Stepping Heavenward

"Why the toothbrush? "

This is one of those "fancy & fun" light up toothbrushes. The toothbrush blinks green, yellow, and red for one minute. I still brush my youngest son's teeth every night, he "practices" brushing (his teeth) in the morning. Usually this routine takes place while I am trying to accomplish many other evening "chores". I tend to be very distracted and quite often present in body, but absent in mind. Last night as I squirted paste onto Cedric's toothbrush I glanced down at his face, so sweet, trusting, loving and innocent. His eyes lit up when he realized I was looking down at him.

Cedric playing the "tooth fairy".

God spoke to my heart at that very moment: "Praise him for one whole minute while you brush his teeth." I took the next minute looking into my little boys eyes and talking about how well he was doing with math in school, how pleased mommy was with his good attitude in sharing today, how he made so many people smile with his silly faces, how much Jesus loved him, and much more. When the flashing toothbrush light blinked red, you could see his heart was full and his love tank filled!

These are the little "minutes" that we have available throughout each day. Look for opportunities to praise your child today. As a stay at home/homeschooling mom, I spend a lot of time correcting my children throughout each day. There are many days I know most of what I communicated to my children was correction, correction, correction. Purpose to grab hold of these fleeting, flashing toothbrush moments and let your child know how very much God loves them and how blessed you are to be their mommy. I would love to hear how you make time to praise your child. 

Stepping heavenward a little each day,

Angela