Soft Hearts

Where to begin??? The deal is we are working with the kids to have a LOVE for their neighbor, who ever it may be. Whether it is our direct geographical neighbor, an unknown person at the grocery store, a brother or sister, parents, grandparents, teachers and friends at school, you get the picture...we are ALL neighbors in Gods eyes. This is really a bigger issue than it seems. As toddlers and little ones we are always telling the kiddos to share, be kind, and love their neighbor in relatively supervised settings. Once they enter that "kid" stage and you start sending them out into the throws of "life lessons" (ie:school and sports) these simple little principles seem to form peculiar not so simple identities. Issues of fairness, obedience, attitude, and pride trickle in all at the same time. So hmmm...what to do?...hmmm..Pray, praying first is always good...and hmmm...hold them accountable...yup that's good too...seek forgiveness if that is necessary, truly important...BUT...don't forget about THEIR hearts. Whatever the situation may be, we need to sit, hug, snuggle, talk and pray with our kids and work out their emotions. Let them know it is ok to talk to us and let us know how they are feeling, starting at young ages. If we close the door and don't allow for talks about issues at school, or in the baseball dugout (or where ever your kids lives exist) their questions and unresolved sin could turn to unresolved bitterness that will crop up into ugliness later.