They really DO listen!

So, it's Sunday afternoon and we're sitting on the backyard patio with Scott's parents. It's going to rain...you can smell it in the air, the wind had gotten stronger and the temps significantly dropped. The clouds were darkening in the west and the threat of a storm was evident. Low rolls of thunder could be heard in the distance. It was warm...actually very humid and warm...so Parker had been playing in the sprinkler and Faith was in the sandbox. When Faith heard the thunder she came to all of us adults and said, "I don't like storms...the thunder makes me scared." Grandpa Bill told her there is no reason to be afraid of thunder. Then she said in the sweetest, softest little voice, while touching her heart with her tiny little hand, "I don't need to be scared because and God and Jesus are always with me?" I shot my arms up in the air with clenched victory fists and said, "She's been listening!" Oh...praise, God...our little four year old IS hearing what we tell her! All those times I feel like our words are falling on deaf ears, she's been taking it in and storing it all up. How very exciting!

Then, later in the evening we were sitting on our next door neighbors new deck visiting while their two boys and Parker and Faith were playing in their backyard. Across the street was a teenage party...one that we preferred our little ones did not pay any attention to. There was a bonfire in the street, skateboard rails running horizontally across the street, cars needing to slow significantly and make their way through the narrow lane that was left for them to drive through and fireworks were being shot off. Scott had run home to get sweatshirts for the kids and Terry and Marie, our neighbors had run inside their house for some snacks and to help their littlest one, Trent, with something (their Trent is four...a month older than Faith and their Derek is just finishing up first grade). Anyway...just setting the scene for the conversation I was about to overhear. I was alone on the deck while the rest of the adults were tending to kids when I overheard this conversation between Derek and Parker, who were peeking around the corner and saw the street party that was taking place. The conversation went like this:

Derek: "Look at that! Why are they having a fire in the middle of the street?"
Parker: "What?!"
Derek: "Look! They're having a fire in the middle of the street! Why are they doing that?"
Parker: "I don't know. Maybe they're drunk or they're on drugs and pretty soon they'll think they can fly and they'll jump off a building and die!"

Oh...my...gosh! Apparently, my little nine-year old has been listening, too! All that talk at home and in school and church and Cub Scouts was paying off, too! He was understanding...certainly taking it to the absolute farthest extreme possible (which hopefully has put enough of a scare in him to keep him on the straight and narrow)...but still...he IS hearing what is being said about alcohol and drugs!

Some days it feels like I'm talking to a brick wall when I talk to the kids about stuff like this. I've even found myself asking them this question: "Parker...Faith...when mom talks, do words actually come out of my mouth or is it just my imagination?" They laugh at me and say that yes, the words really do come out and yes, they are paying attention. Hmmmm...I guess they really are and I shouldn't doubt that every once in a while the words don't just float off aimlessly into thin air. Instead, they float into my kids head and apparently stick! Thank you God, for making that happen!

Peace.
Jeanine