Peace

A friend came over the other day and was amazed at how quiet and happy you girls are and how peaceful our home is. Punkin was "reading" a book, Apple was asleep and Blueberry was sitting and smiling happily in her chair. Just to be clear, this isn't always the case. However, it usually is. It's not by chance, either. There are several contributing factors. In Zechariah 8:16-17, it says, "This is what you shall do.... give judgement in your gates for truth, justice and peace." I love these verses in their entirety. I do my best to institute this one in our home. Our peace is directly related to following God. In order to have a peaceful home, we don't watch much television. The drama on every show, used to create excitement, forces an excitement level in the home that I don't want. I play music almost constantly, but I'm very careful about what it is. I play classical, jazz, kid's songs, Spanish kid's songs, audiobooks read to music, worship music and sermons. I also do my best to not get excited when things go wrong. For example, if you break something, Punkin, like you JUST did, I tell you to stand still and I pick you up and put you elsewhere. Then, I clean it up. After that, I ask you what happened. If it was an accident (like it always is), I tell you what not to do next time. If it was done purposefully (which has never happened thus far), I'd tell you that we don't do tat and you'd stand in the corner for a few minutes. But I do my best to never raise my voice. The only loudness is Bob barking or kids playing. If it gets too loud, I'll send you outside to play. I think that peace in our home, though it may sound boring, is incredibly comforting to you. You still get excited, but you control yourself more and unleash when it's more appropriate, like outside. The peace helps you to learn more, too. You are able to cure your boredom yourself with exploration (like how you're putting dogfood in the dog's water right now....) and you're able to concentrate on puzzles or whatever you're doing a lot easier than in a loud or over-stimulating place. I hope you all grow up to be peaceful girls!