a few more ideas. . .

As I stated yesterday, my journey has only begun. I think in many ways it is difficult to grow up in a Christian home where the things of this world are not encouraged. There is a fine balance between sheltering and preparing our children for the real world. This is the journey we have now started with our girls. We want to give them the practical tools they will need to sustain their relationships with the Lord. Since Maddie’s decision last week, we have decided to change how we do a few things to be more intentional about what we are teaching. We have added a family time right before bed the last few nights and the girls have loved it. We do not have a huge plan other than a time to talk with the girls about their relationship with the Lord and what tools we can help them learn. Some nights we read from a children’s devotional, other nights we sing praises while daddy plays the guitar, other nights we review their bible verses for AWANA. We end our time by each praying for one thing for ourselves or each other. All in all it lasts about 15 minutes. Some nights it doesn’t work to have us all there, but that is our goal. If truth be told, it is really hard sometimes after a long day to be intentional with this time, but both Jeff and I think as parents this is our job. It is our job to be involved and active in their spiritual development. We have decided to be open to however this bedtime family time looks like. We do not want to get caught up in what we do as much as we want to be caught up in doing what is right for our girls. Does that make sense?

As Barb stated early this week, teaching our children about Jesus starts with our own relationship with Jesus. Are we tapping into the vine so that He can speak through us to meet the needs of our girls? If I am working on my relationship with Jesus, the easier it is to put the time into meeting the girls’ needs. I won’t sugar coat it-it is hard work. We send our girls to church and AWANA and they learn a lot of great things there, but it is still our responsibility on a daily basis to be teaching and modeling good choices. Barb is right-our kids are watching us. They see what we do with our time. They see what we watch, what we read, what we eat, what we say while we are on the phone. . .they are learning not only by what we teach them, but even more by our actions. And I know that if left to myself, my actions would not produce the outcome I want for my girls. I need to be plugged into Jesus so that His strength comes out of me. I need to check my priorities with His so that I know I will have the energy to deal with the task of raising godly children. My goal as my girls’ mother is to give them the best possible start in life so that they have a greater chance of choosing God when they are older. I want to look back one day with no regrets. There are no guarantees in parenting. God gave my girls free-will just like the rest of us, and I am positive that Satan will know just how to tempt them one day. My goal is to do my part then leave them in the hands of Jesus and pray that they will make their own good choices. It is so comforting to know that God wants what is best for my girls even more than I do. They are His daughters on loan to me. I can only pray that God gives me what I need to help raise them to glorify Him.

I'd love to hear how you are teaching your children about Jesus. . .please share your thoughts in the comment section. Have a great Wednesday!