I must admit there are times that I wonder if my children actually have brains at all. Then there are times that I stand in simple amazement at who they are becoming. This past weekend and this week were two of those times.Kaitlyn's Spring Recital was on Sunday. She practiced very hard and did beautifully.
The church that it was hosted in was beautiful.
Kaitlyn is on the front row in white.
On Wednesday night Ricky spoke for the first time in front of peers in children's church. He did an awesome job writing what he wanted to say and then presenting it.
Here are his notes that he wrote. Someone asked how much I helped him and I was so proud to be able to reply, "I just typed it on the computer." I didn't even edit it for punctuation, because I wanted to be as he had written it down on paper.
Tonight, Bro Allen has asked me to talk to you and share some ways to overcome conflicts in our lives.
What is conflict? The dictionary that I used says that Conflict is a fight or struggle.
Does that mean wrestling or fighting with swords? Does it mean screaming and hollering?
You might want to scream and holler, but it means to me that conflict is the problems in our lives that we deal with daily and that makes us distressed. Most of the time it is in a struggle inside of us!
I would like to share with you an experience I had where I overcame conflict.
I love baseball! I have played ever year since I was 4 yrs. old. My favorite position is 1st base. I try to be the best 1st baseman I can.
One year during ball season I had a major conflict with my coach. There were 12 players on the team and 9 positions to fill. He promised us equal playing time. He had also promised me starting 1st base position.
As the season started, he did not keep his promise to the team. He put me on the bench in the dugout most of the time or in out field. If a player really messed up they he would holler and scream at them. He would even take them out of their position for the rest of the game. The more we played the worse things got! He was hollering and screaming at every game. I felt that he was out of control and that he had lied to me and the team.
It was so bad, I almost quit the team half way through the season. I could not play for him like this anymore!
I started praying about what to do and decided to talk to my parents. My parents told me to talk to the coach privately and see how I felt about it.
I really prayed then! I WAS SO SCARED!!!! I was scared he would kick me off the team and about what he might say.
The next game the coach and I talked and we got it straightened out. He told me to play this game and see how I felt and decide. After that game, I decided that I would give him another chance, because he really tried to do better that game. The rest of the season he stopped hollering and screaming at me and treated me fairly.
I am so glad I didn't quit and gave the coach a chance to change. I no longer play for this coach, but he is much nicer to me now when I see him.
I resolved this conflict by:
1. I Prayed-I asked God what to do. When you pray to Him, He will always come through.
2. I Talked to my parents and trusted their advice--Your parents can have some really good ideas. Some of you may not think what your parents tell you to do is always right, but in the end they usually are.
3. I Prayed about what to say and my attitude.--When you have conflict with someone you have to watch your attitude, especially if it is an adult. You have to be respectful.
4. I Faced my conflict--I stood up for myself and respectfully talked to my coach. That is hard sometimes if you have to apologize or something like that. But in the end I felt better about myself and it pays off.
5. And last, I didn't quit!---Never give up!
Sometimes conflict doesn't turn out exactly how you want it, but if you listen to God and your parents it will always turn out right.
If you are facing conflict right now in your life, I hope you can use these things to overcome it.
I am so proud of them and what God is doing in their lives.
Nicholas was to busy playing to help pick, but he wasn't to busy to eat some!