Bad Attitude About Working

Kindergarten is not what it used to be. As a kindergarten graduate, Gracie knows how to add, subtract, and read. Of course it took a lot of work on her part both at school and at home. Home is where we ran into trouble. About half way through the year, Gracie developed a very bad attitude about doing her reading homework (which we had every night). I had endured the battles of homework for several years as a teacher. But now I was experiencing this battle from a totally different perspective...

A tired, frustrated mom trying to maker her tired, frustrated daughter finish her homework that she absolutely did not want to do. After a particularly difficult battle, complete with yelling, crying, and snotting, I asked the Lord for forgiveness for handling the situation poorly and sought His wisdom for resolving this issue with peace.

In His faithfulness, God reminded me of...

Colossians 3:23

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for men."

So the next afternoon, we began our homework time with Bible study. We had Gracie find the scripture above in her Bible and underline it. We took some time to discuss what it meant and how it is relevant to her life. We explained to her that any work she does in her life is an act of worship to God. When she has a bad attitude about her homework or does it halfway, she is not working with all her heart for the Lord. God wants us to do our best in everything we do. We helped her to memorize this verse and when that bad attitude would reappear, we would have her quote it and ask her, "Are you working with all your heart for the Lord today?"

A wonderful thing happened! Doing homework, housework, or any kind of work was no longer about bribery or punishment. Instead, it became an issue of accountability to the Lord. Gracie had a choice. Would she honor the Lord in her work or choose to disobey? Of course there were still consequences when she chose to disobey and hold onto that negative attitude. But after a few times of requiring her to quote the verse and examine her heart in this area, Gracie's overall attitude took on a transformation.

Now, as a side note, I must tell you that Gracie has a very tender heart toward the things of the Lord. In addition, she has a desire to please Todd and me in all that she does. So this issue was pretty easily resolved given her personality.

Andy, on the other hand, is a totally different story. I'll have to let you know how this all pans out when he has to do homework...