Things I did Not Teach Him!

There are some things that Micah does that I will take 'credit' for teaching him, like saying please and thank-you, or being able to admit that his feet are stinky. Other things I have not taught him, some of them are things he's seen other people do while some he just knows how to do.

Here is a list of a few things I have NOT taught my eldest son to do:

To Love his brother. When I found out I was pregnant Micah was only 9 months old. I worried that he might be jealous or be forced to grow up too fast. Over the next 9 months Micah changed SO much, but I still wondered what he would think of a new addition to our family. From day one, Micah has loved Jude...okay, not day one. Day one all he said to acknowledge that Jude was born was, "It's a baby". When we brought Jude home Micah was very interested in him. Although it's only been two months, I have not once caught Micah doing something to Jude in order to hurt him. Now, he has done things that have or could have hurt Jude, like laid on top of him or stuck his fingers in his mouth and nose. Those have all been tried, and we are still working on teaching him to be 'gentle', but Micah has never tried to hurt his little brother.

While we are teaching him to be kind and gentle to his brother, we are not teaching him to LOVE his brother...he already does!

In the words of Micah, "It's Jew!"

To love hats, or anything that could resemble a hat and be placed on the head! Our eldest son LOVES hats. I can't really remember when the love for hats began, maybe last summer when I started to put sun hats on his head, but it really came to a peak this last Christmas when his great-grandma gave him a John Deere hat in honor of his great-grandad who passed away last year. Micah latched onto that hat from the second he opened it. While he still loves his John Deere hat, he has a few other hats that he loves as well. When Jude was born Jason got Micah a youth sized Royals hat, which might be his favorite! The other day I was sorting through some hand-me-downs from my sister and I came across the hat to a skunk halloween outfit. The rest of the outfit wasn't there, and I planned on throwing the hat away. Oh no! Micah found that hat in an instant and requested that I promptly place it on his head.

I did NOT teach Micah to love hats, and I do not encourage (or discourage) this love. It is a little quirk that he has, and I find it rather cute and humorous.

To use my breast-pump! Okay, maybe I taught him by letting him be in the room when I used the pump, but I did not teach him to do this! He did that all on his own, and I will use it to blackmail him someday!!!

Bear with the pictures being out of order (I'm still kind of new to the whole blogging thing). This is just another 'hat' picture.

While there are a lot of things I haven't taught my son, and bound to be many more, there are a few things that I WANT to teach my son...and his brother, and any other siblings he may have someday.

Deuteronomy 6: 4-7 puts it best:

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments I give to you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

I want Micah and Jude to know about the God who made them, who knit them together in my womb. I want them to know about the God who loves them no matter what, who sent HIS Son to die for them so that they could have freedom and forgiveness and peace and unconditional love. I want to teach them that this world will offer them some joy and some happiness, but will always let them down in the end. I want to teach them that Jesus offers them true Joy and true happiness...that he doesn't just offer it to them, but promises it if they just ask! Ultimately, its not about what I can teach them, if they come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior I can take no credit in that. That being said, according to Deuteronomy it is my duty and obligation to make sure that I pass on their inheritance and Truth to them.

Although I can't teach Micah everything he needs to know about life, I pray that I will always have the boldness and conviction to teach him about God and his Love! That I will teach him!