baby’s life isn’t in jeopardy. See, I can’t even think about it that deep anymore or the computer screen will get all fuzzy.
So today my big girl, Averie, who is about to turn 4, and I are cooking a dinner and dessert for the family. I’m hoping to use this as a teaching tool for learning how to not just reach out to the community, but to be a good person with good values and morals. While she certainly doesn’t grasp exactly what is wrong with her “big baby” friend across the street, she knows she is sick (and it melts my heart when she prays aloud for her at church). And my hopes here are to reinforce “Acts of kindness”.
What have you done, or are some ideas you have, to teach your children good values and morals?
For more information about our friends, please visit her Caring Bridge site at: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/fee/mystory
June 11, 2009 at 4:21 pm |
I think your example is a wonderful one! It’s the doing that is so important, the showing by our very own actions. That’s how they learn best.
June 11, 2009 at 5:27 pm |
This is a great post! So sweet of you and your daughter to cook this family a meal! I’ll keep their daughter in my thoughts as I think about ways to get my own children involved in this kind of caring gesture.
June 19, 2009 at 3:39 pm |
Hello, All!
I’d like to share information on an awesome curriculum for youth ages 7-19 that I think can be of some help. I’ve known of it for just over 10 years or so – and it seems that the type of information and bolstering that it provides to youth is needed now more than ever. It is called BOSS The Movement. The acronym, BOSS, stands for Building on Spiritual Substance. This curriculum can be conducted in churches, schools and Christian organizations and focuses on teaching kids their “birthrights” from the inside out.
When young people move through life with a confidence that comes from within, then it helps them to navigate through and beyond some of the destructive trends and patterns that their peers may be involved in. For anyone interested in learning more, you can visit http://www.bossthemovement.com. I hope this is helpful to someone who may be reading. Your blogs and articles are awesome, by the way! Thank you for this service.
Blessings,
Ms. Tami Outterbridge