How Do I Obey?

The boys and I are reading through the Gospels and Psalms at breakfast and I was stopped in my tracks yesterday. Or stopped in my reading.  Here's what I read. 

I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies. I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments. Psalm 119:59-60

How much thought do I really put into my life? I remember our Pastor preaching about this one time. There are Bible verses about considering my paths. It makes sense to consider what I am doing. But what's my purpose in this consideration? This verse tells me what my purpose is supposed to be: I am supposed to be aligning my life with the Bible. 

I need to evaluate my life by the Bible and change what doesn't match. Constantly consider if I am following or violating Biblical principles. Turning takes effort. It might not be easy- probably won't be easy- to change because I am going against the flesh. But I am to turn my feet. God isn't just going to zap me from heaven and change me into a Bible-living Christian. I have to turn myself when God reveals a digression from His Word. 

There are endless "ways" to contemplate and compare to the Bible. My speech. My mothering. My marriage. My priorities. My love. You get the idea; I will never arrive. I can apply this verse every single day. 

photo courtesy of geww/freedigitalphotos.net

How quick am I to obey the Bible? Micah and I have been continuing to work on obeying "right away." It's a habit I want to form early in his life so that when he grows up (hopefully- he has to make his own choices) he will obey God right away. Nothing good comes from delaying obedience and frequently bad things come from disobedience. (Delayed obedience is disobedience.) 

But what about me? How do I obey? When God reveals something to me, whether in Bible reading, personal rebuke from a mentor,  or the preaching, how quickly to I obey? Do I make excuses for why I don't have to obey right then? I need to form a habit in myself of immediately doing what God tells me. Nothing spooky here- what He tells me in His Word. There's more than enough there to last me a lifetime without adding weird stuff. God will bless my habit of obedience. 

This was not in my personal reading yesterday but it stuck with me all day long. Writing about it helps cement the idea in my heart and mind so that it is more likely to become part of me.  I've commented to Justin before that I learn far more than my children in their training and instruction. And let me tell you, I really need it. 

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was yesterday. If you didn't know that you missed it. And you should probably call your Mom pronto. Mothers deserve to be celebrated. As I told my mom I never realized how much work a family was until we had our own. I'm so thankful for my mom and mother-in-law! They are both great mothers and great grandmothers! I should word that differently. They aren't great-grandmothers. Obviously they aren't old enough for that. They are fantastic grandmothers. That better? 

I was thinking yesterday about what a solemn responsibility raising children is. God made these children for a specific purpose and then He asked me to help Him train them into people He can use. That, my friends, is a job that deserves prayerful consideration and purposeful time. These are God's children. What a sacred trust is handed to mothers with a baby.  

This recognition of Who my children belong to begs me to reconsider my mothering. Would I talk that way to God's child? (Or even a friend's child?) Is it not worthwhile to find the time to teach, train, and spend time with these children who are loved and valued by God? Is God pleased with my partnership in this work of their lives? Am I modeling God's behavior toward me in my behavior toward my children? 

One of my favorite quotes for this year states: "What I am aiming to be I am becoming today." Today is a step toward that goal. Today is a chance to improve. How is my mothering today impacting who my children will become? How is my mothering today forming memories for our children? How is my mothering today changing the person I am becoming? 

Motherhood isn't just dishes and laundry, diapers and boo-boos. Motherhood is soul-forming. Motherhood is dying to self. Motherhood is partnering with God to create vessels He can use. Motherhood is becoming an example my children can follow. I can't just throw together some crazy plan with my children and hope it turns out okay.  Motherhood deserves prayer; motherhood deserves my hunger to learn more from the Bible and experienced Christians. Motherhood deserves my best. There are some jobs that I feel confident in my ability to perform but mothering isn't one of them. I know that I need Jesus every hour of every day. I need Jesus working in my heart and the hearts of my children. 

My children don't need a perfect mother because they will never be perfect.  My children need a godly mother so they have a pattern to follow.  My heart's desire is to be a mom that will impact my children's lives for eternity so that one day they will "arise up, and call [me] blessed." (Pro. 31:28)

Ambassadors in Training

I once read an article about how parents teach peer pressure to their small children with their words. "Would you want Johnny to see you acting like that?" "What would Susie think if she saw you do that?" Then those children grow up and all they care about is what Johnny or Susie thinks of them. The article then suggested that we teach our children to care about what Jesus thinks. "It makes Jesus happy when you are nice to your brother." "Jesus likes it when you obey." 

I've been incorporating similar phrases into my praise of Micah and it's carried over to other things. Often I'll explain to him that we behave certain ways because we represent Jesus. Because we want others to see Jesus when they look at us. Why does it matter?  I want him to grow up looking at his own life through a Biblical perspective, not worrying about what a friend thinks. 

photo courtesy of Stuart Miles/freedigitalphotos.net

"Now then we are ambassadors for Christ..." 2 Corinthians 5:20.  We do represent Jesus in everything we do. Micah's smart; he'll notice quickly if I'm telling him one thing and doing something different myself.  So I have to remind myself, "I'm representing Jesus."

