No Bad Words!

Lately, Christopher has been almost obsessed with figuring out what is and isn't a bad word...and he has become the "Bad Word Police" as a result! Now, in my precious little 4-year-old's mind (and in the minds of most kids who go to FBA), "stupid" is a bad word. Thankfully, this is about as far as his concept of bad words go! :) And he is on a mission to clear this word from everyone's vocabulary!



A few months ago, we were at Grandma Jansen's house and Uncle Chuck was talking about the "stupid Tampa Bay Bucs" (which he happens to support - but was not currently happy with their performance)! Well, before any of us knew what was happening, a little four-year-old finger shot out and started wagging away...followed shortly by Christopher's rebuke, "Uncle Chuck, we do NOT say that word! That is a BAD WORD!" Now, for the first time I think, Uncle Chuck was rendered completey speechless as he tried to figure out just WHAT he had said! :) We informed him of the "s-word violation" and after a moment of processing it, appolgized to Christopher, which finally ended the slightly uncomfortable, but completely hilarious moment!



A couple nights ago, we were watching Law & Order when Christopher woke up with a bad dream. We let him stay up with us for a little bit and eat some dinner (he had fallen asleep shortly after we'd gotten home from school that day & slept through dinner time). Well, apparently one of the characters on the show must have said something that caught Christopher's attention - because he said, "Daddy, that guy on TV said a bad word. Can we pray for him?" This totally caught David off guard and at the same time completely blessed my heart! While David was trying to figure out how Christopher thought of that, I was remembering what happened a couple weeks earler...



I had gone to the public school where I used to work so I could deliver some Avon. As I was leaving, he art teacher was talking with me about some of the crazy things going on in the school. She was using some choice words - but whispering the ones the world considers inappropriate for children out of courtesy for the young ears with me. But, since our standards are higher than that, there were bad words she wasn't aware were bad, therefore she felt no need to whisper those words. I could hear the gasping in the back seat (we were car to car while talking), but thankfully he was respectful enough to say no more until the conversation was over. As I drove away, it was obvious that the discussion had troubled him. As he asked me, with deep concern in his voice, why that grown-up lady was using bad words - I wasn't sure what to say. The answer must have come directly from God's mind to my voice as I explained that the reason she used those words was because she didn't have Jesus in her heart & didn't know any better. Then I asked Christopher if he wanted to pray for her & he seemed relieved that I'd asked! :) So, right there in the car, we prayed for the art teacher's salvation!



As I re-lived this moment for David, my heart swelled with appreciation that Christopher has such a concern for others and such a belief in the power of prayer! And, I must admit, there was also a little pride that the impromptu lesson had such an impact on this precious gift God placed in our lives to guide and direct! :)

(P.S. For those of you who may be wondering, yes...the picture was staged!) :)