Truth, Goodness, and Beauty

I borrowed an idea from Cindy at Ordo Amoris to add to our "morning time" this month. The plan was to at some point during our time, after our Bible study, Scripture memory, and hymns, ask each child to think of something "true, good, or beautiful." Last Tuesday was our first day to try this out, and I really did not know what to expect, but I was anticipating something along the lines of one of their toys, or  something silly to make the others laugh. 

So I read aloud Philippians 4:8 and asked each of them to think of something that they would then share with the rest of us. One of my girls caught her sister's eye and grinned and said she knew what she was going to say. The other one also smiled, and said she bet she was going to say the same thing. My son joined in with the grinning, and at this point, I figured all hope was lost.

Then my daughter said, "Mom. Mom is beautiful." And my other daughter said, "That is what I was going to say!" And then my son said, "Me too!"

And I, humbled and thankful, felt guilty that I had expected so little from them. The Lord blessed this first effort beyond what I had imagined, blessed me to see myself through the loving eyes of my children. And I am so grateful that however many times I have fallen short with them, I have not failed so horribly that they can't still find some beauty in me.

The rest of the week, we did have to talk about whether stuffed animals and iPods qualified for our "true, good, and beautiful" conversations, and honestly I am not sure myself about whether to place judgments on these things or just use them as a springboard into conversation about truth, goodness, and beauty as the children get older, but I will always carry the memory of our first morning time with "truth, goodness, and beauty" close to my heart.