How awesome it is when God speaks the answer to a question you have been searching for! As you know I am a mother of teens, but when they were smaller I did not always do the right thing, at times I let my anger or what I thought others were thinking of my children's actions dictate how I handled a disciplinary issue. Children don't come with instruction manuals and before you spout off the bible I need to explain that at that point in my life I was a very very religious person bound for hell. I had the knowledge, but I was lost, I could tell you what is said inside and out, but I was lost and bound for hell. Anyway I am chasing a rabbit here back to what happened.
I have recently received my toddler class back on Sunday (finally enough to have a class again) and I have a lively bunch of boys. I have been looking for some ideas for "a time out chair", but hated that name cause I was trying to teach something here of more then just you've done something wrong and you must be punished. I wanted it to be a time when the child who did the offense thought what they did wrong and that there was a way to make it right. So I called it "a think about it chair", but again I wanted a verse to go along with it, I remembered once I got truly saved I had started using the bible for what it was intended for the way of instruction, guidance, love and discipline. When I took my children shopping or out in public I taught them the verse "a child is known by his doings" meaning what is your testimony showing. I wanted the think about it chair to be just that, but I could not find a verse that would fit. My husband even tried to help and said what about where it says "count the cost", but sadly it never really worked in my heart and mind. The Lord had the answer the whole time.
I was looking through Pinterest searching for time out chairs and came across a picture of a recliner with the words Mercy seat and it clicked. The Lord seemed to whisper call it Mercy seat. I click the link and came to a blog called motherofknights.com. She used the verses Romans 3:23-25 " For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;" Also Romans 5:8 "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." So how will these big verses help 3 to 6 year olds. Simple, you put it in there terms of understanding. I love you and God loves you and what you did was wrong and is called a sin. Can you tell ______ your sorry? Good let's pray first for God to forgive us and then go tell _______ we're sorry. Then pray with the child and go with them to say our sorrys.
Learning as I go down the narrow path!
Kimberly
Here is the post I spoke of earlier please feel free to click and read it. I was blessed from her post as well.
http://motherofknights.com/2013/09/16/we-ditched-the-time-out-chair-for-a-mercy-seat/
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