Family Fountain, A Teaching Tool, and A Dolphin Tale

Morning Friends,

I've been wanting, for some time, to do a resource sharing thing on the blog - Family Fountain. Just a couple times a month. Maybe every other Thursday...(though Family Fountain Friday has a nice ring). There are so many neat resources - tools to help us raise our kids, refine our marriages, grow in our walk with the Lord...

So, here we go. Let's give it a whirl.

Have a blessed day. A sweet weekend. May rich blessings be yours!

With love,
Shawnelle

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"Are you excited to go to the zoo, Zay?" I ask.

Zay looks up from his action figures. "Oh, yes," he says.

Lonny and I have planned to take the boys to Brookfield Zoo. It's a big, family event.

"What are you most excited about?" I ask.

He sets Batman and Spidey on the rug and looks at me like I should know. "The dolphin show."

"Yeah," I say. "That will be great. They're beautiful. And graceful. And smart."

Zay nods and his too-long bangs fall over his eyes. "Yup. And when it's over, everyone will get a free dolphin."

"What?" I ask.

"A dolphin. A real one. They're free." He picks Spidey from the floor. Mumbles something about a villain.

"Why would you think that?" I ask.

"The brothers said so," he says. And he doesn't doubt their words. Not. One. Bit.

Okay.

Two blond boys are busted.

It's unusual for the boys to tease their little brother. But someone's spun a tale and someone's going to be sad. Free dolphins? C'mon guys. In our house we tell the truth. Time to blow the dust off Twenty-One Rules...

The Original 21 Rules of this House is a simple, straightforward book to help with character training. It was written by Gregg (father) and Joshua (son) Harris. The rules are simple. We teach the principles anyway (when someone is hurt, we comfort him, we consider one another's interests before our own) but it's been wonderful to have an easy, bound collection of ways to honor God and love one another better.

There's a poster page and a coloring page for each rule. And the authors give permission for families to copy coloring pages.

The rules (I'd call them values) are Bible based, but authors don't include a Scripture reference for each behavior. Familiar Bible stories can reinforce the rules, but they leave this to the families.

For us, The Original 21 Rules... has been a sweet, easy, re-enforcing tool to aid in character training.

Glory to God!

(I found a scrapbook page display stand at Michael's. The small poster pages slip nicely inside. Each week we display a page and work on that character quality (of course, the others, too...)

 Family life brings endless opportunity for refinement!

So, back to the busted boys. We'll talk about telling the truth, about why honesty is important, about what God's Word says about that.

 Then we're off to the zoo.

It will be great.

Totally.

Even without live, free,  take-home dolphins.