Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Bears, Oh My

Parker has these small plastic bears that are either green, red, yellow, or blue. They are a manipulative tool used to teach children how to sort, follow a pattern, count, and distinguish color differences. These bears are about the size of a nickel. I have no idea what is so intriguing about these bears, but they are one of Parker's favorite toys. There is a hitch though. These bears are too small for Kent to play with. Kent is too young to understand that Parker is playing with a toy by himself. Whatever Parker has, Kent gravitates towards it.

We've had a talk with Parker recently about which toys he can play with while Kent is awake, and which toys are reserved for when Kent is sleeping. The bears fall into the "sleeping" category. The other day, I noticed that Parker had gotten the bears off his shelf and was playing with them while Kent was awake and in the room. Within seconds, Kent had a bear in his mouth which I consequently had to dig out. I reiterated to Parker our rule, but he still was frustrated. I explained that Kent is too small to know how to use these properly, so to help him, we'll just eliminate the temptation altogether (I used more toddler friendly words,of course).

I wish I could get our student leaders to grasp this "bear" concept. In leadership, there are just some things that you do not do for the sake of those following you. The sheep may not have the faculties, maturity, or comprehension to use the "bears" accordingly. It is our responsibility to know when we can play with the "bears", and when we have to exercise restraint for the sake of the "Kents" in the room.

5 comments:

sharonie said...

VERY GOOD ANALOGY! Not to mention also that the leaders will be help accountable to those who they are in charge of. With leadership comes accountability to other's actions! Hey if you write a book someday, can I be on your dedication page???

Bethany Patrice said...

I wrote "facilities" and I meant to write "Faculties"...sure I will put you in the dedication page. About how my love for church and God's word began young when you and I would play church in the living room. You were the music pastor and I was the preacher. Do you remember that?

sharonie said...

I do remember playing church...were we nerds or what? I lead music out of the catholic hymnal. Seriously, do you know any other 5-7 year olds who have played churhc regulary like we did????

Megan said...

AMEN SISTER! GOOD LEADERS ARE SO HARD TO FIND. The ones that want to help you scream because they need help themselves. I know that our youth and any youth have their ears and eyes so open that anything negitive or wrong they hear and see. They comment on it too. I just wish we had stronger leaders to step up and really be leaders and not just teenager pleasures! Ok... as you can see I am really dealing with this right now with one of our leaders! grrr Anyways have a great night and have fun with your "Bears."

Bethany Patrice said...

Fortunately for Erik and I, we have been blessed with incredible adult leaders for the students in the ministry. Now we are working on raising up student leaders to help lead their peers. This has been a challenging task. It should be though..in today's culture it is rare to find someone who thinks of other above themselves..especially a teenager. I know how I am now, and I know what I was like as a 16 year old, so I know how the idea of putting others first can be difficult!