The Power of Your Silent Example

Early on in my journey as a mom, I learned the power of my silent example.

It was a warm day, and my children and I were getting ready to go to church for Bible study. They would be spending time playing with their friends on the sunny playground, and I would be in a chilly, air-conditioned classroom. I froze every week, so on this particular morning, I decided to dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved shirt.

As we were walking out the door, I noticed that my three kids (8 and under at the time) were dressed in jeans and long sleeves. “Hey, everybody,” I said. “What gives? It’s still summer.”

“We just looked to see what you were wearing,” my son replied. “We figured it must be cold today.”

Never was the power of my example so sharply felt. I explained to the kids about my chilly classroom and let them change their clothes before we left. But this powerful lesson pierced my heart: They’re watching me, even when I’m not aware of it. They are doing what they see me do.

So how does this apply to the afternoon crunch? If I can set the example every afternoon of being calm, cool, and Christ-like, it will encourage them to do the same. But if I lose my temper in traffic, fuss about how late we are, and then fume because I didn’t make any plans for dinner, I’m not only setting a poor example, I’m setting a tone for the whole evening. And it’s the wrong one!

Proverbs 14:1 offers these wise words: “Every wise woman builds her house, but a foolish one tears it down with her own hands.” The afternoon crunch can be a time of tearing down, or it can be a time of building.

• You can build stronger relationships with your kids by listening to them.
• You can create an environment that urges your children to connect with each other.
• You can establish a safe haven by simply letting Christ use you to not only mother but minister to your kids.

Ask for His help in the traffic, in the kitchen, and in the middle of the afternoon crunch.

Read More:
The Answer to Your Middle Schooler's Afternoon Crunch? Kitchen Duty!
Practical Tips for Surviving the Afternoon Crunch

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Practical Tips for Surviving the Afternoon Crunch!

While you prepare dinner, keep the kids close by with these fun family activities for all ages, and be prepared to enjoy some quality conversations. You can rotate these ideas for a regular weekly or bi-weekly schedule.

Make A Mural. Take a piece of butcher block paper and spread it across the kitchen table or on the kitchen floor. Write a Bible verse across the top of the mural that will dictate the theme: “Jesus went about doing good,” “Give thanks,” or “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” If you choose to make this a weekly activity, mix it up a little by varying your art media. Choose from stickers, stamps, markers, crayons, colored pencils, and glitter pens. Encourage little ones to take turns and share the art supplies. Ask your older ones to enjoy this activity with their younger sibs. Hang the finished mural for everyone to enjoy, or leave it on the table to serve as the evening's tablecloth.

Letters and cards. Your children can invest some time in writing letters to long-distance loved ones and making cards for homebound church members who could use a lift. Younger children can draw pictures and older kids can work on their communication skills. This is a great way to cultivate the lost art of the handwritten note.

Tents. Set aside an afternoon for little ones to play with makeshift tents. It seems like a big mess, but it just takes a few minutes to clean up. Give your crew the blankets and sheets they need to drape over some chairs, and let them play with books, flashlights, and card games inside. Once you’ve got dinner in the oven, join them for some play time.

Bowling. Set up an indoor bowling alley. Use empty soda cans, chip cans, paper or plastic cups, and a nerf ball for safe indoor play.

Play with your food. With world hunger at an all-time high, I don’t recommend any kind of food crafts unless you are actually going to eat the food once you’ve finished playing with it. That said, threading circle-shaped cereal on a piece of yarn for a necklace is a quiet tabletop activity. Building houses out of graham crackers and peanut butter is edible fun. Using prepared sugar cookie dough and a set of cookie cutters puts the kids to work making dessert.


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