“I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.”

I have read this verse before.  I know the story of Timothy.  But as I was reading this verse this week getting ready for KidConnect this Sunday I read it in a whole new light.  What kind of legacy am I leaving my children?  Will someone see my children some day and say, I know your mother had a sincere faith and I see that sincere faith in you too?  Boy do I want that!  Not for them to give me credit, but just to know that my children love the Lord, have an unshakable faith in Him, and want to serve Him in the ways he calls them too.  That is what I want!

Timothy learned about Jesus from his mother, Eunice.  I am sure that she taught him by telling him stories, but also lived her faith, which is always the best teacher.  Our children are watching us, what are they learning from us?  Are they learning the MOST important thing in life?  Do they see our jobs as the most important thing?  Our money?  Our stuff?  Or are they seeing us show kindness to all people?  Do they see how we trust God to provide in all circumstances?  Do they see us read our Bibles and pray?  I know I have some work to do, but thanks be to Jesus that he is walking beside me to help me through this thing called parenting!

I am also reminded of the verses in Deuteronomy 6:6-9:

“These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.  Impress them on your children.  Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.”

That is a ton of instruction from the Lord when it comes to our children.  It obviously takes a ton of extra work.  We have our jobs, our volunteer activities, our usual errands to run, our families and homes to care for.  Now we see truly what God wants, he wants us to sit at his feet and to teach our children, the next generation, to do the same.  To not fill our lives and theirs with all the extras if you aren’t taking care of our spiritual health.

The most important thing that we can do for our children is teach and instruct them in the ways of the Lord.  We cannot neglect that.  We only have them for a short time, but what we teach them now will be with them their whole lives.  Will our children be like Timothy, a faithful disciple of Christ?   A man/woman who learned about Jesus from their parents and who continue to follow Christ into adulthood.

My prayer is that we will be faithful to our calling as parents.  That we not give up when we are too busy or when it seems hopeless.  And may we not forget the promise in Proverbs 22:6:

“Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

I am going to list a few of the devotion books that we have used in our family.  By all means you don’t have to use a book, you could just use a verse from the Bible, but I find it easier with little ones to have a book that we work our way through.

1.  The Baby Bible Storybook, written by Robin Currie:  This is a wonderful board book for young kids.  It has super cute and colorful pictures.  The stories are very short and for example the story about creation has them close their eyes for darkness, open their eyes for when light was created.  There is even a little prayer to share at the end.  We have read through this Bible many times with the kids.

2.  The New Bible In Pictures for Little Eyes, written by Kenneth N. Taylor:  We have also enjoyed using this Bible quite a bit.  It gives many of the stories from the Bible from Genesis through Acts.  Each story is 1 page, with a picture.  It gives the book of the Bible the story is found in and asks a few questions after each story.

3.  Little Girls Bible Storybook (Fathers and Daughters), written by Carolyn Larsen:  There are many versions of this Bible.  Ours happens to be for Fathers & Daughters, but you can find it for Moms & Daughters as well as ones for your sons.  This devotion Bible gives a Bible story, but it is told more like a story and less like it is straight from the Bible.  It is very easy to read and understand.  After each story there is a part called, “Becoming a Woman of God” which relates the story to your child; and then there is a “Dad’s Turn” in which Dad talks about things in his life and how special his daughter is to him.

4.  Five Minute Devotions for Children:  Celebrating God’s World as a Family, written by Pamela Kennedy:  This particular devotion book is all about animals.  I decided on this one when I bought it because my kids love animals!  You read a short story about a certain animals, like Sea Otters, Penguins, Bears, Whales, etc…  Then there are questions to discuss as a family and a memory verse to learn.  We love this book because it also gives some very interesting facts about the animals.

I hope that this gives you a good starting point on devotion books.  I pray that at the end of May we can each have a story to share about how our families have grown this month during Family Devotion Time.

We are called to be a witness to what God has done in and through our lives, that is what he calls us to. Take some time to remember how God has rescued you, recount the times he was with you and provided for you, and know that it is in those stories that we can be a witness for God.

