On Training My Children

I love when God speaks to me... and oddly enough, when He shows me an area in which I need to grow and develop.  My type A personality loves a good project, and I got a good one this past week.  Between Tuesday and Wednesday, I heard/read/came across Deuteronomy 6:6-9 an unusual amount of times.  It's one of the main sets of verse parents look to for guidance on how we are to spiritually train our children.  This topic had been on my heart, and once I came across the verses so many times, I knew that it wasn't coincidence.  God wants me to do some work in this department.  Here are the verses:

These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.  Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Taking Ben and Joe to church on Sunday is a good thing.  Taking them to Sunday School is a good thing.  Teaching them to be respectful, kind, and helpful is a good thing.  Andrew and I modeling the same behavior in our home and daily lives is even better.  However, if we do all these lovely pretty churchy things but don't teach them WHY we do it, that Jesus Christ is at the very center of it all, and that His Word is absolute truth and valuable, we have failed them miserably. 

I asked my Facebook friends what they do with their kids for spiritual training.  I got some great ideas, and some even replied with things their parents did with them as they were growing up.  So here are their wonderful ideas in one convenient spot. I love all of them and plan on incorporating several.

• Gotta have God (devotional book)
  
• Hubbard's Cupboard (website)
  
• Godly Character Traits (website)  
• Adventures in Odyssey (Focus on the Family radio show) 
  
• Jesus Story Book Bible
  
• Instead of bedtime stories, my mom told us Bible stories. She'd go to sleep telling the stories and I'd wait, then ask her "What happened next?" and she'd wake up, pick up on the story right where she left off. I've carried those Bible story memories all my life.

• (from a man in his 70s) I remember my Mom always made sure we studied our Sunday School lessons and memorized our memory verses. There were always discussions, especially around the supper table about the Bible and how the Lord expected us to behave. Mom always made sure we were ready for church and Sunday School on Sunday, rain or shine. My Mom and Dad taught us, by example, to love God and love others over 70 years ago. They lived it and we learned.

• The key is to start with one thing at a time so that you don't overload yourself but it's really a shift of your thinking more than another activity!

• Look for and pray for teachable moments. Ask God for them and look for them; they appear. 
  
  
• When reading Deut. 6:7-9, what I see is using everyday opportunities and situations that we encounter to instruct our children. This is one of my parenting verses too. The other one is James 1:5.