Building Up

We have been talking about how powerful words are for a few months.  One night when we were reading Lauren and Gracie's devotional the lesson focused on building up (versus tearing down). We had been working on "nice" and "loving" words before that lesson. Afterward, we pointed to that lesson and scripture as a filter for any words or language that may be hurtful or even just not helpful. Like all children, mine have the tendency to occasionally (ahem) argue, and now I have an easy way to address the issue by saying, "Are you building up or tearing down?"  They immediately get the effect of their words and almost always self-correct. 

When I stumbled upon a new series entitled "Build 'Em Up," I felt led and inspired to join in the discussion.  The concept of this series is to focus on the positive side of parenthood.  Too often, the temptation to get mired down in the day-to-day obstacles and challenges can take a wonderful experience (parenthood) and make us be more negative than we would intend.  Much of this starts out as humor (just last week I told a young woman to enjoy her 20's because it is her time to sleep... that after children she will never sleep again!:-) but can be a slippery slope into a less than positive place. When I see an opportunity to build up, I have to join the discussion. 

Importantly, I am not an expert on anything -- parenting, faith, etc.  There are daily struggles.  Sometimes I work hard to suppress language.  Sometimes I blow my horn when I am cut off in traffic, and then am dishonest to my children about my behavior, saying, "No, mommy's not mad. Mommy's saying 'toot toot! be careful!' to the other cars."  I have so many opportunities for improvement on a daily - make that hourly - basis.  It's even tempting to think that I'm too flawed to be in a conversation about bringing faith to life for my children.  Importantly, the message we are trying to share with our children is perfect and more than enough to overcome our flaws. 

Today we are talking about bringing faith to life for our children.  Having grown up in church and spending the earliest years of my life learning about the Bible, instructing our children similarly is of paramount importance.  Here are some of the ways we have started building their foundation. 

1) Daily Bible Reading: Even when our girls were babies, we read the Bible to them each day, along with a devotional.  We wanted to establish a practice that we would continue throughout their lives. We also had several age appropriate picture books that we shared, and they got so much out of that. 

2) Pray: As simple and obvious as it sounds, we pray for our children, and we encourage family prayer at meals, bedtime and throughout the day, as needed or indicated.  If we are in the car and they see emergency vehicles, they pray for the involved parties. Prayer is a solution, i.e., asking for help.

3) Music: Age appropriate music is a wonderful way for children to express praise, and I think it's their earliest form of worship. The CD's we have from Vacation Bible School are their absolute favorites.

4) Seek Resources: Getting mired down in all the things that have to be accomplished each day is tough to guard against -- long days and short years and all of that.  To keep our eye on the "big picture," we try to find resources that help us focus on the continuum of our children's development.  Two books that I loved and refer back to often are 1) Revolutionary Parenting and 2) The Most Important Place On Earth. 

5) Memorize Scripture: When our children started playing Upward sports last year, I was amazed at how quickly they picked up the habit of memorizing verses.  We continued the habit beyond our Upward experience.  I keep a notebook of verses we are learning, and I write the verse on a card that is affixed to the refrigerator. At mealtime, after saying the blessing, we recite the verse.  They easily learn a new verse each week, and I'm looking forward to them learning Psalm 23 soon. 

Like any good conversation, the best part is listening.  (I'm linking up here.) I'm so looking forward to hearing from others and will be reading all of your posts carefully.