Regina 
I’m sure you just got done sweeping the floors, putting away dishes… The kids belly’s are full for the next half an hour (smile), so you sat down to read. The last thing you want is for someone to tell you that there’s more you need to do, right? Well, I just wanted you to know from the outset…I am not attempting to add to an already bloated to do list…just maybe offering some encouragement, a way to think about something God requires to be on our to do list whether we feel there’s time for it or not….
We are the ones entrusted with precious little lives, and we are the ones God calls to pull back the curtain and help them begin to see the beauty of our God, our Savior. You may send your child outside the home for their academic education, but we cannot out source their spiritual development… We, the mommies and the daddies, are the ones entrusted….
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 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. Deuteronomy 6:4-7
There is no one way to teach your children…. Every child is woven unique, created with specific purpose for this time on earth. Every family is different, possessing different callings, desires, and the like. You may not choose to train your children the way I do, but you must train them. There are better methods I’m sure than what I am about to share with you, please, seek them out. But I hear this question a lot, so I thought I would take a moment or two to share just a bit (shy smile).
I remember when that firstborn boy was just 18 months…he was as chubby as chubby can be. I’ll never forget the time we were in a store picking out a winter coat close to his bed time. I kid you not he fell hard on the floor face first asleep as we tried to slip a coat on him to get the right fit. One of those moments when you’re like, “Oh the baby needs to sleep….” We thought he was so big then.
He was an early talker, and when I say early I mean he who knew all the letters of the alphabet and could recognize them at random by 18 months. That is not typical, but because he could talk we figured he might as well start learning some Scripture…that’s how our Wisdom and Learning Time began. It began in Philippians 2…in a verse every toddler needs to memorize (laughing smile)…in a chapter my firstborn now 4 and 1/2 years young is still memorizing. We began with just half a verse really…consider others better than yourself. And he memorized it…just rote memorization and as his ability to understand grew I began to show him in his little world how that Scripture applied.
As I talked with him many days it began to dawn in my mind’s eye that teaching my child required discipline. We may not always want to teach, but as mommies we cannot escape the role. It is difficult and sometimes hard to know where to begin, but just like our Wisdom and Learning Time it begins one small piece at a time. The critical thing is to get the foundation right.
It began with a verse and transformed into preschool in our home. It is always the Word that really adds character, increases the beauty within the walls in which we live…. Where the Scripture serves as the base for everything we are teaching our kiddos. This form could be imitated easily. We pick a theme each semester. Yeah, I still think about life in semesters (smile). Last fall the theme was The Wisdom of God in our obedience…our words…our giving…etc. We lingered over each topic for 2 weeks and memorized 2 verses with it. We worked through alphabet, numbers, shapes, letter sounds, “vowel teams” (my own made up vernacular), “letter combinations” in conjunction with the biblical truths we were learning.
We let Scripture be the spring board so we can easily land in its words again and again…in doing so I am able to repeatedly impress God’s Word on our children throughout the day. If I am learning anything it is that Wisdom and Learning Time does not just happen for 30-45 minutes (with kids ages 2 and 4, the baby is just along for the ride), WLT happens all day, whether we realize it or not.
For our family, walking in the Word with our children creates a steady rhythm that reminds us of the Lord all day long…We fall and fail miserably and we repent together and remind ourselves of why we fall short of the glory of God, and happily retell the Gospel to one another throughout our days…. All the while we are able to teach our children the basics of preschool while teaching them about the glory of God…so when we walk in the way, stand or sit…always He is on our lips.
Maybe set aside time to teach your children the beauty of God’s Word? Try reading it, talking it through, memorizing it together…try applying it throughout the day and show them how the Lord is woven into our lives, how no thread He winds around us ever unravels… Perhaps a Psalm a day at breakfast to start? You don’t have to do preschool at home like we do, but let’s remember…
You are the one called to teach your children how beautiful God our Savior really is.
And in Christ you can. We will speak more on these matters in days to come… Praying these small thoughts might be of some encouragement to you. LOVE, sister, LOVE them well.
