And Desserts!
Misha asked us several times what this holiday was all about, so it gave us some great opportunities to teach him about being thankful.
Hannah teaching Misha Yahtzee
During his first days with us, we began realizing that he was not always thankful for the things he received. This confused us because we have always expected that someone who has so little would be grateful for anything they received. Instead, of gratitude we faced a demanding and complaining spirit.
One of the areas that his ungratefulness was mostly displayed was during mealtime. He would say, "foo, me no like"and push away his plate. Maybe some of you out there are also finicky eaters and sympathize with him, but as the mother of a large family I cannot share your sympathy. There are too many jobs in our household to create another. Welcome to boot-camp Misha!!!
Mealtime has become the classroom where Misha is beginning to learn gratefulness!
The Lord has been using Misha's ungratefulness and the heartache it has caused me, to reveal how much my Savior is hurt by my daily demands and ingratitude. As I constantly sacrifice for Misha and work to meet all of his needs, I have become frustrated when he didn't appear to understand the fullness of what all I do for him. One day, when I was in "one of my moods", I began to get a small glimpse of how Jesus must feel when I continually neglect to appreciate all that He has done, and continues to do, for me.
When God adopted me as His child; He took an undeserving sinner and clothed me with a garment of Righteousness. During the 25 years that I have been His child, my needs have always been sufficiently met. Yet, there have been so many times when I have grumbled, complained or questioned His judgement over the circumstances in my life.
Jeanna holding her cousin Mercy
We can all deceive ourselves into seeing only selective things about ourselves. As I have looked into the mirror that God has placed in front of me (Misha), I have seen my true reflection. It is not very pretty!!! I now desire to strive for a thankful, joyous spirit. By the grace of God, and with His help, I will be a better example for "the mirror" He has placed in front of me.
4 comments:
Teaching Thankfulness ... this is also something that we never expected to have to teach our children from Ghana. You may want to read my blog posts from April, entitled "Appreciation vs. Entitlement". Definitely an area that surprised us. If the children came from a life of extreme poverty, wouldn't they appreciate all that we could provide for them in America. No ... they wanted even more than we gave them. When you read the blog posts, also read the comments that others wrote. Very insightful!
Looks like you have trained your daughters well, in the kitchen. I can't wait for the day when my big girls take over the holiday duties. :)
Blessings,
Laurel :)
While I totally agree with your conclusions, and that of the other commentator, one thing you might want to consider is that Mischa is also going through MAJOR culture shock. Generally, there is what is called the U-curve of culture shock. At the beginning, you love everything about your new culture- the people, the location, all the new experiences...but then you hit the downward curve of the U. You begin to realize that this place is not home, even if home was a "bad" thing. This usually manifests in the rejection of anything different and food is almost always the top of that list because it is so foreign. When you hit the bottom of the U, all you want to do is cry and go home. Eventually you start coming up the other side and are able to reconcile the differences between home and the new place, knowing that there are differences that you will never understand/like, but you can learn to accept them and begin to function in that new place. It sounds like Mischa might be nearing the bottom of the U. Teaching him gratefulness is a great way to help him snap out of it. But also understand that what he is going through is totally normal.
Jessica
I liked the U analogy!! I can identify with that, just moving from one state to another, let alone moving from one country to another! You definitely reach the bottom before you start to look up and find things you can be grateful for.
What a beautiful blog you have! My heart was touched again and again as I read through each post. My husband is from the Czech Republic and every time we go there it just breaks my heart to see so many lives without a knowledge of God. I am also an adopted child, and I am forever grateful to the Christian parents who took me into their home. I think you are a wonderful testimony to the grace of God! May God richly bless you as you continue to be a blessing to so many.
Happy New Year!
~trish
Post a Comment