Teaching My Children

One evening, not too long ago, I walked into the living room, and this is what I saw.

It was a rare, quiet moment in our house...because, everyone was reading! Well, the 4 year old was pretending, but she would be highly offended if she knew I let you in on her little secret. We have a whole family of readers. I guess they inherited that trait from their parents.

 I love to read aloud to my children and every morning in devotions, I read a chapter to them. Right now, we are going through the "Little House on the Prairie" series again. I think it's the 3rd time I read these books to my children. I'm also on book 10 of Uncle Arthur's Bible story books. The girls were just captivated by the story of Saul/Paul this morning.

There are few things as rewarding as teaching my children, whether it be teaching them Scripture, Bible stories, how to read, how to do laundry, make a bed, or clean the house. However, I can think of a few things that I'd rather not teach them.

• potty training
• riding a bike w/o training wheels
• tying shoes

Some of the most difficult things to teach them are the things I'm still wrestling with and learning about, like:

• how to forgive again and again and again
• how to say nice things when you feel ugly inside
• the Golden Rule
• how to forgive yourself
• how to extend grace to others
• how to be unselfish
• how to pursue Jesus w/ all your heart
• how to encourage and build up others
• how to be a servant

Someone said, "More is caught than taught," and I often think of that in regards to teaching my children. I can say whatever I want about loving others, but if they don't see it in my life daily, my words are empty. My heart's desire is that they would go beyond what we teach them and learn so much more about God and Who He is by their own personal experience. I want them to not just know God, but to experience God.

TEACHING MY CHILDREN-

The most challenging thing I've ever attempted,

The most rewarding experience I've ever had,

The most needy-for-God  position it put me in,

The most amazing thing to watch unfold right before my eyes.

To Read Or Not To Read

One of my sons absolutely loves books. The other one only reads the first day home from the library or for Book-it. The non-reader gets sOOO frustrated at the reader for always having his nose in a book. Well, he came by it honestly. My husband and I are both readers. I remember whiling away the hours at home with reading. I was always sneaking in a chapter here or there, especially after lunch in the bathroom, when the dishes needed to be done. Leon remembers his just-younger-than-him brother getting so annoyed at him reading so much. Today that brother is a pilot and mechanic, while Leon excels in farming and dirt work. Neither one turned out to be a 'loser'. ;0

I hear so many moms say that they wish they could get their children to read. I have the 'other' problem.

I love to see my children read. But like anything else, it needs to have a balance. Our one son, an avid reader, is often told to do something many times, while his nose is in a book, only to have him say later he never heard you even once. I am almost convinced the house could fall down around his ears without him finding out. The other son skip reads, picks out random chapters, and calls a book 'done'. The reader remembers everything he reads and spouts off all that information at the strangest times, whether you wanted to hear it or not.

This morning we had yet another discussion with the non-reader chastising the reader because of an episode at Grandma's house yesterday in which Grandma repeatedly asked the reader to do something; but his nose was in a book and he never heard her. The reader admitted that it was especially wrong because Grandma deserves more respect.

I told the boys that neither of them is right or wrong. The non-reader has other passions and interests that consume a lot of his time, too much sometimes. We are all different. One of the best things about a family is that God puts the most unusual combinations together and you have to learn to get along...or die trying.;) I am learning that to be the right Mom to each unique personality is a job way bigger than me, and I often mess up. God does give me strength and many times after administering some kind of creative consequence, I think to myself, "Now where did I come up with that?" And I know it was inspiration from God. He likes mothers a lot I think.

I'm learning to make my reader put his book down and look me in the eye when I have something to say. I'm also learning that sometimes it's okay to make him put his book down and go outside and play football with his brother. It's also okay to tell my non-reader that the next hour is quiet time and you may spend it however you like. If your brother wants to read the whole time instead of playing Leogs with you, it's okay. I tell my non-reader in the Book-it season, that while the prize for reaching the goal is just a personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut, the things we learn from pushing ourselves and reaching for a goal are very important.

Speaking of pushing ourselves and reaching for a goal, the ironing pile and messy office are enough to get me off my seat and get motivated. Even if there isn't even as much as a personal pan pizza for my reward.