Love Letter!

I was reading through some of my favorite homeschooling blogs, and I came across the picture above.  I love this quote!  I immediately thought, "I pray that this is true of my life.  I hope that I give my Lord the freedom to write whatever He wants, not just what I hope to see." 

I hope that I am holding on to my children's unsteady hands, training them to write neatly and with correct form.  The only way I can do that is to exercise this everyday until they are ready to allow the Spirit of God to give them direction for what will be written through their lives.

Our children's character and their belief in our Lord Jesus Christ and His word is seen in how they obey and respect their parents.  If they believe the Word, they will know that even though they don't understand everything about the Word and Faith, if they Honor their Father and Mother, they are serving God.

I have found that when I start seeing a disrespectful attitude start to rear its ugly head, that I need to work on winning back my child's heart.  If they don't respect me, how will they ever learn submission to God or to the others that will have spiritual authority in their lives. 

Parenthood is all about the display of who God is to our children when they are young.  He is authority, but He is also mercy.  He instructs us, yet He blesses us.  He tests our faithfulness by giving us tasks to see if we are ready, and then He also knows when we need to stay in the same place for a little longer.  God is our defender and our protection.

Something that is not tolerated in my house is laziness.  I think that if children get to be lazy when they are young, they will be lazy as adults.  Not only is that hard for those who have to go to work, but more importantly it makes them apathetic in the Kingdom of God.  Lazy people are always waiting to see if someone else will do what is needed.  There is no time for that when the fields are ripe and the laborers are few. (Matt.9:37)  We need people with a desire to work and to do all as unto the Lord. (Col. 3:23)

My prayer is, that as parents, we will begin to see the task of raising our children with such great importance.  If you want your children to be loving and serving Jesus with a passion and zeal when they are adults, you better put the time in now.  Don't let Nick Jr. raise your kids.  Read the Bible to them everyday, and help them memorize scripture.  Don't give them the option to volunteer at church or with mission, use those times as training for the rest of their lives. 

Most importantly, don't try to train your kids to be something you are NOT!  If you don't put God first in your life, your kids won't.  If you don't get planted in a church and be involved in the vision and mission of the church, don't think that your kids will want to, or that they will when they are grown.  If you don't serve others, your children will want to be selfish too.  Be what the Word of God says, live it out before your children, and teach them to do the same!