teachable moments

I wonder how many teachable moments I've missed in my children's lifetime?  Too many to want to recall right now I suppose.  But starting from now, I want to look for those moments.  It's not Sunday School/church once or twice a week that they'll remember, but those spur of the moment lessons that happen in daily life.

For example I remember the promise from God through the rainbow from my Mama telling me about it one day after it rained and we saw a rainbow in the sky.  I don't remember learning about it from Sunday School first (although I did hear the story many times after that).  But I remember Mama telling me about it first.  I was able to share that with two of my daughters one day when they went with my husband and I on some errands.  We, too, saw a rainbow and I asked them if they knew the significance and the story behind it.  They did. :)

I had another teachable moment today.  My 5 year old son was told to help his older sister clean off the table.  He was given the specific job of bringing the condiments back to the kitchen.  He turned and looked at his sister and asked what she was going to do.  I immediately thought of that passage in John where Peter asked Jesus what John was going to do, after Jesus commanded Peter to feed His sheep.  I explained to him that we don't need to be looking at what others are supposed to do; but we are to focus on our job.  We should do what we are supposed to do without worrying about others and their work.  I told him the story too, in a short basic way that hopefully his 5 year old mind comprehended.  He didn't need a sermon with verse references and an alliterated outline; he just needed a simple story and a way to connect it with what he had done.  Here's hoping it will stick. :)

Until next time...

JenT