So how do we make sure we are living by faith and not by sight?  How do we make sure that our children are forming their own faith, and not just embracing our faith?  I think we need to create a loving, caring, spiritual environment at home, making sure that our conversations around our home are Gospel driven so that the Holy Spirit will do his work on each of our children.   Another way is to let them see you reading your Bible, by all means read with them, but it is also important for them to see your faith in action.  Praying at meal times and bedtimes, having them say prayers as well as you.  We spent some time earlier this year looking at praying aloud with our children, this helps them put their faith into action because we are praying to God, we can’t see him, but we can see how he answers our prayers.  Talk to your children about your faith, why you believe what you believe, maybe even write out a faith statement and share it with them.  If your kids are old enough, have them do the same.  I think also by making sure we put our priorities in the right place, making sure that we are worshiping the ONE who saved us, not the many gifts He has given us.  It is not bad or wrong to have stuff, we just need to make sure that we as well as our kids understand that they are gifts and they can be taken from us.  But our faith in Christ can’t be taken from us!

Do I have a ways to go with this and my children?  You Bet I Do!  But, what a great reminder this is to each of us in the importance of living by faith!

• Giving out of Fear:  ”How much can I afford to give?”  This one is marked by giving what is left over because there are more important/pressing things that I have to give to.  As a result, I would give from the time I had left at the end of the day and the money at the end of month.  I hate the idea that I was giving God my leftovers rather than my first fruits.

• Giving out of Law: “How much do I have to give?”  Just tell me what I have to give and I will work toward hitting the mark. Of course when I hit the mark, I began to have pride in my giving and began to judge others on if they were hitting the mark or not.  It is funny, the Law almost always leads to judgment and condemnation of self and/or others.

• Giving out of Faith: “How much is He calling me to give?”  God is constantly calling us to grow in our faith, our trusting in him alone.  The biggest competition for him in my heart and for my trust is money. It is only when I am asking this question on a daily/monthly basis that God captures me and reminds me “you trust me with your eternity and your sins now trust me in this too!”  The funny thing is that He has always provided for my family and me in amazing ways when we gave what he called us to give.  He continues to grow me in the posture of giving out of faith, learning to ask him what he would have me to do with the gifts he has given me.

Paul puts it this way in 2 Corinthians 9:6-8  ” ⁶ Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. ⁷ Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly  or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”

If we are honest with ourselves, our lives look a lot more like the quote above than it looks like “it’s not about me.” We live life at such a pace that we struggle to find time to connect with our family, let alone our neighbors or those whom God is calling us to. It is this Isolation that in many ways is killing us and the mission. Jesus cuts through the clutter and craziness in our lives to meet us along the way, calling us to do the same with those around us!

I wanted to just share with you some thoughts on praying for our kids, and not just for what may be happening in their lives at this moment, but also what will happen in their lives in the future.  We should pray for their relationships with friends, teachers, parents, and even future bosses.  Pray for their protection from harm and also for them to be able to make Godly choices in their lives.  Always give thanks for what they are good at and also for their weakness.  So many times it is through our weaknesses that God’s strength is shown!

A few other traits to pray for in your children may be:  honesty, integrity, self-control, respect, compassion, humility, faith, a love for God’s World, and a heart for those who don’t know Jesus whether it be here in our city or overseas someplace.  The other thing that I have started praying for is my children’s future spouses.  For Jenna and Molly’s future husbands that they would be loving husbands who will love and cherish them.  That God would be with him, that he would guard him, protect him, and that he would grow into a man of God.  ( I pray this for my sons as well, that they would be this type of man!)  For Jake and Luke’s future wives that they would be loving wives who will honor their husbands.  That God would be them her as she grows, that he would guard her and protect her from all harm.  (I pray this for my daughters as well, that they would be this type of woman!)

I think the most important thing to remember is that we should see our kids as the good and perfect gift that they are to us.  We should ask God to show us places where we should let go and let God protect, guide, and counsel our gifts from him.