"The process of shaping the child shapes also the mother herself." ~Elizabeth Elliot

I was reminded today about how true this is. But first, some background....

Matt and I have been attending a parenting series at our church recently. They have been showing DVDs based on the book Shepherding a Child's Heart by Ted Tripp. Although we have read the book before, we are still learning SO much! The emphasis is put on the need to deal with what's going on in your child's heart rather then just trying to correct their outward behaviour. Too often we try to manipulate our kids to get them to do what we want and to act how we want without caring about whether their actions are truly coming from their heart. In essence, we are creating little hypocrites by attempting to 'clean' the outside without first considering what is happening inside!

Although we haven't gotten through the whole series yet, we are trying already to implement some of what we are learning. The last video we saw emphasized the need for communication and talking with them about what is going on, why they are acting the way they are, guiding them through it and pointing them to the God who transforms hearts. We have been teaching Piper lately about having the right attitudes about things. Often she gets angry or sad about different situations and we have discussed with her about how such attitudes and actions are not loving towards God or those around her. We are teaching her to pray about how she is feeling and ask God to help her and to change her heart, since only He can. I must say it is pretty adorable to see her do this and then go on with what she was doing before with a better attitude. But it is encouraging too to see this habit being formed in her life already. Truthfully, I'm learning to apply this in my own life as well!

So this brings me back to the quote about how shaping the child shapes the parent as well. Today Piper needed my help in the bathroom. While I was in there with her, she noticed her bath toys sitting in the closet and asked for the rubber ducky. I said no, that he was only for bath time and that (I thought) was the end of it. I went back to the kitchen to continue making some cookie dough. From the kitchen, I could see Pipe sitting on her bed looking forlorn. I wasn't really sure why (I'd completely forgot about the ducky incident) but I continued to keep an eye on her to see what was happening. Soon I heard her talking, "God, I sad. Please help me. Amen." I stopped what I was doing and went in. I asked her what she was talking to God about. She explained that she was sad because she couldn't have the rubber duck so she told God! Needless to say my heart was filled with joy to see that my little girl was truly learning that God is the one to go to when there is something going on in your heart. But it was also so humbling for me. How often to I go through my day annoyed, anxious, angry or just plain sad and not take it to God? What my girl is learning is something I need to remember and cultivate in my own life - "Cast your cares on Him for He cares for you."