It has been a few months now since I received my first lesson. And my second lesson came earlier this week.
The first mentor lesson came unexpectedly.
I was sitting in the front seat of my car driving while my 8-year-old grandson Tyler sat in the back with his 3-year-old little sister.
His little sister is horribly afraid of bugs. It doesn’t matter how big or little they are or if they fly or crawl. She is utterly terrified.
On this particular day, we were on our way to my house after picking him up from school. As I am driving, a tiny speck of a bug lands on the outside of the window that is next to my granddaughter. She starts freaking out. The fear in her voice is apparent as she starts commanding me to do what she feels I need to do.
Her brother and I both speak in a reassuring voice and tell her she is safe and that the bug is outside and that it cannot hurt her.
That did not do anything to help her. She was lost in the fear.
We continued to attempt to comfort her telling her we are almost there and anything else we could think of.
Still no help.
At this time I start to hear an old M.I.N.D in my head that is in direct conflict with the comfort we are offering. The old voices I heard in my childhood, invalidating the fear and demanding it to simply stop.
As I am working inside my head—to not let—those invalidating feelings come out my mouth—my eight-year-old grandson teaches me the biggest lesson in compassion.
He reaches over—and grabs his sister’s hand—and tells her—that he is there with her—and will hold her hand all the way home.
That calmed her.
That enduring compassion amazed me and still brings me to tears.
That enduring compassion amazed me and still brings me to tears. Share on X
I want to be more like him.
That was the day I first recognized my eight-year-old mentor.
My next lesson was earlier this week. We spent two days at the Armada Fair where Tyler shows horses.
We spent two days at the Armada Fair where Tyler shows horses.
Similar to his first year, when he was just six – there was rain.
The first day we had good weather but the second day it rained half of the day. Sometimes pouring, sometimes misting only to start pouring again.
Rain does not stop the fair.
Rain did not stop my grandson either. It did not even deter him in the least.
They picked me up at 7:30 am and we drove to the fairgrounds in the rain and walked to the barn in the rain.
As the morning went on Tyler’s love and dedication to this became glaringly evident as he showed his horse in the rain, took the wheelbarrow of horse manure to where it needed to be dumped in the rain.
It isn’t even just that he stood in the rain in his shirt and jeans without any rain protection.
The biggest thing to me was that during this entire time he did not utter one complaint about the rain or the hard work he had to do the rain.
I want to be more like him.
He is my eight-year-old mentor.
I tweeted this that night:
This is what #dedication looks like. My EIGHT-year-old grandson showing #horses IN THE RAIN with #NOCOMPLAINING!
Tyler is eight.
He is a normal 8-year-old that gets silly and distracted and all those other childish 8-year-old things.
But he has a heart of gold and good character in him that is worth recognizing. Celebrating!
People need to hear about the extraordinary kids that DO exist in our world today.
I have two other grandchildren who are becoming amazing humans also.
People need to hear about the extraordinary kids that DO exist in our world today. Share on X…And a little child shall lead them.
Isaiah 11:6 NKJV
What next:
- Who do you have in YOUR life that you can champion? Share in the comments.
- Do you struggle to believe in your ability to be a champion? Get this: Dare to Believe
This was so awesome Danielle ,our grandchildren can truly teach us to be more Christ like! They truly each are unique and so special I have 3 grand- daughters and 1 grandson,Christian Marie Gabrielle will be 14, Christine Mary Grace will be 9 next week,we call her Gracie, Kyndal Falon Rain is 11, we call her Rain, and Ryker Israel Kent ,we call him Ryker,he is 3, I’ve watched him two days a week since he was 6 weeks old , They sure are blessings from our Lord and they do teach us things ,that was so sweet and calming for him to take his sissy’s hand! Praying for you , your son, and your grandbabies! We definitely have been told such is the Kingdom of God, we come as little children! So we will continue observing and being mentored with you!
Thank you Glenna for sharing. We are indeed blessed. Not every child is raised with love and displays good character so I celebrate those that are and do. They are examples not only to adults but to peers as well.
That is such a nice story. What great kids! My daughter was just telling me she has a phobia of spiders. I told her there is no such thing as arachnophobia because the fear of spiders is completely rational and justified!
Thanks Shayne!
That is kinda cool – it can’t be a phobia because it is justified. Me? I don’t have a “fear” of spiders – I just loathe them. I got 24 bites on my legs this summer in the process of tearing out our deck. Not sure which were spider bites but I know some of them were. No fun.
That’s my relationship with fire ants. We were taking some kids on a bike ride a few years ago. I knelt down to air up one of their tires before the ride, not knowing I had knelt in a bed of fire ants. I ended up with 68 bites! I’ll post a pic sometime when it seems appropriate.
Incidentally, I’ll take ants bites over spider bites any day!
I think some of my bites were ants. Not fire ants but other ants. But really not sure. They were just awful. Still have the marks on my legs.
My nephew made my 48th birthday extra special when he asked, “Is it great to be 48?” Since then I’ve adapted his quote, asking him when he turned eight, “Is it great to be eight?” It’s a fun question I enjoy asking when I’m around other soon to be or already turned eight-year-olds. 🙂
That is really sweet Colleen. Thanks for sharing!
Pingback: 23 Lessons About Life Learnt From Kids - Raising World Children