Nate’s sermon

n8 preached at church on Father’s Day.  He wasn’t pleased with the result, and he would like everyone to listen to the July 5th one to better understand what he meant to say.  But here is the link, and it will only be up for another month or two.
http://www.christlifechurch.com/f/Sermon_06-21-09.mp3

Interpretation

Today, for the 15th time, Hannah told Eli he was bad, which is their version of the greatest insult one could give to another.  After reprimanding her yet again, I hear her say to Eli, “Je-Eli, ju jare jad,” which is essentially saying the same thing, just hiding it under “j” sounds.  Eli definitely interpreted it that way.  I tried a new track.

“Eli, the next time Hannah says something like that to you, you need to kill her with kindness.  Tell her how wonderful God made her, how He did such a fabulous job, and tell her specific areas you like about her.”

He leaves to talk Hannah, and I hear him tell her apologetically, “Hannah, Mommy says I have to kill you.”

As Paul David Tripp says, children are born interpreters. This was not the interpretation I was quite looking for.

I am, and there is None besides ME.

Navayah Emeth is a far different being than the other two.  Since we brought her home we knew she was not very like them.  It is only 10:30 a.m.  We have not had enough of a day go by for her to have accomplished what she has accomplished… not in busyness, but in sheer obstinancy.

She woke up insisting on nursing.  I tried to distract her and redirect her multiple times.  By the end, she grabbed my hand, pulled me to the chair, and said, “Eat” (that means “sit”).  She can barely talk, but she clearly makes her will known.

This morning she shrieked at me because I dared to put a shirt on her that snaps on the bottom, thus preventing her from nursing her dolly.  [No, Mama! No, Mama! No, Mama! Dis off!]

She climbed up on the table, deliberately disobeying me, because she wanted Eli’s glass of juice as well; hers was right in front of her, and still full.  Until she climbed on the table.  She got her second bath in just over 12 hours… and also a new shirt that did not snap on the bottom.

When I tried to put on the new shirt, she hid her hand behind her back, twisted away from me, and shouted, “NO!” (There’s that word again.)  She had no reason other than to be difficult.  It made her smile to frustrate me.

She told me to make her brother’s bed NOW because she needed to nurse her baby and tuck her in, and honestly, how could I expect that to happen when the bed was unmade?!

When I “did her hair” this morning, she had a fit that I only put one sprout in, not TWO.  It took another Tantrum Timeout for her to get over that one.

She yelled at Eli, stomped her feet, and whined until Eli gave her his stuffed lion.  It was promptly taken away from her, and we had a conversation with the other preschoolers about NOT Enabling Whining and Demanding Behavior.  Nayah melted down. Yet another Tantrum Timeout.

I do not know where she came from or why she must be mine to parent.  She did, however, sing, “Holy, Holy, Holy,” this morning, until I tried to record it somehow, then she screamed, “NO!”

Well, it was holy for a while.