 If an unsaved person were tied to my arm (think Apostle Paul and his Roman guards) would they be won to Christ by my behavior? By my behavior when someone cuts me off on the road? By my behavior when it's thirty minutes until naptime? By my behavior when my husband is working late? Could my testimony as a Christian be doing more harm than good to the name of Christ? 

Not only could I be doing harm to unbelievers who might be watching me, I might also be doing harm to my own children. I want to teach them by word and example so I have to train myself first.  So my reminder to myself- as I pick out my clothes, as I choose my words, as I focus my days- is that I'm an ambassador. Jesus left me here to show Him to others. 

Teaching Kids the Bible

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.  Deuteronomy 6:4-9 

If I want my children to love and absorb the Bible, I must love it. The words must be in my heart. Then, and only then, can I effectively teach them to our children. Micah frequently gets up as I am finishing my personal reading in the morning. I like that because I want him to see me reading the Bible. Some things are "more caught than taught." Teaching the Bible and Biblical principles shouldn't be pushed into little corners of life and not talked about after that. We are to discuss the Bible when we sit, when we walk, when we lay down, when we get up. That's a lot of instructing.

Obviously I'm not an expert since my children are under the age of three. But I do want to document what I'm doing for future reference. We have specific Bible times worked into our routine. (If I want to do something regularly, I have to work it into a routine.) Some days we don't get all of them, specifically the Bible story during morning reading but the rest are routinely part of our day. I want my children to know that the Bible is supposed to be part of their daily lives regardless of how old or young they are.

Over breakfast, I read from Psalms and one of the Gospels. We started in John. I read as much or as little as we need to that day based on time constraints and our daily schedule. Then we work on our memory verse of the week. I am using this list. I love how it's divided up into categories. I write our verses on index cards (I look them up in my Bible since she uses a different version of the Bible than I do) and stick them in the front of my Bible. After we read our chapters I read the verse aloud a few times. This is mostly for my benefit. I wanted to work memorization into my schedule but I know Micah will also benefit from it. He doesn't talk much yet but he absorbs everything he hears. And before long he will be memorizing them too!

We also sing the "B-I-B-L-E" song after we read. Micah loves that part and I know it won't be long before he's singing it too! My aunt even taught me another verse that I had never heard.

"The B-i-b-l-e, I take it home with me. 

I read and pray, and then obey

The B-i-b-l-e!"

I am teaching Micah not to talk during the Bible reading. I remind him that nothing he has to say is as important as what the Bible says. This is great training not only for him being quiet when he needs to but also looking forward to him moving into the church service. 

How do (did) you teach your children the Bible? 

Incorporating Toddlers into Cleaning

I read a statement out in blogland (that means I don't remember where) that challenged me to get Micah involved in what I was doing. Structured preschool is all about kid-appropriate activities that are new developments to probably our generation or the generation before. Before that moms just involved the kids in whatever was going on around the house. There was so much to do that they had no choice.

What I would truly love would be to spend a week with Susanna Wesley and watch how she managed all she did with all those children! But since that's not going to happen...

I've been working on involving Micah in my work. And yes, it would be much faster to do it myself but I don't tell him that! Instead I tell him how much I enjoy his help and what a good helper he is! And he loves to help me!

• He helps me carry laundry baskets. He holds one side and walks forward and I hold the other and walk backwards and we carry the basket to wherever we are going.
• I put the wet clothes on the dryer door and he pushes them into the dryer.
• He helps pick up all his toys.
• He will pick up and carry items for me.
• When I sweep and mop he "uses" the opposite item. We don't have anything delicate low enough for him to break.
• He helps me "fold" clothes. Obviously, he doesn't really fold anything but he thinks he does! So it's work to him.
• When I make our bed, Micah carries the shams and decorative pillows from the corner and puts them up on the bed.
  

I have a few ideas in mind as he's getting bigger too. Soon he can carry his dishes to the sink and help me dust. As soon as he's out of his crib, he will start learning to make his bed.

This is a great way for him to learn to work! And we're spending time together and my work is getting done as well! Winner for everybody!

How do you include your small children in your work around the house?

My Non-Advice

No occupation in this world is more trying to soul and body than the care of young children. What patience and wisdom, skill and unlimited love it calls for. God gave the work to mothers and furnished them for it, and they cannot shirk it and be guiltless.
— Isabella Alden and Mrs. C. M. Livingston

I call this my “non-advice” because I am very unqualified to give advice about raising kids! I’ve only been at this for 14 months and it’s a big job. So I try to keep my thoughts to myself. However, I do feel that there are some things that can help anyone at any stage.

1. Ask God daily for wisdom in training and loving your children. God knows exactly what you need and what your children need. Remember that He gave your children specifically to you.

2. Find a Godly older woman to ask for advice. I would suggest that you pick a lady that is well down the path of raising children and also one who has a great marriage. You don’t want to sacrifice your marriage for children. I have actually given this lady in my life permission to tell me if she thinks I am doing something stupid with my child(ren). I don’t know if she would actually do this because she is very good at keeping her opinions to herself, but my child(ren) are more important than my pride.

3. Read good books. Once again by people farther down the path that love God and have good marriages. My favorite so far as been “Training Kings and Queens” by Cindy Schaap. You can order this through Christian Womanhood.

This will work whatever the age of your children!