Laundry

For the past two weeks, Gav has done the laundry at our house.  There is something about it that he loves. (I have no idea what it is). He sorts it, puts it in the machine, waits on it to finish so he can move the load to the dryer, and begins again. I haven't given him any incentive to do this and I am thoroughly enjoying it.


When he sorts the laundry, there are always questions. Mostly about tan things going in with whites, and if something should go in light or dark if it has shades of both. Last weekend, we changed clothes before we went on our date night, and I had a pair of dark jeans that I dropped on the light pile (he had already washed the dark clothes). And here we go:


Him: "Those can't go with that load, right?"


Me: "Oh, it'll be fine."


Him:  "Why is it fine?"


Me: "Well..."


And then I explained how those jeans had been washed probably 30 times or more, and they weren't going to fade in the wash and ruin the load; that it would be ok this one time to throw them in with the lighter load and get them done.


As I was explaining this, I realized...I was asking him to use discernment in washing our clothes.  He's a rule follower.  He likes to know that things are always the same.  I got annoyed.  Laundry should be easy, right?  He shouldn't have to use discernment and make judgment calls about how to do laundry!


Life is all about discernment.  That's a hard thing to explain to an eight year old.  Then I get freaked out. What other teachable moments am I missing?  Are we praying enough?  Are we praying right?  Reading our Bible enough?  Is he watching me live it out in the best way possible?  Our last few months have been great ones.  As I've grown closer to the Lord, I think I've seen him grow closer too.  Wow, so no pressure there.


So I looked up this passage and showed it to him.


Deuteronomy 6:5-9
And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders.  Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.


This passage doesn't speak directly to how to be discerning, but if I can show him how to love God...take Him with us everywhere we go...talk about Him...then maybe...just maybe, he'll remember that when he has to make decisions.