Friendliness and Initiative

Cornflower's Little Flowers group had their monthly meeting this past Monday and since they had given their meeting time last month over to raising funds to repair a building for Romanian orphans, we doubled up this month in our study of virtues and examples.

Friendliness - seemed like a uncomplicated concept but determining what qualities make for good friend was not easy. What makes someone a good friend to us (likes to do what I want to do) doesn't always help US be a good friend. Friendliness (ironically) often is forgotten in our attitude toward our own families. It is soooo much easier to choose our friends and be friendly towards them than to practice the virtue with our relatives. Something to think about....

Initiative - the definition we came up with was "To do what needs to be done regardless of whether it is our "job/chore/responsibility" and without waiting to be asked to do it."

The girls painted morning glory flowers molded out of clay to take home and place in a prominent place in their homes as a reminder each time they saw it to take the initiative and do something helpful that needs to be done and before they are asked to do it.

Cornflower has already impressed me with her response to the visual cue by cleaning her room, putting away her clothes and entertaining her sibling as needed -- without my prompting on many occasions since Monday's lesson.

Having these virtues we study be a part of our shared, understood vocabulary in life, is a truly enriching experience. The conversations Cornflower and I have about life, choices, struggles and joys are gilded by the common language of virtues we have studied together. This is Cornflower's third year in the program and it is something she looks forward to each month. That, I suppose, is why I make the effort!