In this post I am going to focus on Barber...my 2-1/2 year old. Certainly there are many things about this boy that I love and adore. He is quick to smile. He is a charmer like his Daddy. He is a jokester like his Poppy. He loves to snuggle. He and Jeter share a wonderful friendship and brotherhood. His giggle when tickled melts my heart. He is truly my sweetheart. He loves music and sings his heart out. These are definitely attributes of his personality that I know demonstrate the fingerprints of God on his life.
In the past few months I have found myself observing and identifying some other traits that seem to be developing in Barber's life. He daily demonstrates independence coupled with perseverance. I know the desire of "my turn" is partly due to his age and stage in life - learning how to do things for himself. This season has required patience on my part; allowing him to complete a task that takes 5 times as long because I am not doing it. Many times I am encouraging him (and myself) to not get frustrated. He is now starting to receive what I will call guidance - meaning that he will allow Simms or I to show him how to complete a task, then he will say "my turn", undo what we completed and attempt to complete it himself. He has perseverance...and I know that is a gift from God.
Order and organization seem to be very important to Barber as well. Granted, I also like order and organization but my son seems to be on a completely different plane than myself. We first observed this when he was 26 months old. We were on vacation and he took the UNO cards and started to line then up in rows. Do you know how hard it is to keep cards perfectly straight?!? Needless to say, he began to get very frustrated because individual cards would twist and turn. This hasn't been a one-time incident. My parents have a table in their foyer with pictures of their children and grandchildren. Every time we are there, Barber will move every frame until they form a straight line across the table. He lines up the trucks in him room this way. He will take his hot wheels cars out of their case and line them up in one long row across the floor. What is a linear gifting? I don't know but I do know God has made Barber the way he is and somehow this too will be used for His glory.
Here are some more examples of what I have recently observed:
- Barber loves to clean up! Jeter will clean up but I really had to teach him to clean up. He never enjoyed it. Not Barber. To him clean up is a game.
- I have begun to realize that when Barber is done playing with something, he will put it away before he takes something else out. Yes, I have told the boys I would like them to do this, but HE DOES IT on his own and he's not even 3!!!
- Today he was playing with four puzzles in the family room. He first lined them up in a row on the floor. Then he brought one to a TV table, took it apart and put it back together. When he was done, he placed it back in the row and selected the next one. When all four were completed and re-organized, he was done playing with them. I also noticed that when the pieces of the alphabet puzzle were removed, he grouped them according to their color (red, blue, green, yellow) and then returned them to the puzzle.
I don't know all of what the future holds for my son but I do know that he is called of God. Our Father blessed us with the miracle of Barber and I am blessed to have the responsibility to watch and pray for this precious life.
NOTE: I have called this "Part I" because I have two sons and will focus on Jeter in "Part II".
1 comment:
He is a little sweetheart. It is a blessing that he has this gift of organization - something that I am asking the Lord to give me more of!
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