{"id":1067,"date":"2021-11-05T10:45:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-05T17:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/warmanloving.org\/site\/?p=1067"},"modified":"2022-05-20T16:14:24","modified_gmt":"2022-05-20T23:14:24","slug":"home-improvement-building-character","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/warmanloving.org\/site\/home-improvement-building-character\/","title":{"rendered":"Home Improvement: Building Character"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One of COVID projects this past year was our home’s landscaping. Every year when we would return from Quadra in the summer, Marv would come back to many dead plants and a dead lawn. This year, he said, “I want to get to the foundation of this. Our watering system is poor, and I cannot rely on different people to keep it up.”\u009d Marv decided to get to the root level of the problem. Everything was dug up, and we got a new sprinkler system and new sod. When we returned this summer, I saw a smiling husband when we pulled into our driveway. The lawn and landscaping was maintained through the summer heat because we fixed it at the foundational level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are going to talk about getting to the foundation of our family values as we address BUILDING CHARACTER as part of our home improvement. Just as landscaping adds beauty and curb appeal to our home, character adds beauty and enhances our home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ARCHITECT’S DESIGN<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Wise people are builders
they build families, businesses, communities.
And through intelligence and insight
their enterprises are established and endure.
Because of their skilled leadership,
the hearts of people are filled with the treasures of wisdom
and the pleasures of spiritual wealth.<\/p>Proverbs 24:3-4 [The Passion Translation]<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

REINFORCING THE FOUNDATION
<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d declares the Lord.
As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.<\/p>Isaiah 55:8-11 [NIV]<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

As I was looking at Isaiah, I noticed that first comes our THOUGHTS, then come our ACTIONS. What we are thinking determines our actions. Your child’s thinking determines his actions, however, we tend to focus on the behaviors. When we can, we should go back and think about what came before the action. What was the THOUGHT before the behavior?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is good news: We are promised in scripture that God will fill the gap. Like the rain and snow from up above, God will give us what we need. Rain refreshes the earth immediately. Snow, however, is hard-packed. It is for later. When the heat comes, the snow melts and restores. As I was reflecting on these verses, I realize that as parents we are snow packers<\/em>. We are stacking layers of knowledge and opening up files of wisdom and truths in our children so that when the heat comes on, they will have something to draw on. Parents: Keep faithful and keep stacking the snow! Remember that snow does not melt right away. There will be moments when we think, “Haven’t they learned this yet???”\u009d Well, not right away. But do be faithful!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE PLAN<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When we have a plan, we are more likely to accomplish the goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We enter our homes with our unconditional LOVE for our spouse and child. As we move around our home, we try to live out characteristics such as joy, patience, kindness, self-control, peace. [Galatians 5:22-23<\/strong><\/a>]. As Christians, we are not merely living by a set of rules of do’s and don’ts of the Bible’s Ten Commandments. Rather, I submit to you, that we are living with a set of Ten Freedoms, as Marv likes to put it, knowing that in our home, we can feel safe, be treated with kindness, and live with peace because of our character values. There is a freedom knowing that we can trust one another and trust in our God! Our hope is that our children will know that there is freedom we live when we are kind or patient with each other. The Beatitudes [Matthew 5:3-12<\/strong><\/a>] also remind us that traits like humility, gentleness, mercy, single-mindedness, peace, and kindness can touch the lives of others around us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teaching our children character requires us to change our character. What are the weeds in our garden? When my father was 99 years old and lying in the hospital, he told me that the hardest part of living was when your mind knows what to do, but your body cannot do it. So he asked his nurse and chaplain to keep him accountable and report to him if his attitude or character never needed improvement. Was he patient enough when he had to wait for help from a nurse? Was his tone kind when he spoke to others? My father’s attitude toward continual character improvement reminds me that it is never too late to keep growing in character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HOME INSPECTION<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When we do not deal with our character issues, weeds start sprouting up in our gardens. They might look like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n