Teaching God's word to our children

"You shall teach [God's words] to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking in the way, and when you lie down and when you rise" (Deut 11:19)

Tyson Paoletti quoted this passage in his article 'Scripture Memory - A Father's Perspective' on the Resurgence blog recently.  Although he is talking specifically to Fathers in the blog, this verse is addressed to 'Israel' so is applicable to Mothers too.  Whilst the context is obviously under Old Testament Law I feel it would still be God's desire for us today.

Tyson Paoletti comments that it is parents "...who have the primary responsibility for teaching our kids about God, not the church.  The church is there to supplement what our kids should already be learning at home."

This reminded me of a recent blog post by Carl Thomas, "Ghetto Parenting and it's Charismatic counterpart" (a comment on the recent negative media reports about secular 'ghetto parents') in which he lists some symptoms of what he describes as Charismatic Ghetto Parenting or CGP.  This is first problem he identifies:

• CGP is expecting the Sunday school to teach your kids about Jesus.

Talking to our children about God and what He says to us in the Bible should be a natural part of everyday life.  As we are sitting at home with our children we share stories with them about Jesus, Joseph, Noah... As we are walking to playgroup we admire with them the beauty of His creation.  As we tuck them up into bed at night we pray, thanking God with them for His grace and provision, and seeking His will and the power of His Spirit.  As we rise in the morning we sing, worshipping God with them declaring His authority and holiness, for His glory.

All for Jesus

Our church held a worship evening called 'ReNEW' tonight, the theme focussed on Jesus, what He has done for us and our response to that.  Among the many songs we sang, this one by Robin Mark particularly spoke to me:

Jesus, all for Jesus,
All I am and have and ever hope to be.
Jesus, all for Jesus,
All I am and have and ever hope to be.

All of my ambitions, hopes and plans
I surrender these into Your hands.
All of my ambitions, hopes and plans
I surrender these into Your hands.

For it's only in Your will that I am free,
For it's only in Your will that I am free,
Jesus, all for Jesus,
All I am and have and ever hope to be.

As I was singing it struck me that it is not only the ambitions, hopes and plans for my life that I surrender to God, but also my ambitions, hopes and plans for my children's lives too.  I am to lay down the things I want my children to be, and lead them to Jesus so that they can discover and live in the fullness of God's will for their lives.  So that they will not be limited to my desires for them, or even their own desires, but be truly free to live how God intended.

A heritage from the Lord

"'Children are a heritage from the Lord' (Ps 127:3) and they should be acknowledged as such.  It is from God that parents receive their children, and it is to God that they should lead them"

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, quoted by Steve Froud in his blog today.  Steve goes on to comment:

"...we are tempted to play God by making (our children) into our own image.  Of course they will take after us and initially learn all that they know from their parents but each of them has their own unique future, hopefully shaped by God.  We should become like stewards of a great treasure that is not our own and be ready to obey the one whose treasure it really is.  Those instructions are given in some detail throughout the Bible and yet often as 'stewards' we know better and bow to contemporary or cultural thinking."

Aspects of Character

The Mum's Bible Study group at church have been working through 'Boundaries with Kids' by Henry Cloud and John Townsend over the past few weeks.  Whilst I don't agree with all of their suggestions, and am uncomfortable about their lack of biblical references, the authors raise some interesting points to consider.  In the first chapter they outline the qualities they consider important for a parent to foster in their children, which I have summarised below:

Loving - recognizing that the world does not revolve around you.

Responsible - taking ownership of your life and knowing you are accountable for it to God and others.

Free - realising that you have choices and can take some control of your life (rather than remaining passive or developing a victim mentality).

Initiating - being creative and having the ability to begin things.

Respectful of Reality - developing wisdom through experiencing both the positive and negative consequences of your actions.

Oriented to Growth - facing the obstacles of life and using them to grow and change you (rather than trying to get reality to change to suit you).

Oriented to Truth - honesty.  (Provide a safe environment for your children to be honest, they handle logical consequences of their mistakes better than relational consequences such as anger, guilt, shame, condemnation or abandonment).

Oriented to Transcendence - being grounded in God (gives direction and meaning to life; allows you to transcend problems, your limitations, others' sin against you; focus not on yourself or your own happiness).

They conclude by saying:

'To develop a child of good character, we must be parents of good character'.

All work is measured by faith alone

"The works of monks and priests, however holy and arduous they may be, do not differ one whit in the sight of God from the works of the rustic labourer in the field, or the woman going about her household tasks, but that all works are measured before God by faith (attitude) alone."

- Martin Luther, quoted by PJ Smyth today in the Godfirst Church blog.

A Mother's Call

I am a Christian and am so grateful to God for our children.  I feel privileged to be their mother and excited about this adventure we are on together as they grow and develop, learn about the world and about God who created it all, and discover the gifts, talents and interests He has given them.  I want to be the best Mum I can be and am seeking to understand what motherhood is really about.  I plan to use this blog to write about the things that I am discovering on my journey towards authentic biblical motherhood.