I can not expect my children to learn “from me” anything that I do not live or practice. Simple. Fact. My boys are not going to miraculously exhibit traits (good or bad) that they do not learn some place. They are our boys; they are with me all but maybe 10 hours a week, we home educated. Our boys are going to grow up fundamentally like us.
Oh my is THAT a scary thought or what? God is the potter, they are the clay, but I am a tool He chooses to use at this moment. I can start them toward a beautiful form, or I can allow them to lop over or become hard and difficult to work with.
I want my boys to grow up in The Word and to practice good inner disciple and personally accountability. I want them to gentlemen, and strong men, foot soldiers for Christ; amazing fathers and good husbands. Thus the must see me, reading The Word, discussing the Word and applying The Word to our daily life. They need to SEE me walk the walk, all the time, no exceptions; talking the talk won’t work. Kids can spot a counterfeit a mile away and resent having expected of them what the parent is unwilling to commit to. If I model God as only for morning devotional and Sundays, that is how my boys will live the rest of their lives, and raise their children too.
To this end I have decided to choose “self behavior” passages from the Bible (not that the entire Book is not a “behavior manual”, it is) and apply them to myself much more strictly. My theme of the week, if you will, for changing my behavior and pulling myself closer to God; to a deeper level of devotion.
I considered Galatians 2:6 “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” – but, really I think (in my opinion) I already model this fairly well for the boys. When Little was a little less than a year I had the honor of pumping and donating breast milk to the little boy of a dear mom being treated for breast cancer; big still talks about “Baby D’s momma being sick and how she is better now but still sick and we still pray for her, but Baby D is big and doesn’t need momma milk any more”. Right now we are remembering nightly in our prays the son of another friend; the boys is only 6 week old and has been in NICU over a month of his short life. Big Brother tells everyone about baby T – at Awanas, at Church. I think they have a fairly good; vision of bearing another’s burdens. Maybe not, only time will tell, but I decided to move on past that verse for now.
So I am going to choose a book a week to read, and reread; and a verse from that Book to by verse of the week. The verse will highlight a personal behavior I want to achieve a higher level of personally accountability in. I am not sure that I am going to discuss this with the boys I think this may just be for me for a time.
Week of Jan 23 – Book of the Week Ephesians –
Here is my “star passage”:
29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
and my verse for the week:
26 “In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold.
The boys and I painted them! Since the area is officially unfinished area of the house, the boys got to help.
Life, faith, homeschooling, growing and FUN 