Reading this morning from Proverbs, I came across these words, “The Lord… blesses the home of the righteous.” In a nutshell, the Bible says that God considers anyone who trusts in Jesus to be righteous (e.g. Romans 3:22). I trust in Jesus, therefore God considers me to be righteous.

Anyhow, last night I experienced this blessing.

Moving is tough. If you’re a little person who doesn’t understand why all of your stuff is getting put into boxes, and neither do you understand why mommy and daddy are so sensitive about you touching those boxes, moving can be even tougher!

Last night I was frustrated with one of our girls. I was frustrated that she wouldn’t go to sleep (as has become her norm). After about an hour of struggle I picked her up in my arms and gently held her… within minutes she was out and she’s still sleeping!

As I held her it occurred to me, she is an individual. She is a single entity. She has feelings about this move that her sisters, or mother, or I do not. She has a different way of working through life in general, and this move in particular, than me. Quite frankly, we all process life in our own unique way.

I have a tendency to think of my children as a group (almost a crowd!). It looks like this:

• “It’s time to put the kids in bed.”
• “We’ve gotta go! Let’s get the kids in the van.”
• “It’s supper time, let’s get the kids to the table.”

Before long, these four awesome little girls become one group… “the kids”, or as I sometimes affectionately refer to them, “The Ladies”, and I have lost any sense of their individuality.

As I held my little one last night, I felt as if God was reminding me that she is not like her sisters. She is not like me. She is a person, an individual with unique needs, value, methods of expressing herself, and ways of receiving love.

The best gift I can give to my children is to recognize each one of them as individuals and treat them as such. It’s time to stop thinking of my children as a group.

Sure, I’m still likely to call them, “The Ladies”, and work to “get the kids in the van”, but I’m going to be more aware of the individuals that make up that group.

Here’s one way I’m going to improve on this: Date night. Recently, in the busyness of moving, I have not been dating my daughters. Bad daddy… no biscuit. When I date my ladies, I am much more aware of them as individuals. So, when we get to Cincinnati (in four days), I’m going to get back into the swing of things.

Thank you Lord for blessing my home and giving me this little insight.