The heart of a child...

We were incredibly blessed last week to get some AMAZING deals on some new (to us) toys for the girls at a a great consignment sale in town. The girls have had a blast playing with them and it has made for a very fun week! However, I was immediately reminded of the sinful nature of a child as my sweet two-year old decided that all these toys were her toys and not Karlie's. Karlie would try to pull up on the slide or lion chair and Karis would immediately push her down. This is really the first time that Karis has shown any meanness towards her sister and it saddened me. She usually finds great joy in chasing Karlie around the house and showering her with toys, trying her hardest to make Karlie laugh. But alas, my sweet girl is a sinner just like her Mama and we've had to teach her a lot about sharing this week.

Honesty has been an issue recently as well. Like any 2-year old, Karis hates to stop playing to use the potty. She never has accidents; she has the most amazing control and would rather just hold it for ten hours. But I just don't see how that is good for her so I ask her every couple of hours if she needs to go potty. The answer is always "no." And since the rule is that she stays in the bathroom until she goes, sometimes she will try to convince me that she has already gone so that she can get up quickly. So we 've had to talk about honesty a lot lately.

Needless to say, these issues have been on my heart lately and I've spent some time praying for God to prick her little consience. I can talk to her and discipline her as much as I want, but I know that if God doesn't do a work in her little heart, all my efforts will be in vain. And today, I was blessed to see a little answer to my prayers!

I had left the girls playing together in the living room for just a second to check on dinner in the oven. I heard Karlie start to wail and ran back to see what had happened:
Me: Karis, did you do something to make Karlie cry?
Karis: no
Me: Do you know why Karlie is crying?
Karis: no
(at this point I decided not to press the issue since I didn't know what had happened. I turned around to take Karlie in the kitchen with me and heard ever so softly and sadly, "I pushed her." I looked at Karis and asked her again to be certain, "Karlie is crying because you pushed her?" She somberly nodded and said, "I pushed her and she fell down." Then she kissed Karlie and said, "I'm sorry Karlie."

Thank you, Lord, for pricking her heart and making her want to tell the truth regardless of the consequences!