Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Almost Famous
"Parents, we have little paparazzi following us wherever we go. Little eyes and little ears are taking photographs and recording conversations. Everything we do and don't do, everything we say and don't say, every core value that we give to them - they are taking it all in. What are your children seeing in your life, in the way you parent and discipline them?" - Kid CEO: How to Keep Your Children from Running Your Life (by Ed Young, pastor of Fellowship Church in Grapevine, TX) I read that and thought, "Wow, this is a huge responsibility - and one that doesn't go away for at least the next 18 years!" Though none of us are perfect, some parents still desire perfection from their kids. How can that be if they are just taking in what we are doing?! My problem has been in not modeling to my kids. I wouldn't say that the things I do and say during the day are wrong, but I'm not making the effort to do and say the things that are right. I (and Charlie by extension) have fallen into the pattern of thinking that the boys are just babies and they wouldn't understand what I was telling them anyway. By thinking this, I have neglected the very early stages of teaching them big and small things - from animal sounds and how to wave bye-bye to how to fold their hands and pray at mealtime and bedtime. Deuteronomy 6:5-7 says, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise." From that, I gather that we are supposed to be diligent all the time. Have you ever thought about this? I would love to hear your reactions to the quotes and also your approach in modeling life to your kids. And if you have any stories about something your kids caught you doing and repeated, that would be fun too : )
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4 comments:
I guess this means I have to curb the cursing...dang!
When I was reading this post I was thinking about humility - the bottom line is, no matter how well you do at modeling and teaching behavior for your kids, you're going to mess up at some point. And it's at that point where you get to say "I'm sorry" and "will you please forgive me?" Your (not you specifically but a general everybody "you") failures can be an opportunity to continue to teach your kids about the Lord while building a trusting relationship with them - even when they're little!
Hope that's not too off topic - it's just what happened to come to mind while reading your post.
Practically, one of the things I've been trying to model better for my kids is prayer - either when waking or heading to bed, or when I'm just really struggling with something I ask my kids to pray with me, hoping that they will be able to see that they can ask God for anything and that they need to be dependent on him.
And for the young toddler crowd, maybe some simple role play would be beneficial (I'm not often very good about this!). But simple things like hugging a stuffed animal and associating the word "kind" or "nice" with it could be a stepping stone as their language and understanding grow.
I've been convicted of thi lately and so have been making a real effort to talk to Abby about God an d read the Bible and pray every day. I've just tried to include it in our routine so as to make sure I am intentional about it. For example, I try to remember to talk about God every time we are in the car, or we read the Bible and pray together as a family as part of the bedtime routine. Being only 20 months, I wasn't sure how much she would pick up on, but it is so great now how she "reminds" us it's time to read the "BIBO" and will tell dadddy to fld his hands to pray. She is definitely getting something out of it:-)
My pastor said at church today that once you are experienced in parenting, you find yourself unemployed.
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