Monday, March 16, 2009

AWANA Grand Prix '09

We had such a blast at the grand prix this year!!
James made all five of the kids a very cool car. He let them pick out the design and then he shaped it into what they had chosen...





Then they got to paint it:-). He helped a little...




They had so much fun and all of them took home trophies...well, all but one.






Piper did not win a trophy, but she did gain something very valuable that day! After all of her siblings got at least on trophy she was pretty distraught. That is actually quite an understatement but I'll not get into that:-). Piper and I rode home seperately from James and the other kids, which gave us a bit of a chance to talk. We talked about the different ways that she could handle her current situation... honor Christ (congratulate brothers and sisters on their victory... and really mean it )or gratify the flesh (cry and mope and feel miserable for the rest of the day and have the others feel sorry for her ). She admitted that she really felt like gratifying her flesh but she knew the satisfaction in that would be temporary... she chose to honor Christ and die to those desires!! I told her that honoring Christ brings out a lasting satisfaction that comes with knowing that you've done what He desires and she said,"Yep, that's what I want!". Then, we went home and made cookies...that always makes me feel better :-)!

Little did she know that the decision she made Saturday is setting a pattern for her life. She made a choice to live for Christ and not herself. God is working on her already... she only accepted His gift of forgiveness a little over a month ago and already He is molding her. What a joy to watch!

Another great part about that day was this. When her siblings saw that they all received at least one trophy and she won none, Jonah who had two offered his other trophy...so sweet:-)

But, Zoe' had a different plan. She had an AWANA grand prix trophy that she won a few years ago when she was in Sparks(Piper's group) and thought that she would like to give it to Piper when they got home.

So, I suggested they all present it to her in an award presentation fashion... they did and it worked beautifully!! They all came to her and told her that they would like to present her with and award for the " Best Overall" car in Sparks...




It was completely unexpected and totally appreciated by her!
What a glorious day!!

2 comments:

The M Family said...

i'm so glad to have you in my life for help with future talks like that! you are such a great mom! and it shows by the love your kids have for each other! (all with God's help of course!) ;)

Danny McDonald said...

That is so precious!