Greenville Pics, etc.

Well, I came to post my baby video, but all of a sudden the little video thingamabob is gone, so I'm going to have to figure out what to do now.  I will post some pictures of our weekend, though.   I've got more on my mind however than just baby pics. We're doing a small group at church on parenting using the video series by Chip Ingram, "How to be an Effective Parent in a Defective World."  It's a great study, and Chip Ingram brings up so many great points (if you are not familiar with him you can find him at Living on The Edge.)  Two things in particular have really struck me and I'd like to share them with you.  Most of the series, particularly the first session, talks about modeling for our children.  We all pretty much know that our kids are going to do what we do and not what we say.  But Chip puts it in different terms - could we instruct our kids to do everything exactly the way we do?  Would we be comfortable telling them to handle every single situation EXACTLY the way we do?  Because that's exactly what our children are going to do.

Wow. That's rough. Hard core. Do I want Liam to talk to his dad like I do? Do I want Liam to handle stress the way I do? Get lazy like I do? Even more profound - do I want Liam to be faithful in prayer like me? To study God's word the way I do? To love God the way I do?

Because he will. Ouch.  If I want my son to grow up to be a godly man of integrity (which I do),  I sure had better model that for him (and Brian had better too) because no matter what we say to Liam, the lessons that he will learn most will be the ones we teach with our actions.  Talk about motivation!!!

The other point that resonated with me from our recent lessons was this:  One of the worst things you can possibly do to your child is to do for him what he is capable of doing himself. Basically Chip says that in doing so you are crippling your child.  I loved this, because it rings so true.  I know adults who cannot do basic tasks for themselves because a parent always did it for them.  I remember so clearly being embarrassed in middle school because my friends knew how to do some things for themselves that I did not (like, at the time, how to iron a shirt). I sometimes think moms are especially bad about this with their sons, and then they send overly dependent sons off to depend on their wives (this is not at all a reference to my husband, let me be clear).  I do not want to be that kind of mother to my son.  Of course, at 9 months old there are not really any age-appropriate responsibilities to give him yet, hahaha!!! 

I'll probably have further commentary about this parenting study as the weeks go along - and I would encourage you all to give Chip a listen (not just the parenting stuff, but any of his studies).  Now...let's have just a few pics from the weekend, shall we?

Check out the pumpkin shoes....

Falls Park in Greenville, SC:

(Alli, the onesie fits perfectly, see?)