Funny how one night changes everything. I can war against the devil in the storm, but I am learning to deal with things in the physical. Teach me, O LORD.
Lindsey Nelson came over last night. I was up 3 hours in the middle of the night trying to figure out if the girls were up to something. I came down for a drink of water, and Jordan was nervous. She put her computer on top of a pile of DVDs. Family Guy was one of them. Well, she knows not to watch that in our house. She was hiding. Today, we will deal with it.
She is not showing the qualities of one who will honor their parents.
We had a discussion on texting. Laura and I had agreed to 1,000 texts per month. Laura was to talk to Jordan. I brought it up to Jordan yesterday, and she started melting down. She said that Laura didnt tell her. I think something confused the communications. Well I find that she does this to get her way often – that’s manipulation. It’s hard to discern when she is truly manipulating and telling the truth.
Laura has an ultra-strongarm approach, and it is bearing fruit. At the same time, I want to reinforce that Jordan is loved and try to give her a piece of defining solutions like taught in love and logic. I dont want Laura’s hard heart or resentment to overshadow love. Kindness leads to repentance. Fear is to punishment. There is a balance, but I dont want to be a weenie either.
So, Jordan started her normal negotiating. She wanted 1000 texts sent rather than total. I thought about this and decided it to be a good idea. She has been sending 6,000 texts. For her to reduce more than 80% is a big deal. If she has a voice in the solution, she will have ownership in the process. This is leadership. I talked to Laura about it and we decided ok.
Jordan and I agreed that if she goes over 1,000 texts, the texting is turned off for more than a month. She agreed to this. She was still mad and said that we are taking all her life away, so it must not have been too big a weenie.
I had her sign a piece of paper laying down the terms of our agreement.
This is about self control and responsibility. Am I being a weenie? God, I hope not. But, I figure that Jordan having a voice gives her ownership and teaches her how to set boundaries to enforce without laying down the law. That seems to be more compelling.
If she goes over, the privlege is lost, and she had a part in authoring the plan. It is now “our” plan.
Will it work? We shall see.
God is teaching me to war. And, He is my warrior. Just dont fear. He does the rest.
I had a weird dream this am that woke me up at 5:30 or so. Was being betrayed by someone meant to protect me. 7:00 was the time. I put some dude in a washer machine who was going after something. When the hour came, I decided not to renew, and he took off. There was swimming pool as the back end of the washing machine. He was going to come after me. I woke with a sensation of fear, so I rebuked the dream. God doesnt try to scare us. I came downstairs and Holy Spirit was all over me. I prayed in the spirit for a while and am fine with things. I wont give the devil much attention any more. He is under my feat.