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Are We Showing Them Jesus?

Me: Ah! It’s already 2:30 and there’s so much I have to get done before we leave tonight! I have to finish the laundry, pack our bags, and make that casserole. The floors should be swept, I need to make a shopping list, and we have to stop somewhere and pick up a gift before we head out. Somewhere in there I have to make myself halfway presentable……………I’m never going to get it all done!!! Maybe if someone (meaning my husband, of course) could help me out instead of spending time on things that don’t matter (to me)………..

Caleb (9): Mommy, just ask God for help…..He’ll help you do what you need to do.

Me: ::Shock, Embarrassment, Conviction::

Please tell me I am not the only one that’s ever been convicted by the simplest things that escape the mouths of our kiddos. Ask God for help? Of course! That’s exactly what I would teach one of the kids to do if they felt like they were facing something overwhelming. Why would I not do that myself? I was sobered into the reality that my kids SEE what I do, much more than they hear what I say. Not only that, when I say something to them they actually expect me to live it out in my own life?!?!

The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. -Luke 6:45 



I’m a Christian homeschooling mom. I want my kids to love the Lord, I want them to have a heart for others, to see a need and find a way to meet it. I hope they’ll care more for the things of God than the things of the world and grow up to be the kind of men that show love, honor and respect for the people in their lives as well as reverence for their Heavenly Father. I teach them with those goals in mind. I choose activities and curriculum that fit in with that vision, and we read books that convey that message. But their dad and I are inevitably their first picture of what faith and trust in God looks like. I’m hit hard today with just how imperfect an illustration that is.

I share this because I’m reminded that as parents our witness is first and foremost to those children God placed in our homes. They will quickly realize the stuff our faith is made of and, whether it’s right or not, begin to form an opinion about that brand of faith and how it fits into their lives going forward. With a generation of children coming of age and running to get away from God and the church as fast as they can, it has to be important to us that our own struggle with sin doesn’t become a stumbling block to our children’s faith. This doesn’t mean we have to be perfect, I’ve never met anyone who is. I think it just means we have to be authentic. I can’t teach one way, live another, and expect my three young children to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff.

My pride wasn’t willing in that moment to admit my boy had me pegged, and I can’t say I was instantly gracious and repentant. But later that night I sat down with him, apologized, and told him he was right. God does care about the smallest details of our lives. He can help me get done what I need to get done or he can show me the things that can wait or he can teach me to better manage my resources for the next time. My attitude was sinful, I didn’t live out what I have told the boys to do, but I learned something and it made an opportunity for real-life discussion with my son. That one little authentic lesson for us both has to be at least as valuable as any devotion we could have read or worship song we could have sung that day!

We teach our children at every moment of the day, not just during ‘school hours’. What a blessing. What a responsibility!

Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
-Psalm 139:23-24

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8 Comments

  1. I had to sit down and apologize to my daughter last night, too. It was good to read how that’s what’s needed and not perfection. I needed the reminder.

    1. It’s humbling isn’t it?!? Apologizing to our kids……I won’t even start on apologizing to husbands….that one’s just PAINFUL! Thanks for taking a second to leave a comment, Becca….Happy Monday!

  2. Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

    He is so good, and I tend to be so crummy sometimes! Thank God for his grace.

    It sounds to me (based on your son’s response) that you ARE training him well. I love it when they come through in our weakness, because that means they know it is not the right way!

  3. Wow! You are SO right! I felt you were speaking right to me. Thank you do much, I needed to hear this:)

  4. Preach it girl! I am struggling with the exact same thing on a daily basis!!!!! Walking the walk is so much more difficult than talking the talk!

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