**Disclaimer: I know I am waaaaaay behind on my reading and my blogging and my SOAPing. I had it in my head that I needed to type out all my study questions and wasn't able to get them finished before we left for a Memorial Day weekend out of town. Then we came back and I was just too lazy to get back into a routine right away, so here I am today, trying to start catching up. I decided that I'm not typing up my study questions, but I will be journaling them in my binder instead. I'm also not going to be posting the missing week of SOAP scriptures but I'm sure most of you will survive. ;)
(Originally typed 5/26-5/27 but not posted until 6/6)
As I've mentioned, I'm read
The Ministry of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson with the Good Morning Girls summer book club. So far I'm loving it and I think I'll get much more out of this book than I did Sally's
Mission of Motherhood. Each week I'll be posting and linking up the study questions, so be sure to look for them. :)
I've shared before my struggles and fears that our late entry into the Word of God will have a detrimental impact on my kids. God has shown me glimpses of the lives He has planned for them, and how dearly I want to see those lives lived out! But he's also shown me that I have a very large role in those lives, and until I get my act together, my inability to show a serious commitment to my faith, and thus to my Lord, will continue to have a negative impact on my kids. I have to stop the "do as I say, not as I do" parenting and turn to Him to be the mom he's called me to be.
Sally hit on this concept very well in the book intro when she's talking about what children need.
They need the authentic strength that comes from the true foundation of a biblical world view and a proper understanding of the real Christ who is worthy of their worship. They need an unwavering, internal moral and spiritual compass that will help them weather today's storms and tomorrow's and will guide them for the rest of their lives. They also need to see what real faith looks like when lived day in, day out, so they will have a pattern to follow. (p3)
How can my boys see what real faith looks like, learn to have that unwavering compass, if they don't see their parents modeling that type of behavior?
Many times in the Bible,
Jesus tells us to drop everything and follow him. In Matthew 4:18-22, he calls his disciples to drop their fishing nets and
follow him, for he will teach them to fish for men. In Matthew 19:21, he tells a rich man to sell his worldly possessions, give the money to the poor, and to
follow him. But we're not just supposed to follow him. Oh no, he expects much greater things from us. In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus says:
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
As Sally talks about our mandate to do as Jesus does, to reach out and be a disciple of all men, I realize that I don't do a very good job of this. Sure, I share my faith with others; they see my sorrows and my struggles, storms and blessings, but I don't really talk to them about Jesus or why they need him in their life. I don't even do this in my own home for my children, not to the degree that it's needed so it shouldn't be any wonder we have the issues we have!
My children are a precious gift from the Lord (Psalm 127:3). He entrusted me with their care and upbringing, and oh how I have seriously been remiss in my duties thus far! Sally spoke my feelings for me when she wrote:
I sometimes feel I was digressing in my life instead of becoming more productive. My mother heart wanted so much to give my precious children the best in life - even to disciple them the way I had been discipled. Instead, I felt I was actually loosing ground. ... Effective spiritual, emotional, and social training in the lives of my children would have to be both intentional and planned.
This is exactly how I feel these days, and now it's time to get intentional and start planning.
Luke 6:40 says "A student is not above his teacher, but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher."
Lord, as I continue to delve further into your Word and train myself to your ways, help me learn to be a student like my teacher. Help my children learn to be students like their teacher.
