I shared a little devotional back in April at a diaper shower for one of the moms in my class. Here’s a little of what I said:
There is a song called “Find Your Wings” by Mark Harris that touches my heart every time I hear it. It describes exactly what I feel about being a parent and what I would like to say to my kids. I can’t listen to that song without crying.
Here is a link to the video and lyrics if you want to see it:
http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/m/mark_harris/find_your_wings.html
Recently, when I was listening to the song, a few lines stood out to me:
So many different prayers I’ll pray
For all that you might do
But most of all I’ll want to know
You’re walking in the truth
The lyrics reminded me of a verse I had read years ago: “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” 3 John 1:4
We want so many things for our children: to do well in school, to have good friends, to do well in sports or other activities, to be healthy, to get a good job, to get married…We live such busy lives that it is easy to lose focus on what is really important: teaching them to walk in truth. I hope we can continue to encourage each other and hold each other accountable to keeping our priorities straight when it comes to raising our kids in the truth.
After my devotional I asked the moms to share some of their parenting tips. I was blessed by what they shared:
1. Put stars on a chart when your kids do something good. At the end of the week give a dollar for a certain number of stars.
2. Read the Bible to your children every morning. When they are old enough to read, have them read at least five verses from the Bible every morning. Talk about what they read on the way to school.
3. When your children ask “why?”, ask your children, “Why do you think you need to do this?” Or if they are not doing the right thing, ask them, “Is that right or wrong?”
4. Distinguish between rules and preferences. Don’t punish your child if they go against your preferences. Only punish them if they break a rule.
5. With older children, allow them to appeal your instruction once. Then explain why you accept or reject their appeal.
6. Ask yourself, “Is my parenting grace-based or guilt-based?”
7. Give each child a jar, and fill another jar with pennies. Each time the child says, “Yes, Ma’am; no Ma’am; please; thank you…” let the child take a penny out of Mommy’s jar and put it into his/her jar.
