-Make your bed as your crawl out of it each morning

-Hang up your bath towels right away

-Change the toilet paper roll and throw away the old one when empty

-Put your dirty clothes in your dirty clothes basket

-Hang your coat as soon as you come inside from the cold

-Put your shoes in basket by door when coming in

-Throw away you snack garbage (wrappers, peels)

-Express appreciation for dinner (whether you like what is served or not - remember someone put work and love into that meal for you)

-Put your toothbrush and toothpaste away when done

-Never put empty food containers back in the refrigerator, throw them away

-Always pick up toys and put them away when finished playing

-Always bring toys, books, and food wrappers in from the van when you get out

-Flush the toilet

-Always eat and drink at table or outside

-Never climb or jump on furniture

-Wash hands and face after playing

Well this morning as we were going through the list the word servant came to my mind and God, as He so often does, prompted me to get to the root of why we were going over this list and what would keep us from doing these things. I asked the kids whether God wanted us to serve our neighbor or be served by our neighbor? And once again we discussed who our neighbor really is? I had the kids reason out that if God wanted us to have a servant's heart towards our neighbor and that included our family then what should be our attitude be towards the things we do each day in our own home? Serve or be served? We further discussed which we are looking to do when we don't change the toilet paper roll? or pick up our belongings? or hang up the bath towel when done with it? The kids realized that they were expecting to be served by leaving these things for someone else to do and they further realized the the real heart of the problem that causes us to want to be served rather than serve others is that big bad thing called laziness! We laughed at how silly it is for us to throw dirty clothes on the floor when the laundry basket is only two feet away - or how it only takes two seconds to change a roll of toilet paper yet we would rather turn clear around to place it on the back of the toilet rather than take a second more to change it! Oh how lazy we are!!

All this was very motivating but the part that touched their heart the most was when I asked them what the Bible says about the slothful man? If you read my last post than you know that this verse is posted on our daily schedule and so my kids have quickly become familiar with this verse but it didn't really hit home until today when they realized how many things they are being lazy about and they certainly do not want to be a brother to Satan!