what are you doing right now?

just wanted to give you something to think about.
if you know me at all...you know that i am crazy passionate about intentional parenting.
hence the name of my blog.
i have the opportunity to be around kids and teens a lot of the time.
i am always so interested to see how they act when their parents aren't around.
how the treat adults. how they treat the other kids. how they talk and how they react.
while i totally believe that even KIDS are accountable for their actions. (proverbs 20:11, james 1:14)
and they can not blame bad behavior on anyone else. i can still tell a lot about a kids family life by the way they act.

i think that it is my responsibility to constantly be thinking of ways to help prepare my boys for life on their own.
i mean...that is the ultimate goal, right? to get them to the point where they will be able to live on their own.    i honestly don't like to think about it, because being a mom of kids still living at home is totally a  full time job, and it is very fulfilling!
but. i need to be reminded that they are still learning!
learning from what i say, and learning from what i do.

so that brings me to the point of this post.
what are you doing right now?
are you so busy trying to just get through this phase, that you are not even taking the time to enjoy it?
are you so busy breaking up arguments that you aren't taking the time to stop what you are doing and make those moments teachable?
i wrote a post here about the benefits of getting up off the couch.
let's be real here. it is easier (at the time) to just ignore the arguing.
easier to block out the whining by turning up the tv.
but if i start thinking of my decisions maybe as individual investments into the accounts of my kids lives?
maybe i would take those decisions a little more seriously.
if i knew that turning off the computer to go and play a game with aj and ry would automatically put 50.00 into a bank account for them...i'm pretty sure that decision would be easy!
if i knew that leaving the sink of dirty dishes and going calmly into the living room to figure out how to teach the boys how they can peacefully resolve the conflict they were having was going to add to that account?
easy decision, right?
i love the verse in proverbs 14:1 that says
The wisest of women builds her house, but folly with her own hands tears it down.

i am building my house. that's what i'm doing here.
every decision...even if it seems small...is an investment.
what are you spending your time investing in?
right now.
oh...your kids are asleep?
perfect. start praying for them. pray scripture over them.
are they awake and arguing? go check out romans 12 and teach them about living peacefully!

you are building your house. build it wisely!
take the time to think things through, and to realize that you are making investments into the future of your children's lives.
and i think that is a pretty big time investment!
what are you doing right now?