A Perk

We don't do family devotions or any structured thing like that. Instead, we've made a practice of modeling and encouraging, but not obliging, Titus to talk with the Father whenever, wherever throughout his day, in keeping with the directions to pray without ceasing. This is much more conducive to short attention spans too:
"Hi God, thanks for this sand to play in. I like it!"
"Ugh, help me walk up the stairs."
"Wow! I love this ice cream!"
"Sorry for pushing Mai-Mai."
"That was cool you made this frog. You make cool stuff."
etc.

Once I overheard Titus post-discipline, alone in the bathroom, "God...Mom is angry...please help me God." That quickly softened my demeanor! Anyway, we want to drive home the idea that this is a friend who sticks with you anyplace, anytime, and you can always talk with him. Titus is catching on, and it's such a perk for us to watch the friendship develop.

Last night all three guys were tucked into their beds in the dark. I forget the specific context; Titus said, "But I don't have to pray at school." This led to a conversation about the worldview of Titus's teachers and classmates (who are just fantastic by the way!). Titus was surprised to realize what his friends are missing out on. Then we spent the next few minutes practicing relevant vocabulary that he didn't know how to say in Chinese. Whether or not he wants to share anything with anyone at school is totally up to him, but he is now able to speak about good news, new news. Isn't that super cool? And he's got the buddies to share with...his best friends are Wang Haoming, Peng Peng, Sang Ruiqi, Xiao Bowen, Liu Jinrui... did I tell you yet that he's (happy to be) in school from 8:30-5:30 four days a week now, like all the other kids? So they've got plenty of time to talk.

Titus, you're free to be whoever you want to be, but we gotta to say, we're really pleased to see the direction your heart is going. Plus, we're happy that although you look different than everybody else here, you've fit right in.

p.s. sort of...kind of...loosely related....

I remember shortly after Titus was born, I was panicking about how in the world do Drew and I raise this kid to become an earnest jc-follower? (Drew was not panicking; he is wiser and more mature than me.) Once in Grandma Bonnie's kitchen, I asked her, so, how did you do it? I had no idea! Somehow along the way I figured out that I was searching for a method, a magic trick that would guarantee results, obviously wrong, hello. I now believe that what I need to do, simply put, is to be... be an earnest jc-follower myself, and the rest will follow naturally. 

(right?)