Fruits of the Spirit

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Against such things there is no law.  Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.  Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.  Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Galatians 5:22

This parenting thing is tough. I want my kids to be ALL of those things listed above. Difficult since they live with me and I'm not all of those things. Not even close. I'm workin' on it.

We made a chart.  A Fruits of the Spirit chart.  I've had this idea for awhile now and thought it would be a great thing to try out over summer break.

We need this chart, I won't mention any names but a certain six year old was in time out three times during the making of the chart. His wasn't turning out quite like he had envisioned. He got upset. A little self-control, perhaps a little patience would've been good at that precise moment...like I said, we need it.

We listed each item we are working on and assigned a piece of fruit to it..  Love is an apple, joy is a banana, etc...  At the end of the day, probably before bed, we will go through each one and see if we've been successful with each item. If they have then they get to draw that piece of fruit on their tree. 

At the end of the week we will do something special like miniature golf, a visit to Young's Jersey Dairy, Chuck E. Cheese or bowling...anything fun. If they work hard all summer we've promised Kings Island. They. Are. Motivated!

Wish me luck. I have high hopes that this will be what made the difference...next they will be solving world hunger or curing Cancer. A mama can dream, right?

XOXO,
Angie