It's been years since I last went to school, and yet I still get Back to School Fever. I admit it! When I see those back to school bargains - notebooks for 7 cents each. I itch to stock up. I use to love going to school! When my mom would say we were going back to school shopping, it was pure euphoria. I would get home with all my supplies, organize them all and arrange them in my backpack immediately.
Don't get me wrong. I loved summer and all the freedom that went with it. But there was just something about the shortening days of summer that made me itch to get back to school. I plain loved school. I couldn't read enough. I couldn't learn enough. I couldn't write enough. And yes, I actually liked taking tests!! I'm telling you - I thought it was all great.
So, as I watched the neighbor kids jump on to those wonderful big yellow school buses this morning, I wonder if my little ones will love their school experience as much as I did. How can I instill in them a passion for learning? More importantly, how can I impress upon them a passion for learning about and knowing God?
As a Christian mom I want each lesson I teach, each craft we complete and every game we play to have a God Moment in it. The moment may not be fully grasped by their little minds now, but I want the memories we create as a family to reflect a complete love, respect and reverence for God. I want those memories to shout - Uplift the Lord in all you do!
Often our hunger for God, our thirst for his Word wavers. We get too busy with the everyday demands of life and before you know it, days, weeks, and months(?) have gone by without sitting down for a one on one devotion with God.
The lessons most remembered by our children are those that are taught by example. How many times has your child come across you reading your Bible, or on your knees, or listening to Christian broadcasts? Or rather, how many times have you scurried around the house on Sunday morning trying to find the Bible you haven't touched all week only to find it in the car, where you left it last Sunday? Or worse, find out you actually left it at church?
When we falter in our walk with God, when we forget our first love, when we lose that passion for seeking God - where exactly will our children learn to develop their relationship with Him?
As youth pastors, I remember parents coming to my husband and I pleading with us to talk to their sons and daughters to convince them to come to church. Others would complain that there weren't enough activities or other "godly" youth at church to influence their teenagers to give their lives to God. They looked to everyone and everything else to explain why their children did not have a passion for the things of God.
Often, when talking to these teenagers, who by the way seemed to be perfectly good kids, they would cite their parent's actions and attitudes as the reason why they did not seek to be Christians. The most common phrases being "If that's what a Christian is, I don't want to be one." and "If I give my life to God, I don't want to be a hypocrite like my mom (or dad)". Ouch!
It's those very responses that echo in mind and motivate me to live and speak in a godly manner, in public and behind closed doors. Remember, little eyes are watching, little ears are listening and little minds are recording EVERYTHING.
So as the lazy days of summer fall behind, and the busy school year with sports and other extracurricular activities revs up again, let's not forget our Sunday School basics: Read your Bible, Pray every day and you'll grow, grow, grow - and so will your kids.
Ps 63:1-5
O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:
De 6:5-7
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.
Hey! Did you know September is Parenting Month. Great Focus on Your Child radio broadcasts coming up this month!
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