a breath of heaven...

so after writing my last blog i spent some time praying and even as i finished writing my blog i realized that even though my little sprite has her fair share of moments, my own heart was in need of a desperate attitude check.
all of this to not say that harper's behavior is a gross exaggeration of my own issues and not at all her own responsibility, but rather to say that i too am filled with sin and my reactions to her moments are not always...let's say...what Jesus would do.
the biggest area of revelation is in the area of personality. how many of my conflicts with harper are rooted in my own desire for control? how many are issues rooted in areas of disrespect or disobedience?
i woke up friday morning and knew that i must embrace a different attitude. my friend and i (and all 6 of our kids...that's right...all SIX CHILDREN) ventured out to ikea. she had never been and we decided that it might be fun. harper and her son had the day off of school and calvary and her middle son are the same age...that left oliver jack and her 4 month old...and we were quite the spectacle. my expanding waistline in addition to all of this warranted and delivered many second glances.
we optimistically headed out in my vehicle armed with movies, dried apples, fruit snacks, and trophies. yep. i awarded the children trophies and medals based on behavior. it may seem trivial or unnecessary but they earned it and boy were they proud of themselves. and it was nice for them to have something concrete representing the pride we had for them.
anyway, we viewed the possibilities both optimistically and realistically and i must say that the child i feared the most was my precious oldest. i knew that if i had any problems at all they would most likely start with her. afterall, she is a born leader.
however, this day harper was like a breath of heaven. a wonderful reminder of all of the beautiful things about her and the shocking evidence that God indeed needed to reminded me (and had) that the problems i was having with harper were not one sided.
that day she won the "Best Listener in Ikea" trophy.
and i gained a nice big dose of humility.