Dino

This little guy turned one the other day and I got to go to his party on Sunday. I wanted to make him something special and my mom suggested a pillow. Great idea; both my girls received pillows around this age and both loved them. To add to the "specialness", I made it out of one of his own former flannel receiving blankets that Angela handed down to me when we found out Kelby was going to be a boy. So, Angela loved it, and I hope Corban loves it too. Little things like this are so much fun to make.

On a different subject, I wanted to share a few quotes from a book my sister lent me to read. It's called The Things You'll See by Lawrence R. Lucas and it is a father's notes to his grown children on how they were raised. It's been great so far. The chapters are very short, which is good for this stage in my life with a newborn :) and full of great and godly parenting advice. The following is from the chapter on Learning by Example.

"Children are natural imitators. They learn by watching us: how we do things, what we say, how we respond in difficult or trying situations. Then they adopt our ways as their own. They're individuals of course, so they'll add their own signature, but their behavior will largely emulate ours. There will come a time, very early in their years, when you'll see this clearly for the first time. Hopefully the import of it will strike you, particularly if you see them follow you in sin." (pg. 16)

"...just as children might imitate a complaining word, they'll as readily imitate words of encouragement. They'll imitate how we own up to sin, how we mend a tear we've caused, how we serve one another. The tool of example is always in use. It's up to us to put it to good use." (pg. 17)

"Your life will either reinforce or undermine your training."

Good stuff.