Renewing My Mind: And the Winner is...

Anyone who knows me well is very aware of the fact that I can be highly competitive. So, I know sometimes that's not a good thing, and it's very much related to my pride. Though I have improved in this area over the years, unfortunately I have already passed this often annoying trait onto my children. Highly competitive people sometimes don't make good losers. It's not fun to witness that playing out in your children, especially when you know they are just mirroring you. Oops. That would be an area I need some mercy on in my attempt at child rearing.

But, God will bless you in areas where you know you don't deserve to be blessed, and He has done just that in this past month. It's been really fun to see some "wins" in the family that I know I had absolutely nothing to do with, was not expecting, and really didn't care if they happened or not (well, I might have hoped a teensy bit). So, here they are:

Lucas received the award for most original pinewood derby car in the Webelos den, and then, much to our surprise, he won most original for the entire pack (many thanks to Grandma for her excellent last minute design contribution)!

A couple of weeks later, Jacob won our local homeschool organization's Spelling Bee (including a nice Barnes & Noble gift card)! Sure we prepared, but I really wasn't expecting a win. Unlike my usual method of operation, we really were doing it just for fun. Both big boys operate very well under pressure, which is quite opposite of how their mom was at their age.

And, finally, I won a gift card from a radio station to a local grocery store, but I really can't take too much credit for even calling in the first place. I have tried numerous times to win things, mostly because I hear them say, "Be the ninth caller...", and I'll call not even knowing what I might be winning. This time, the boys heard the radio, came and told me to call, and just to prove to them that it was way too late to be able to win, I called (twice). Needless to say, I was very shocked when it rang for a while and the DJ actually answered. I'm pretty sure God orchestrated those events!