My Calling to Shepherd Them

My children are my greatest treasure on this Earth. They bring me great joy and fill me days with excitement and love. Being a mother is my calling and my honor. God has entrusted me with a great responsibility and I make every effort go about it purposefully.

"The godly walk with integrity; blessed are their children who follow them." Prov 20:7.

Mothering is aimed at the heart of my children, not just the behavior.

"My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments; for length of days and years of life, and peace they will add to you. Do not let kindness and truth leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart." Proverbs 3:1-3.

My chief desire is to instill in my children a deep love for the things of God, and also obedience to his word as a product of that love. I want them to know in their hearts the good that comes from serving the Lord and I want them to see me live out an intimate relationship with God before them as an example.

"These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads." Deut 6:6-8

I enjoy my children and I love them near me, and I enjoy them more when I can put a swift end to their unpleasant behaviors. Therefore I employ the "tomato staking" method.

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you." Psalm 32:8.

As with anything in my life, if I am not purposeful about training my children I can slowly lose focus, letting more things slide. Recently I realized I have been slacking. Although life is not what we are used to with Jeff being gone, I have no excuse for inconsistency or laziness. I hadn't realized how much I had been lacking until one of my children (okay nearly two of my children) had become unbearable to be around. I had made many excuses for the behavior and realized by not correcting and training them I was sinning and allowing them to sin.

"The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person." Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

"Do everything without complaining or arguing" Phil 2:14

Time to get back to the basics. I keep my children near me. They are not exposed to anything that does not go through my parental filter and they rarely go play out of earshot. This serves two purposes: 1) it allows me to ensure that their ungodly influences are limited 2) it helps me to take advantage of every teachable moment - and there are MANY. By keeping them close to me and being aware of what they doing I am able to immediately correct poor attitudes/behaviors and help redirect their hearts. Sometimes I hear from other people who disagree with this method of parenting and feel that my children are too sheltered, fearing they will not be prepared to handle situations on their own. I believe it is better to grow them up in the ways of the Lord and guide them during these precious years as much as possible. They make their own choices, but if the make an unpleasant choice it easy to teach them now, then when they are older and have been well trained they will know what is right when they are on their own.

"Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil." Romans 16:19.

Am I a perfect mother? NO! Are my children perfect? NO! Is my goal perfection? NO! My goal is to bring honor and glory to God in all I do. My goal is to teach my children to direct their hearts to God and let his love transform and grow them into the people he created them to be.