How we raise them

Every day I pray for my children. I thank God for the opportunity to raise and teach them, and for the blessing they are in our lives. With this blessing, as many of you with children already know, comes a huge responsibility.

Because of that responsibility, I pray for God's wisdom concerning decisions my wife and I make in raising them. I'm very aware that we are laying a foundation now that we will build on for years to come. The strength of that foundation will determine their ability to navigate through life and remain standing.

Part of building their foundations is simple stuff like watching our language and speaking politely to each other. But some things are a little harder - the impulsive reactions we have. Like how I react sometimes when a driver cuts me off or if I yell at the dog for barking at the cats that like to cut through our yard.

I don't always think about it in the heat of the moment, but our kids see our reactions and they remember. Grace is a mimicker now, and she'll copy just about anything we do - good and bad.

As Christian parents we've made a commitment to raising Christian children, and while actions alone don't mean salvation, they certainly leave impressions with other people about how you live. Right or wrong, I know I've made my own determination about people who claim they are Christians and do things like use profanity like it's punctuation. I'm sure I've done things in my life (and probably recently) that leave people questioning my heart. As a parent I feel I need to be even more careful about how I handle things - with my children around me or not.

All this came to mind as I read my morning devotional, My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. October 21st's entry is titled "Impulsiveness or Dicipleship?" Here's a quick excerpt:

"There was nothing of the nature of impulsive or thoughtless action about our Lord, but only a calm strength that never got into a panic. Most of us develop our Christianity along the lines of our own nature, not along the lines of God's nature. Impulsiveness is a trait of the natural life, and our Lord always ignores it, because it hinders the development of the life of a disciple."

There are may ways that can be interpreted and applied, but read through the lens of a parent, I must constantly check myself to make sure I'm reacting to situations or making decisions the way God wants me to.

After all, these really aren't our children. Their God's children. He's just letting us hold on to them for a little while, but it's up to us to make sure He gets them back.