Monthly Archives: June 2008

The Power of Applause

2 Timothy 4:2b
…correct, rebuke and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction.

An amazing thing happened this morning on our way to a normal day. Applause. You read that right. Spontaneous, wild clapping. I watched the power of applause change something and it was amazing. Let me fill you in.

I’ve written before about our typical morning routine with our son, Will. I think it’s safe to say that he’s not a morning person. Most mornings one of us will stop by his room about every 2-3 minutes to make sure he’s making the bed and getting dressed, and most mornings we’ll find him almost asleep again in whatever current state he’s in. Pants could be half on, but he’s probably laying on the bed trying to catch a few more Zzzs. It can be, to say the least, frustrating.

This morning, for no other reason than it just seemed like a change of pace from the whole "Hurry up, Will! You’ll be late for school!" scenario, I took Sydney in the room and we sat on Parker’s bed and watched as Will laid in his bed when he should have been making it. I told him to go ahead and start pulling the sheets up, and when he did, I clapped. He kind of looked at me all weird, and then he pulled the comforter up and grabbed his pillows. I clapped again, followed by a golf announcer type play by play for Sydney. "Oh, did you see the way he grabbed those pillows and put them perfectly in place? Amazing!" We both clapped.