Labor Day Weekend.
The end of summer.
The start of school.
These days have some moms crying. Some rejoicing. Some not knowing what to do with themselves. Some busy as can be. However the start of school affects you, it is upon us. For me, it has been a different beginning. My granddaughter, whom I have watched full time while her parents worked, started pre-K. A major milestone in her life.
Picking her up from school is going to be a highlight of my week. Conversation with a 3-year old is always fun & exciting & thought provoking.
For instance, yesterday as I listened to her talk about “Mrs. Singleton”, her teacher, I realized that there is now going to be another influence in her life. A new influence. For the first time, someone other than family was going to begin to impact her young life. As I was thinking on this & my influence as a Mom & as a Mimi, I realized how important it is that I influence & impact the lives of others while there is opportunity. In order to effectively influence my children, my grandchildren (or anyone else that God places in my sphere of influence), I am going to need to intentionally pursue Him, intentionally model a godly life.
God gives excellent parenting instruction –
“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.” (Deuteronomy 6:7-9 NIV).
Let’s look at this process –
- It starts with us. His commands, His Word is to be upon our hearts first. This means that God, His ways, & His instructions are to be weaving in & out of our thoughts as we go through our day. All that we do & say & think is motivated by what is pleasing to Him.
- Impress them on your children. The image that is given to us is likened to taking a Sharpie & writing it on their minds. In other words, we are to impress their importance & meaning on our children so that it is indelible, unable to be erased. May we share it in such a way that it roots in their hearts & minds permanently.
- Talk about Him. Here we see that we are to talk about Him when we are at home, when we are out & about, when we go to sleep, when we get up. The point? The only way we are going to make that indelible impression upon them is by repeating His principles over & over until that message is rooted & there to stay. Convey it in a way that is relevant & meaningful to the varied activities of the day.
- Visibility. The Israelites tied phylacteries (a small box) to their foreheads or arm. They visibly carried God’s commands with them all day long. Granted we no longer do that but we can let our children know that we read our Scriptures. We can read to them. They can learn from a young age that we treasure God’s Word.
Today may I reflect on this & question myself –
Am I intentionally pursuing Him?
Does my life reflect Him?
Am I a godly model?
May He help me to be successful in this pursuit of parenting & influence!
