Last week, I shared with you what I had shared with some young women in Augusta. Three things we need to teach our kids. If you missed that post and want to know what those things are, just scroll to “previous post”. Three things I think are critically important to train our kids in.
Today, I have the rest of the story…..how can we do that teaching????
Three things to teach them - and two ways to do it…and one thing to always remember….here we go -
The first way to convey the three lessons (be kind, serve cheerfully, and persevere) to our kids is to embrace the truth that children are a gift. I know, you’re probably thinking, yeah, I got that one. Used it on my birth announcements and everything - Behold, children are a gift from the Lord (Psalm 127:3)
But hold on, don’t skip past this. Let’s let this truth percolate through our hearts. Let’s ask ourselves- do we live out this truth well? Do our kids know they are a gift?
The Hebrew word for “gift” in this verse is “nachalah”. (Whaaat????) No idea how to pronounce it but it means a possession, a portion, an estate. It is the word God used when He described specific territory assigned to each tribe of children of Israel. Personal and valuable are the terms that come to mind when I think of it in that context. Specific land, assigned to each tribe, gifted from God, for the purpose of provision, service, and blessing.
Think of each of your children that way. A gift from the Lord, specifically chosen and assigned to you. With provision and service and blessing in mind. A gift for which the Giver determines the recipient is perfectly suited to have and to manage. That gives us confidence! That the Giver will also gift us with what we need to manage His gifts!
A gift for which to be thankful. Not to complain about ( even when the gift of that “territory” requires an awful lot of work!). A gift to be stewarded so as to maximize its potential. A gift to enjoy and be blessed by.
Wow.
Lots to think about when we see our children as a gift. (such as maybe not complaining about them? Or humiliating them by making them the brunt of social media jokes????)
The other thing we need in order to train our children in those three important traits is to remember the scariest verse in all of Scripture - Luke 6:40. It’s not about the reality of Hell. It’s not about the Narrow Way. It’s the power of our example in the lives of our children: A student is not above his teacher but a student,when fully trained will be like his teacher.
All those things we want to train our kids to be? We must learn them ourselves.
Kindness? It’s best learned from observing and experiencing kindness from one we hold in the highest esteem. When someone we love is kind, we learn to be kind ourselves.
Serving cheerfully? Opportunities to serve are valuable and advisable but the daily observance of a Mom who serves not only without complaining but especially with delight is the best teacher of all.
Perseverance? The impression of seeing a parent try again after failure, watching them not give up when the opposition is strong, witnessing endurance in action is the most powerful teacher of all. They learn that failure happens. That life is hard. But that in our family, we can do hard things. Yes, it may be hard, but hard’s not bad.
Oh, and that one thing for all of us to remember? That one thing that can encourage us in the midst of failure and disappointment and pain? That one thing that helps us believe?
The truth of Psalm 84:11 - The Lord God is a sun and a shield. He gives grace and glory. No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
Knowing that God is a sun - He gives me light and warmth and strength. But He is also a shield - He protects me from what is not good for me, even from what I don’t know is harmful. He gives good gifts. Always. And if He withholds something from me, something that I want, something that I think is good, then I can cling to the absolute truth that, for me, at this time, it’s not a good gift. If it were, He would give it to me abundantly. So if He doesn’t, then I can rest in the glorious truth that He is acting as my shield, protecting me from what I don’t know would do me harm.
Some things we need to teach the kids……