Values-Driven

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:

It’s not what they do, it’s what you do about it that counts.

We went to the St. Louis convention this past weekend and it was by far the best digs we’ve had yet for parking the travel trailer and working the convention with all 7 children in tow. My only complaint would be the small size of the booth. Under normal circumstances it would be fine but when I was crammed in there with all the children while Marc was doing his Project Management seminar…it was a l-o-n-g hour. Praise God for Curt and Morgan and their family at the Miller Pads and Paper booth across the way…they blessed us with a HUGE box of F-R-E-E stuff and the children had an absolute blast doing scratch art, coloring color-by-numbers, and making paper airplanes.

Anyway, to the point…

While the little ones napped in the trailer on Saturday afternoon, I asked Marc if he minded if the four older children sat in the booth with him so I could take advantage of the quiet and nap myself. (Jubilee wasn’t very cooperative about her sleeping arrangements in the trailer and I was up a lot for the first two nights.) He said that was fine so I dropped the big kids off after lunch and settled in for a quick nap before returning to man the booth during Marc’s afternoon session.

I was concerned about our middle daughter. At age 5, she still naps every other day and tends to be very contrary when she doesn’t get her odd-day rest periods. As it is, she can be strong-willed, so I hoped that she would be cooperative in the booth. One of the things we enjoy about the conventions is the opportunities for networking, conversation, and ministry…and I didn’t want the children to be disruptive if people came with questions or comments.

Of course, Marc had opportunity for some awesome, Spirit-led discussions. And also, inevitably, a couple of children took advantage of the opportunity to be a bit more boisterous than they otherwise might have been. We are very proactive about our child training practices and I would love it if my children were always well-mannered, demure, and obedient. Unfortunately, in spite of our best efforts, they are not. But, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…

It’s not what they do, it’s what you do about it that counts.

So on my agenda for this week (along with cleaning up the trailer, cleaning up the fall-out from our departure and re-arrival at home, and catching up on laundry) is addressing this issue of distraction and disobedience with the children. I want to remind them that we’re all serving Jesus together, and that their part in serving the Lord is sometimes just learning to be content to sit in a small booth for an hour or so, and behaving in a faithful manner while Mom or Dad is engaged in a meaningful conversation. I don’t want them to think that we want them to behave to make us look good. I want them to understand that they have a part to play in cooperating with God’s purposes–and they get to choose whether or not they will be involved in that plan. Our aim is to glorify God in all things, at all times. Sometimes we all need a reminder of that. So, we press on…

“Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.” (Philippians 1:27)