What I (re)Learned Today::March 10

I found this on facebook this morning. As I read it, I began to cry; the tears came for many minutes after I was done reading. What a powerful (re)learning experience!
(click on it to enlarge it)



I have my own experiences with spanking....

I've watched what happens when I spank a kid: They get angry, stop listening, hurt someone littler than themselves, and eventually feel like they "deserved" to be hit. I don't like my kids feeling any of those things.

My older kids got spanked more than my younger ones. I had to learn too, I guess. I've learned that it takes more time to teach than to strike, but lessons learned are much better.

My real learning experience came when I spanked Michael. I only did a couple of times when he was little, and then I never did it again. When I did, he'd go around hitting himself off and on for the next little while. I had never seen such behaviour, and he inspired me that there were better ways. I was reminded of my times spanking him and his reaction when I was at the store the other day. There was a mentally handicapped young lady there with her mom; the girl kept saying things to herself in a mean tone of voice and hitting herself. It made my heart break. It made me wonder who treated her that way - where had she learned it?

There are other methods of discipline. I try to remember that the word "discipline" comes from the word "disciple"; Jesus had disciples - he treated them with care, concern, and kindness, and He is the ultimate example.

It's hard growing up and realizing that I've made so many mistakes. I'm thankful that I've had opportunities that have shown me the error of my ways, and I hope I can always keep improving.