My son is wonderful! He is smart, handsome, honest, and fun…but he is also way too much like me…always asking why or needing/demanding further explanation. As of late, his favorite and first response to me, no matter what is being said, is “Yeah, but…” It is driving me crazy!!
Sometimes he says it about school assignments:
“J, you need to write your spelling words.”
“Yeah, but do I have to write them or can I just type them?”
Sometimes he says it in response to a chore that he’s being asked to do:
“J, you need to pick up your room.”
“Yeah, but does that mean to actually put the clothes away or can I just lay them on the toybox?”
Sometimes he says it in response to nothing…it has just become his habitual first response. It seems that no matter what I do to try to help correct this little problem, he just doesn’t get it. I’m not even sure that he realizes that he’s saying it.
So tonight, we were talking about something funny that happened among him, his sister, and me. I was joking around with him, and as he was trying to explain, he said, “Yeah, but Mom…I was just….” I interrupted him saying, “J, there you go again with the ‘yeah, but’. Tomorrow I am going to keep a tally of all the times that you say that so that you can see for yourself…”
He in turn interrupted me with, “Yeah, but Mom…that’s keeping a record of wrongs.”
So maybe he really is listening to some of the things I am trying to teach him. Maybe he is getting it…and learning exactly what God wants him to learn. And instead of chalking it up for him tomorrow with his “yeah, but”…I think I will chalk one up for God that HE is working on my son in the places that matter most!
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails.
Choosing Life 
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