Just one of the reasons

Yesterday we had one of those moments that reminds me of why we're homeshcooling our children. I was able to infuse God's word into my children's lives. The Girl and Boy #1 had an argument and had both declared, "We're not friends anymore." The Girl had invited Boy #1 into her room to play with her blocks and build towers. When they we're done playing and had been called down to wash dishes Boy #1 would not help pick up the blocks, leaving it all for The Girl to do. She was very upset, "He never helps pick up when he plays with me in my room." The tension was in the air while they washed and dried dishes and continued while we sat down to eat lunch. The Girl kept her mouth shut and was not saying anything further to Boy #1. But Boy #1, he just kept at it. "I don't want sit next to her. I'm not friends with her anymore, never again." The Girl, who is developing hormones and cries at the drop of a hat, ran from the table to her room crying the whole way. I looked at Boy #1 and simply said, "That was pretty mean and cruel of you to say to your sister." That started him on a line of ,"I'm horrible, I'm going to move, I can't live with our family anymore." We have some rules in our home, and Boy #1 broke three of them. I asked him what our house rules were, and he proceeded to tell them to me. Then I asked him which ones he had just broken. Be Kind, Speak only of Good Things, and Treat others how you want to be treated. I asked him if he remembered the scripture verse for Be Kind, "Ephesians 4:32-Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other as in Christ God has forgiven you." I left him to think about what we had just spoken about while I went to comfort The Girl. I consoled her and explained that her brother was wrong in saying mean things to her to intentionally hurt her feelings. However, in the world thats how it goes, people will say mean things to you to hurt your feelings, but you need to be prepared for that and be armed with God's truth to protect yourself. She then declared that Boy #1 didn't love her anymore. I assured her that he did in fact still love her, but however, as they both keep getting older they may grow apart a little because he likes to play with boys doing boy things and she likes to play with girls doing girl things. I then went into to talk with Boy #1 again. We talked about repentance, forgiveness, and how the bible says we are to help one another. The Girl and I went back downstairs so she could finish eating her lunch. While we were downstairs Boy #1 quietly went into her room and picked up the blocks. The Girl went back to her room and saw the blocks picked up and went and hugged her brother and thanked him. He then apologized for sinning against her and asked for forgiveness. I love moments like these, it reminds me why I'm doing this.