Satan's Lies

It is my passion that our children will learn God's Word at a young age so when confronted with the world's lies - they will hold on to the truth!

I was so appalled by a movie Brad and I watched this weekend. It was so full of the world's ways and the lies Satan is telling people. We got the movie because it looked like a man and woman who were separated were going to end up back together after the man tells his daughter the story of how he met her mom. Well, after the father explains all of his horrible relationships - hopping from one girl to the next, never being completely satisfied, he finally marries his mom. Well, they were in the process of getting divorced - this memory walk for him was supposed to remind him what made him fall in love with his wife. Instead it reminded him of the woman he had neglected to realize was truly "the one". His daughter wanted him to be happy and encouraged him to go to this other woman and live "happily ever after." My stomach gets filled with knots just thinking about this movie - thinking about the messages people are getting - "If my marriage is failing it must mean I married the wrong person. And if I divorce and marry the right one - then my life will be wonderful for me and my kids." LIES!

So back to my point - Our kids need to know the truth because they are going to be bombarded with the lies of this world.

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Galatians 6:9

Do not grow weary in teaching your children the truths found in God's Word - do not give up!

By the way, if you're curious - you can save your money and your precious time by not renting the movie: "Definitely, Maybe".

Susie

Scripture Memory

I was inspired this week to get back into scripture memory - for me and for my kids. It is something that we do in spurts, but was reminded again this week how important it is to take advantage of the sponge-like capabilities our young children have.

"How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." Psalm 119: 9-11

A woman in my Bible study shared how her 5 year old son was having a hard time going to sleep at night. She knew he memorized things very well, so she decided to just start filling him with scripture. One day he told her that the night before as he was having a hard time falling asleep he decided to start saying all the verses he and his mom had memorized. How cool is that! I realize some kids (and adults) memorize easier than others, but it is worth the work - tucking verses in their minds to last them a lifetime. We have decided to do this as a family - that just one verse a week we will commit to memory. Others of you may have other areas you are focusing on right now - but I encourage you to join in on the memory verse that each curriculum has, or one that your family particularly needs at that time. Even if you don't hear your child say it, if you repeat it over and over with them every day - they will catch on. Josiah doesn't like to say it out loud very often, but I know it is getting written on his heart as he hears us say it.

Blessings!

PS - Here are some helpful ways to help make verse memory more fun:

1. Sing the verse to a common tune (Happy Birthday, London Bridges, etc.)
2. Write each word of the verse on index cards and hide them around the room. Ask them to go hunt for the cards and then say the verse together as you put it in order. If they can read, have them put the verse in order.
3. Make up actions to the verse.
4. Make a rebus - use a pictures or symbols to represent different words of the verse.
5. Just march around the room as you say it. When we are memorizing while using different muscles - it helps us memorize faster.
6. Write it on several index cards and put them around your house in places that you will notice often (where you brush your teeth, wash dishes, in the car, etc.)
If you have other ideas - please share!

Turn on the Light

We have 4 lightbulbs above our bathroom mirror. One light went out, and I tried to make a mental note to get one at the store. Well, if you are like me that type of thing can get forgotten and you just learn to live without it. Then another one burned out, and now it was really pretty dim in the bathroom. I knew I really needed to get those lightbulbs, but then again I thought I could just learn to get by with it a little dim for a few days until I could get to the store. One day I turned on the light and it was so incredibly bright! Brad couldn't stand the darkness anymore and finally replaced them. Wow, I don't know how we lived without them. It was so fun to go in there and have such wonderful bright light. On the other hand, it was also easier to see the dirt and grime hiding in the corners. Oooh, that is not so fun to look at, but I will get to that eventually too :)

So this made me think of our spiritual lives. As we gradually get ourselves out of God's Word, it doesn't seem that bad. I can get by, I still know a lot of what the Bible says, I don't really need to study it every day - my life is just so crazy right now. I'll manage okay. And then you finally do get back into the Word - ooooh God speaks to you in a new way. You read something you never noticed was there. The light of our soul is on again. But not all of it is easy to take. The dirt and the grime also show up in the corners of our heart.

God may not come and clean my bathroom, but He will clean up my heart and soul. Sometimes we don't even know what needs cleaning up until we turn on the light.

Just something for you to think about this week as you continue to read His Word and impress it upon your kids!

