At the beginning of February, I wrote about a year of intentional character building using Holy Habits. Throughout the month, we've been focusing on the habit of Listening to What's Being Said.
To reinforce the habit, we played a variety of simple games. For example, when gathered around the table at meal time, Morgan and I made up a silly stories that included different facts and details. At the end of the story, the girls had the opportunity to raise their hand and answer questions. This required extra concentration on their part and we all had fun in the process.
In addition to playing games like Simon Says and Headbands, I'd ask the girls to do several simple tasks in a particular order. Sometimes, I'd use everyday opportunities like helping me put away the groceries. This, of course, was both helpful and a practical way to develop further listening.
The girls also worked on their first sewing project this month where they had to really focus on listening to the instructions properly if they wanted their project to turn out.
Overall, throughout each day, there were plenty of opportunities to emphasize this holy habit. Therefore, it was pretty easy to keep it on the forefront of our minds. I encouraged them to use their daily quiet time, not only to read and rest but also to listen for the still small voice of God.
For a bible story related to listening we also read and discussed 1 Samuel 3.
So, after a whole month of being intentional about listening, are my kids great at it? No. They're still just kids. However, I can honestly say they are improving greatly. Especially when it comes to listening the first time around.
Best of all, they had fun with it and they can't wait to start our next month's habit...
March: Encouraging Others!
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