There’s something fascinating to my kids about staring in the water at their reflection. I don’t know if it’s the constant copying of the person looking back at them as the watery image mimics their movements or what but it captivates them.

Yesterday was Day One of our 14-Day Challenge for Busy Families and we focused on the heart. Not only did we increase our heart rate during the obstacle course and cool down with our frozen t-shirts, but we learned what the Bible has to say about our hearts.

Everything we do flows from our hearts (Proverbs 4:23). Rut roh. So those unkind thoughts manifesting in our minds can affect our heart and those words will come flying out of our mouths?

Yep.

Not only that but God can cleanse our filthy heart and renew in us a steadfast spirit (Psalm 51:10). We had a great conversation yesterday about how we can hide our ugly hearts from those around us but we can’t hide from God. He knows our good thoughts and our bad and He loves us anyway. We all have people we don’t love so much because they’ve wronged us in some way and we’ve just kind of written them off. God doesn’t write us off. That’s pretty miraculous so don’t you think we can afford to love others the same way?

Our thoughts exactly.

Just like my kids are fascinated with their reflections in the water, I’m fascinated with the hearts of people. What makes them tick? What’s inside that heart of theirs? Hope? Peace? Compassion? Or maybe guilt? Shame? Insecurities?

We ran into a few technical glitches yesterday with this challenge. The emails disappeared into neverland, HTML codes went haywire, and there was a disconnect between my site and the email service provider. This techno-challenged farm wife spent hours trying to correct it before I fired off a text to my tech-savvy sister-in-law who saved the day. Frustration poured from my lips and I’m ashamed to say I snarled at my kids more than once to sit down and finish their schoolwork. (ugh, yes, we are still wrapping up this school year!).

My words reflected a problem with my own heart. Confessing my sin to God and my children, I asked for forgiveness and then we ran back out to our obstacle course to burn off some steam. I felt like I’d failed this first challenge which was supposed to be so much fun for my family but God used our computer problems to teach me no matter what my heart looks like, He still loves me and will create in me a clean heart and renew in me a steadfast spirit.

I’m thankful for another day, a second chance, to let my heart reflect my person and to learn together with my family. What about you?

I hope this challenge opened doors for you to talk to your kids on a deeper level. Despite your frustrations with them being home all the time now, they still need you so use this time wisely to teach them and play with them and have fun doing it.

Today we’re tackling Day Two of our 14-Day Challenge and talking about water but it isn’t too late to sign up! You’ll receive exclusive email content with each day’s challenges, healthy recipes, fitness challenges the whole family will enjoy, and a memory verse for your family. Just click on this link and follow the prompts to receive each challenge in your inbox. Happy Tuesday!