Hiding the Word in Their Hearts

One of my favorite passages of Scripture is Psalm 119. This Psalm highlights and exalts God’s Word. and shows the great love and respect the Psalmist had for God’s law. I read portions of this passage often to remind me of the desire I should have for the Word of God.

I have mentioned several times that I think there is no greater task to me as a parent than to raise my children in the Lord. Part of that training involves instilling in them a love and longing for the Word of God. That training begins with a knowledge of God’s Word.

I plan to start preparing lessons to teach my children the Bible (of course, right now these lessons would be directed toward Ella since Troy is still so young). I’m hoping to use my blog as a way to not only save these lessons, but also share them with anyone else who might be interested. My thought, at least for now, is to call these lessons “Hiding The Word In Their Hearts” generally taken from Psalm 119:11. I am excited to begin digging into God’s Word for the specific purpose of teaching my children. I know that I will grow as I meditate on His Word.

Psalm 119:9-12

How can a young man cleanse his way?

By taking heed according to Your word.

With my whole heart I have sought You.

Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!

Your word I have hidden in my heart,

That I might not sin against You.

Blessed are You, O LORD!

Teach me Your statutes.

I know I've been slacking

I know I've been slacking especially when my husband finally jokes with me about the fact that I haven't blogged much lately! I could blame this lack of blogging on the fact that we've been crazy busy with lots of different activities, such as our trip to Jamaica, but we live a busy life normally, and those things really aren't the reason. I could blame this lack of blogging on the fact that I have a very mobile and curious 14-month-old, but I'm used to her and the daily challenge she provides me, and she isn't the main reason. Rather, I think I will blame this lack of blogging on the fact that Ella is going to be a big sister. That's right, we are on our way to two kids under the age of two!

I'm not just being lazy about blogging because I'm pregnant again, but instead, it has to do with how I've been feeling. If you know me personally, you might know that I had a lot of trouble with morning sickness, more specifically hyperemesis gravidarum, when I was pregnant with Ella. Starting at about seven weeks pregnant, I was so sick that I couldn't keep water down without being medicated. This time around, I wasn't very sick in the beginning and I thought maybe I would pass up the sickness. Unfortunately, the sickness hit me full force again (it just started a little later). I throw up if I'm not medicated, and even when I'm medicated my stomach never feels "right." It is hard to eat, but I feel worse if I don't eat, and it is really a vicious cycle.

I know you really don't want to read about my morning sickness issues, so I'll quit writing about them! Even though I was so sick with Ella, and I'm sick again this time around, I'm so thankful for Ella and this baby. The sickness is worth it in the end (although, I might change my mind about this when Ella is a teenager - just kidding!)! And I leave you with a sweet picture of Ella . . . I love to put pictures in my posts!

Qualities for My Children: Hard Work

Although I wrote my introductory post about instilling qualities in my children several weeks ago, it has taken me a while to get back to the topic. I think, well, actually I know, it is because I'm really struggling to get my ideas together, and I want to make a truly complete post about each quality. I've come to the realization that I need to sit down and write each of these posts to make me really study each quality. There is no real reason to the order in which I'm writing about these qualities. I'm just writing about them as I've had time to really think about the quality and meditate on what I truly want my children to display in their lives. I will freely admit that I don't always display these qualities the way I should in my life, and I hope this study will help me personally as well.

I want my children to be hard workers. I want them to put their all into what they do. I want them to understand what their responsibilities are and to complete the actions necessary to take care of the responsibilities. I want them to work hard whether or not me or my husband is watching them. I want them to recognize there is a need, and without being told, take care of the need without complaining. I really have some high expectations here!

Consider Colossians 3:22-24:

Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Jesus Christ.

While I know the servant-master relationship is not the same as the child-parent relationship, I think a general principal can be applied from this passage. The servant is to work as working for the Lord, and not only for men. This is an important principal which is tied directly to hard work.

I hope that my children become individuals who work hard at their job, who work hard at their marriage and parenting, and who work hard at studying God's Word and spreading the Gospel to others. I want them to become individuals who work hard, often expecting nothing in return, but working hard because it is the right thing to do.

How do I teach my children to be hard workers? I think that as I write about these qualities, my first answer to how do I teach my children about the quality is going to be the same: I teach them by example. How can I expect my children to be hard workers if I am not? How can I expect them to complete tasks without complaining if I don't? The questions could go on. I know that I don't always put the effort and proper attitude into the things I need to do. I really need to work on myself when it comes to hard work; perhaps this is one of the reasons this quality came first to my mind.

I can also teach them about hard work by making them put the quality into practice. As an example, I'm reminded of something I read in the parenting book I've mentioned before, Your Mama Don't Dance by Glenn and Cindy Colley. One thing the authors suggested dealing with chores was something I had never thought about before. The authors suggest that you don't pay your children for doing chores that are and should be expected of them. There are many reasons for this, but I think in application to hard work, it teaches children that hard work is expected of them, and they should pull their part without having to be rewarded for their work with money or some other type of payment.

Leading by example and requiring my children to put this quality into practice are probably the most powerful ways I can teach my children about hard work. However, I must also communicate directly with them about hard work, especially considering what they Bible says about hard work. Here are some more verses to consider:
Ecclesiastes 9:10:
Whatever you hand finds to do, do it with you might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.
Proverbs 6:6:
Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise.
Proverbs 12:24:
The hand of the diligent will rule, But the lazy man will be put to forced labor.
Proverbs 15:19:
The way of the lazy man is like a hedge of thorns, But the way of the upright is a highway.

Now that I've finished writing this post, I realize that there are many qualities I want to write about that are interwoven within this post. As I continue my posts on this series, I'll link posts back so it will be as complete as possible!

Forming My Relationship with Ella

Ella and I have both had a cold the past few days, and I've almost completely lost my voice from it. I've lost my voice so bad that my husband can't really hear me sitting on the next couch over from me. This is the first time that I've lost my voice since I've had Ella, and it made me realize something - I sing to Ella a lot. I sing spiritual songs and educational songs to her. Sometimes I sing crazy things to her that probably only a mom can understand (I'm not kidding when I say I sing songs about changing her clothing or changing her diaper, but you do what you do to make a baby smile!).

Losing my voice also made me realize that I talk to Ella a lot. I talk to her about many different things ranging from the silly to the serious. I know you are probably thinking, how serious can a conversation with a 9-month old be? But honestly, I talk to her about things she doesn't understand yet and things she won't understand for many more years to come, but a large part of my conversation with her is a training process for me. I need to be able to talk to her about silly things and about serious things. I need to be able to talk to her about physical things and spiritual things. I need to be able to talk to her not only so I can form a very special relationship with her, but also so that my husband and I can bring her up in the Lord.

In a Christian parenting book I read recently called Your Mama Don't Dance, the authors (Glenn and Cindy Colley) make the point that parents who get the attention of their teens are the parents who gave attention to their toddlers. It is important to me to start forming my relationship with my daughter now, while she is still young. I highly recommend Your Mama Don't Dance- this book has given me many great ideas for raising children in the Lord. One of the authors, Cindy Colley, also has a blog you might want to check out.