Half Hearted Celebration

We're always looking for a reason to party ...
Today is Karis' HALF BIRTHDAY!
We baked half a cake.
We sang half of "Happy Birthday".
We wrapped half a gift for her.
We gave her half a card.
She made half her bed.
She did half her school work.
I tricked her into doing the other half of her school work.

We celebrate well.
But the day was not without tears. As a matter of fact each of the kids had a melt down at some point in the day. Mean words were spoken, hands were used for hitting, we were frustrated, angry and jealous. All before 11am! So we stopped. We gave each other space. We breathed. We prayed. We forgave. We hugged (although somewhat reluctantly). There were more tears. So we repeated those steps - stop, space, breathe, pray, forgive, hug.

Maybe it was the weather. You know, weird barometric pressure thing following a thunder storm. Who knows.
But I do know that I want to be a family that is characterized by patience, gentleness, kindness - ok, the whole fruit of the spirit thing - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Day-by-day, moment-by-moment we'll work on it.

Kind of fitting for a half birthday isn't it - half the day was good, half the day was not-so-good. But, as I tried to explain to the kids - even not-so-good moments can be moments that we learn from.

Ironically our memory verse today is:
"Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you". Ephesians 4:32