Blessings,
Susie

The 21 Day Challenge

You have probably heard that it takes 21 days to create a habit. I have a challenge for you. Set aside 15-30 minutes a day for the next 21 days to read and study God's Word and pray. We are all busy - time isn't just going to appear for you. It takes effort to carve this out. The reason I am inviting you to take this challenge is because I did the same thing about 4 years ago. I made myself get up in the wee hours (I thought at that time) of the morning to spend this time with God. I told myself I could do it for 30 days, and then maybe it would become a habit. I wouldn't invite you if I didn't think it would change your life. It has gradually changed and blessed my life - that is why I am sharing it. Some of you are already there, but this can still be a challenge for you to find a way to make it more meaningful, study a little deeper, find ways to apply it to your life. If you would like to join me in this challenge, please email me. I am committing to pray for you each day of the 21 days. You will be attacked, it won't be easy - your bed will be very inviting - kids won't be the most cooperative, etc. etc., but I will pray that you will be able to overcome those obstacles to stick to your commitment and then be blessed by it. Make a plan for when you will do this - I knew the only time that would work was early morning for me - there may be a better time for you (lunch break, before bed, nap time). Early morning is tough, but then you don't have to worry about unexpected interruptions that come up later. If a child wakes up extra early one day, you still have the rest of the day to fit it in. If you are counting on doing it late at night - and something comes up causing you to get to bed to late, it might be too easy to forget it for the day. Just something to think about. Don't be legalistic about it, just know that you will be blessed in taking that hard step to growing closer to God.

Getting into the Curriculum

You don't need "curriculum" to teach your child God's Word. The Holy Spirit will give you insight as you study and read his Word, what it is you are to teach your children. The curriculum I have created are tools to help you, but please don't feel burdened to use them. You may already be teaching them His truths in a way that is works for your family. If you want the curriculum and don't have them, they are free, just ask and I'll send them to you.


If you are using either the Character Training or Why Do We Pray? curriculum I will be posting a blog to go along with each of those. I tried to figure out a way to make 2 columns - so you could just go to the one that applies to you, but it was not working out for me. So I will just highlight the paragraph for each topic.


Week 1 for Christlike Character Training: Love

Have you noticed any acts of love in your family this week? Or maybe your child has shown love to someone outside your family. Make sure you take note and commend them for this! Any sign of love towards a sibling, a friend etc. should be pointed out so they start recognizing this as something God desires for them. Sibling rivalry has increased between my two boys (18 months apart). The younger one figures out what makes the older one mad, and then does it just to see the reaction. I am reminded as I write this that I need to make sure I point out to them when they are showing love towards each other, and not always getting on them for fighting. Feel free to share ways you have noticed love being shown by your children this week or how you have taught about this topic to them.


Week 1 for Why Do We Pray: Prayer for Direction, Guidance and Wisdom

I love how specifically the servant prayed in this story. I am reminded that my prayers need to be more specific so I know when God is answering me. I shared with the kids that we too are asking for God's direction and guidance in our family as we seek God's will for our future. They know that we want to live on a farm, but now they know that we are seeking God's best for us and not just what we want. My husband and I pray regularly about this, but I had not taken the time to pray about this with the kids.

Start young

This goes along with the last comment about how early to start "spiritual training". The other morning I came across this passage and it really struck me. Proverbs 4:3-4 "When I was a boy in my father's house, still tender, and an only child of my mother, he taught me and said, "Lay hold of my words with all your heart; keep my commands and you will live." Solomon was a young boy when he was receiving the commands of God by his parents.

"When Solomon was grown up he not only remembered, but took a pleasure in repeating, the good lessons his parents taught him when he was a child. He did not forget them, so deep were the impressions they made upon him. " Commentary on Proverbs 4 by Matthew Henry

Let us follow this example in teaching and impressing God's commands on our children's hearts.
"The branch is easily bent when it is young and tender"

Thank you

Okay - so I am new to blogging - I just realized there was a comment posted last week. Thank you for your words! It is so inspiring to see how people are desiring to share God's truths at such an early age. Little ones are capable of so much more than we give them credit for! God bless you in your journey of leading your precious little one in the ways of Christ.

If you have not received the Christlike Character Study curriculum please email me and I will send you this. It has a bible study to teach your child each week, it also has a prayer for you to pray and a verse to memorize with your children. I will be sending out a message or blogging on a character trait each week starting next week. Hopefully this will keep us accountable and motivated to stick to it. If you have already done this study and are ready for something new. I will have a Prayer curriculum ready early next week to send to you. I will hopefully be blogging on this as well.

If your child is 8 months or 8 years - take the time to read the Bible to them today! You will never regret taking the time for this - the dishes will always be there, your child won't!

Welcome

Welcome to my Blog! It is my heart's desire to teach the Word of God to young children. God commands us as parents to pass His teachings and commands on down to them. And yet how do we do this? Our lives are busy, it is difficult to just keep up with the daily tasks that never go away. It is my hope that this blog would be a place people can share how they have made time for spiritual training. Please feel free to share what has worked for your family - maybe you read the Bible together at supper time or before bed, maybe you say a verse together in the car, maybe you sing Bible songs to them as they are falling asleep. Whatever you have done, let's share it with others to challenge and help each other in this task God has called us to!