Caught doing something right!

As I was in the car line, waiting to pick up my three oldest from their 2nd day of school today, I saw something that just absolutely melted my heart. Calista, my normally very "feisty" 6 year old who often clashes with Christian, my 4 year old... was tenderly stroking Christian's head with one hand while holding his hand in her other hand... It was amazing. That totally never happens. I made up in my mind to tell her that I saw it all, but didn't remember until later when we were at the grocery. At Ingles, I stopped everybody and told her that I saw how sweet she had been to Christian and that I thought she was such a kind girl for taking care of her brother like that. She was surprised!

I dunno. I am THE LAST (notice the capitalization) person to claim to be a fabulous parent. Really. But I've been thinking a lot about how to get my kids to do more of the things I want them to do... not just chores and stuff like that, but to demonstrate character qualities and grow into the people that God has planned for them to be. And at that moment it just dawned on me... I hardly ever make purposeful notice of when they DO do something nice or sweet or loving or patient. I'm going to start looking for opportunities to do more praising.

So I have a challenge for anyone reading this. Notice when your kids do something that you want to encourage, and praise them publicly for it. Heck, notice when your brothers and sisters in Christ do something praiseworthy as well! What a great way to "spur one another on toward love and good deeds!" (Heb. 10:24)