Yesterday, God reminded me how much He cares for me and the task He has given me. I struggle with feelings of failure and inadequacy when it comes to training my children. But I know my struggle is one of unbelief. I am often convicted of my own sin as I attempt to train my kids to be faithful followers of Christ. Teaching my kids their Bible stories has been one of the greatest faith-affirming blessings of mothering.
I start our school day off with the boys (Titus, 6 yr. and Henry, 3 yr.) by reading their Bible story. The day's lesson was on the twelve spies who went into Canaan. Titus seemed very engaged when I described the faithless response of the 10 unfaithful spies and God's subsequent anger at the faithlessness of the Israelites.
"Now listen, boys, this is a very important lesson for you," my voice grew serious and intense. Titus makes eye contact and gives me his full attention. "You are going to have giants in your life, things you are going to be tempted to think are too difficult for you. But you can be confident that the God who delivered the Israelites from Egypt and did all these miracles on their behalf will also give you the strength to overcome your giants. It was wicked of Israel to doubt God's ability to give them all the blessings of the promised land. Do not be faithless like Israel was."
Titus and Kate usually respond very favorably and seriously when I explain to them why they will need some information for the future. Often during Bible lessons, I do my best to help them see the spiritual applications of God's dealings with Israel, but I don't always get to see the kids use them.
After Bible we proceeded to Titus' phonics. Half way through his page he began to get frustrated and I watched him give up. I said, "Titus, this seems like a giant to you, but I promise you, God will give you the strength to overcome this. God will provide you the ability to do what He has given you to do. God has given you THIS work to do."
Titus straightened up and completed the page with ease and confidence! This is what Christ meant when He said we must be as little children to enter the kingdom of heaven. Titus' belief in God's ability to provide for him is often humbling to me as I grumble and doubt whether I can defeat the giants in my life.
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4 comments:
Love it! What do you use for your bible time, a devotional or just the bible?
I'm reading through Vos's Children's Bible. It's the best I've come across so far. She was a little funny about the Egyptian priests being able to perform miracles, insisting it was just tricks, but other than that I've found her approach to the Bible stories wonderfully insightful and accessible to the children.
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