What Does It Look Like? - Genuine Respect (Part Trois)

What Does It Look Like? - Genuine Respect (Part Trois)

ALTHOUGH AVA is only seven months old as I write this, we have begun to model genuine respect for her.

At the Sugar Pop (which is wherever Sugar and Pop live at the moment), we tell Ava stories as we rock her: we tell her the story of handsome King Adam who found his beautiful Queen Shauna at the Kingdom of Texas Tech in the land of Lubbock, and how on his black Mustang (Ford), he carried her away to build a wonderful castle. And in this castle they lived and laughed and loved—and then were blessed with Princess Ava.

Cinderella and Prince Charming will have nothing on King Adam and Queen Shauna’s love story.

As we feed her and rock her and play with her, we tell Ava about the many charming characteristics of King Adam and Queen Shauna—their goodness, their generosity, their kindness, their faith, and their strong work ethic.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs will not compare to the wonderful attributes of the Archer Kingdom.

Yes, Ava only hears my babble today, but over the days to come, she will learn this one cold: she’s blessed to have these two awesome human beings as her parents. When she gets fed up with them when she’s a teenager, she will know that there will be no Mom- or Dad-bashing at our house.

Give respect and honor to those who are in authority. (Romans 13:7)

Learning the ropes of parenting an adult child is not much different from parenting a newborn; it’s all trial and error. We make it up as we go along, sometimes without thinking of the greater consequences of our actions. But today I am thinking. And I’m thinking that what I say or don’t say will have a lasting impact on Ava Lynn’s understanding of genuine respect. And because I have something good to say, I’m going to take the time to say it.