Peace Offering

So right now we are just in one of those tough phases when it comes to child rearing.  We are having moments and hours where obedience is just not happening.  I try so hard to make sure all the odds are stacked in my favor.  Have I paid enough attention?  Have I loved completely?  Am I tired?  Are they tired?  However, with all my ducks in a row, there are just days when my kids are not going to obey because they are human, just like there are days I am not resist the Holy Spirit for no good reason at all.
Here is what happened yesterday.  JT, Elizabeth, and I were all coloring when all of sudden Elizabeth fell and fell hard.  So she was legitimately really upset.  She is crying hard and I am trying to comfort her in another room when I remember that I left JT in the kitchen with crayons.  (This recently becmae an issue when a big J was written on wall.) So I head back into the kitchen to see JT almost ready to color on our hutch.  I instantly grab the crayon and say "Give me the crayon." He totally resists, a battle unfolds, and Elizabeth is still crying in my arms.  My temperature rises and so does my voice.  At one point I hear myself talking and I think to myself, "What is going on here?  This is not loving at all." I had this thought that I should just hug JT.  He was upset at Elizabeth being upset and unable to handle the noise and sadness and was acting out.  However instead of listening to that voice, I kept at it.  I was going to win, however in the end, no one won and we were all sad. 

I struggle with how to teach obedience, discipline,  grace and love.  I really do. 

 So during rest time I prayed for wisdom in parenting.  After rest time I consciously decided that JT and I were going to do something together.  We made a bird house.  (I took pictures of it, but bless my USB port, it says it isn't working. ARG.) It was somewhat of a peace offering.  Not that I was trying to say that attempting to write on our hutch is okay, but just saying that he and I were going to start our day over and together we were going to bring peace back into our home.  And it worked. 

Last night I watched a video of Lysa TerKeurst speaking at Elevation Church.  And of course it was just what I needed to hear. At one point she says, "If I react out of my feelings, then my flesh becomes evident.  If I react out of the Spirit, then the Spirit becomes evident."  Yesterday when there was so much emotion flowing in a teeny tiny space in our house and the thought came to me to hug JT, that was the Spirit. 

May I become better at hearing, listening, and doing.