Years ago when my daughter was still itty bitty CK gave me a book, Just Mom and Me Having Tea.
I decided on our preschool days we'd have a tea party lunch and read a sweet devotion together!
P&J's on my grandmother's china, what could be better!
She was delighted that I put the apple juice in the creamer pitcher so it would be easy for her to serve the "tea".
Our devotion talked about how we are special to God. During creation everything God made was..... "good." After making mankind God said it was..... "very good." The devotional story compared it to a lunch that was....good and then with a chocolate chip cookie saved for the end..... "very good." In our case, well my daughter's, it was a gummy worm for dessert that was.... very good!
As we focused on God's love for us, we answered questions about what things we like about ourselves, what we are good at doing, and how can we show our thanks to God for our bodies and our talents. I thought about my own self image; how I see myself directly affects how my daughter may in turn see herself.
If I constantly fret over outward beauty with many products, time, and negative comments on my outward appearance, she may begin to do the same. If I were to eat unhealthy and try all the latest diet crazes, she may begin to wonder if her body is adequate at her current size. She will be bombarded with these worldly attitudes enough without me adding to it. It is important for me to show her beauty that is eternal. Beauty that is important to God and not to man. Man looks at the outward appearances, but the Lord looks at the heart.
Dear God,
I thank you for the blessing You have entrusted to me, in the life of my precious daughter. She truly is Yours and You have made her perfect....perfect for the plans You have set for her. Help me to be a good example, by focusing on eternal beauty instead of outward appearances. This will be hard for me Lord, as I struggle with what people think of me. May I remember what is truly important.... What You think. May I glorify You and lead my children to You. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Psalm 139:14 "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."
Genesis 1:31 "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good."
1 Samuel 16:7b "Man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart."
1 Peter 3:3-4 "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight."
9 comments:
Oh I love the tea party and devotional idea. That is so sweet. What a great way to teach her to love the Lord and to see herself from a right perpective as God sees her. Not more than and not less than. This was beautiful.
You are such a great mom! What a wonderful idea!
Also, I really enjoyed seeing you on Monday. It was fun.
I'm so glad you gals are enjoying the book. I almost called you yesterday to check on you...now I wish I had. I am such a member of the YAHOO club, I don't tend to think of others in the Boohoo club.
My little gal LOVED school, and was so disappointed she couldn't go yesterday. Today she announced she wanted to stay for lunch. Even after I told her that her teacher and friends wouldn't be staying she said she didn't care. She wanted to stay. My little firecracker.
You have such a sweet heart and are such a sweet mom. I love reading your blog, and I pray everyday that I will raise Hayden under the Lord's wing and in His care. I love and feel so blessed to be surrounded by so many great examples of other Christian mothers, and you and the time you spend with your children and the activities that you do with them are truly an inspiration to me. Although, I don't know that Hayden will really enjoy a tea party when he's older. :o) Maybe, we can have a nice devotional flag football game or something. Hehehe.... Take care, and tell the rest of your family I said "hi." I feel like I haven't seen Patrick and Betsy and the girls in forever. Tell all them I miss them and hope to see them soon. Love you, Missy
You have the best ideas! I only hope that you will still be blogging when my baby girl is old enough to share tea parties and devotions with me...so that I may remember your wonderful ideas and creative ways to share mommy and me time with your kids...of course highlighted with the word of God. I LOVE IT! Your post made me tear up, we are all wonderfully made and I am thankful for the reminder of how much impact we truly have on our daughter's view of themselves based on how WE see ourselves. It is such a hard, hard lesson to learn and to teach---beauty comes from within and God loves us for who we are on the inside! Thanks for sharing!
May I remember to do have the same wonderful ideas in a year when C goes to preschool. I will try these even now with big brother at school. You are a true light for me and others and hope to inspire my children as well as you do yours.
It must be tea party week! My daughter and I are sharing tea while her brother goes off to preschool. It's so much fun to have that one on one time with the little girls in our lives :-) I am so glad your little one did well. Congratulations, you have just sucessfully conquered another milestone! Can't wait to see what else is in store for us!
What sweet and precious time with your daughter. For in this moment she knows your love for her, your giving her your time, your attention, and sharing Jesus with her!
I have to believe that one of the reasons your sweet girl left so confidently for school was that you had prepared her so well, and in so many ways.
And the tea parties certainly don't have to end. In fact, I'm sure a tea party with mom could be just the thing to pull out on those days when life seems to get the best of her....a great prelude for times to come when those conversations will, perhaps, be of even greater importance.
Selfishly, I'm glad you joined me in the boo-hoo club!
(And, since I'm catching up with everyone, if you need sewing help, feel free to come over--all of you. Lots of thread here, even a thimble! Maybe D#1 would be interested if she saw your boys take it up!!)
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