Some of my earliest childhood memories is from going to church with my grandmother. I remember the red buttons on the pew and how I would neatly stack the quarters my grandmother gave me for offering on them each week. I remember how my aunt would always share a half a stick of gum with me. I remember how proud everyone was of me that I could recite the Lord’s prayer from memory. I can still sing the songs that I was taught in Sunday School there even though I haven’t heard them for years. I can vividly remember hearing the story about the woman at the well and how my little ears heard the “woman and the whale.” Oh, how I wish there was flannel graph that day! That story perplexed my little pre-school mind and it stuck with me. It was years later before the real meaning of the story stuck out to me. To this day, when I hear the story about the Samaritan woman I pause for a moment and think back to my mental image of a woman and a whale.
It’s a funny story to look back on now but at the same time it terrifies me. It’s paralyzing to think of how much little minds can remember. That whale is etched in my mind. Oh, how I desire to train my daughter and son up right. Being a parent is an enormous responsibility….and opportunity. I don’t want to squander it.
Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says, “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.”
Teaching children about God and His Word is a non-stop, 24-7 duty. As I’m reminding myself again that I need to be intentional about what I’m teaching my children I want to encourage you to do the same. We’re teaching them things every day by the way we live and behave. Let’s make sure we’re teaching them spiritual truths too. What a blessing it is to be a spiritual guide to our children!
