(Self-Control) Momma Said There'd Be Days Like This.. But the Fruit of the Spirit is Self-Control

Mr. Rational is baptized in the Holy Spirit

Discipline weighs ounces, regret weighs tons.

~ Author Unknown

We had a very busy fun day in the land of Snohomish county. We went on a neighborhood hike to each find a special treasure to place into the glass box for the week. It was actually a polyglass cube with a lid. Each week we would find something special to us and display it in this box for the whole week. On these adventures I had a rule. You could not pass up a puddle. If there was a puddle around, we were required to jump in it. Remember we were in the Seattle area, there were generally always puddles around in the mornings.

After a wonderful treasure hunt we headed to McCollum park to play on the equipment for an hour or so, have lunch that I pre-packed into a cute picnic box and then pick wild blackberries for tonight’s dessert. We dropped Ms. Bunny off at her private school and  I must say by the time we arrived back at the house, we were all ready for a good nap.

 

The afternoon was as busy after naptime with crafts and bible games for Mr. Rational and Ms. Chatty. Then we were off to school pickup for Ms. Bunny. She was now in K-4 half day afternoons. Her teacher was awesome. She had a name that was very hard to pronounce for my daughter.  Ms. Bunny was mostly deaf, and pronounced it incorrectly most times. That wouldn’t have mattered to most, but her name was Teacher Schmidt. ‘Nuff said there.

Once home we all pitched in to get dinner started because Himself would be coming home soon! Himself traveled on the Metro bus system and it was very punctual. I  knew that he would have about 60-70 minutes of downtime on his commute. That was enough time for him to decompress after his hectic workday and be ready for our sweet cherubs to attack him! They would wait at the front picture window surveying the street for a glimpse of ‘Daddy!’

After dinner and the kids baths that night it was prayer time. Mr. Rational kept adding things and people to be able to stay up longer. I let it go a little while but finally cut him off when he started praying for his stuffed dog. He just was not ready to be in bed. He made that clear to me. I wanted adult time with Himself. I wanted to talk to someone over the age of 4 who did not use the word potty.

Mr. Rational kept making noise once in bed. I went to his room 3 times to quiet him down. He would shoot me the cutest looks with those ice blue eyes of his. He was hard to discipline due to those eyes! But a mommy must stay consistent.  Finally I told him that if I heard one more peep out of him I would come in and give him 2 earned swats.

Himself and I had just settled in on the couch with our popcorn, ready to watch some TV when I heard Mr. Rational babbling loudly again. I gave Himself the ‘Mommy look’, pursed my lips and jumped to my feet and headed down the hall quite annoyed with my son. 

As I approached his room, it had to be a giant angel holding me back. I stopped in my tracks right before his bedroom. That still small voice said LISTEN!  So I did. I heard Mr. Rational giggling and babbling on and on and on.  After a few minutes I felt a release from the invisible death grip on my arm and I gently walked into his bedroom. Here was the conversation verbatim:

Me: Son, what are you doing?

Mr. Rational: Mommy, listen to this! (babbling here for about a minute)

Me: What is that?

Mr. Rational: It is the language of the angels and Jesus loves it.

Me: How did this start?

Mr. Rational: I asked for it! I told the angel that Rachel talked that yaba-daba language like you and daddy and I wanted it too.

Me: I am so proud of you. Let’s pray together and then off to dreamland bubba.

I could have made a huge mistake by barging in and wounding my child’s spirit. Here he wanted the Baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidence in speaking with tongues, and he got it because he asked for it. He had already accepted Jesus earlier.

I can best sum this up with the wise words from the Music Machine:

Self-control is just controlling myself
It's listening to my heart
And doing what is smart
Self-control is the very best way to go
So I think that I'll control myself


Written and sung by Mike Milligan
©Copyright 1977 Sparrow Song (a div. of EMI Christian Music Publishing)|(Admin. by BMG Music Publishing) Careers-BMG Music Publishing, Inc. (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)|(Admin. by BMG Music Publishing) Candle Company Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)|(Admin. by BMG Music Publishing)

2 Peter 1:5-7 New Century Version (NCV)

⁵ Because you have these blessings, do your best to add these things to your lives: to your faith, add goodness; and to your goodness, add knowledge; ⁶ and to your knowledge, add self-control; and to your self-control, add patience; and to your patience, add service for God; ⁷ and to your service for God, add kindness for your brothers and sisters in Christ; and to this kindness, add love.

Prayer

Lord, help me. I want to be a good reflection of you. When I act out, I surely do not emulate you in anyway. Holy Spirit, help me to keep myself in check. Lead me in the right way. Show me in the Word what to do to keep myself on track. Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable to you Lord. I don’t want to follow another, only you. Help me in raising my children, to discipline in love and kind correction, not wounding their spirits in anyway. I want them to be like you too. 

Copyright © 2015 Christine Osberghaus