Lovely Girl

Have I said lately that I have a spectacular, good-hearted daughter?

Yesterday she played Florence Nightengale to her brother (coincidentally, after just finishing reading a book about her life) because he woke up with a sore throat. She made a bed for him on the couch. She got some books out and read to him for an hour. She got him some juice and waited on him. And he wasn't even that sick.

She's the kind of girl that would give every last cent to someone else in need. I love that about her, but we've had to teach her to use wisdom, even in giving.

Our new church is under renovation (costing a lot of $$$). We are buying new "pew chairs" for the sanctuary. Since the total cost of these are $55.00 per chair, our pastor has encouraged those who can to "buy a chair".

Hannah has decided she wants to buy a chair. Much impressed with her attitude, I told her that she could earn some money and that I would try to think up jobs that were not her usual chores (which she does not get paid for) to help her reach her goal.

The first job I gave her was a thorough cleaning of Seth's bedroom. Seth does pretty good with the general upkeep of his room, but like every other room in the house, it still needs a periodical thorough cleaning. I told her I would give her $5.00 to do this.

That girl of mine spent FOUR hours on his room. She did not complain. She did not get distracted.....not even once. She went through his closet. She went through his drawers. She went through his toys. She went UNDER HIS BED (where the boogey-man lives). She vacuumed. She sorted. When she was done, his room was the cleanest room in the house.

I was so impressed that I felt guilty just giving her $5.00 and was planning on slipping her an extra $5.00. However, her dad - very wisely - intervened. He said that she first needed to learn how to do a job for the agreed-upon amount so that she didn't always expect more. We did decide that it was fair to give her a tip for doing such a good job - and so we did. I realized how smart that was when I paid her, because truly, she did not expect to get more than the amount that was agreed upon and was very happy with her tip. And, we did not cause potential future problems of over-expectation.

Since then, she has done several other jobs - even one for her grandma - and is now just $10.00 short of her goal.

I'm very impressed that she has stuck to her goal of earning money (especially for a cause and not just for self-gratification). I wondered if she would get tired of it and give up, but she hasn't.

I'm very impressed that she has a heart to work and do good.

And I'm very grateful that God gave that lovely girl to me to parent.