Monday, June 9, 2008

Timothy Moms Deuteronomy 6:6-7 Challenge: Week #2

Last week the Challenge was to sing a song of worship that's in your heart or a verse that God's impressed upon your heart to your kids FIRST thing in the morning when they wake up.

This week's challenge comes out of this part of the Deuteronomy 6:6-7 passage, "...talk of them when you sit in your house..."

The challenge is to:
***Take some time this week (daily) to SIT DOWN with your kids IN YOUR HOUSE! And talk of some part of God's word with them***

As with all of these weekly challenges, the challenge begins with seeking the Lord, reading His word, praying and applying it to YOUR OWN LIFE FIRST! Before we can impart God's word to our children we must have taken it in for ourselves!

So some prep for this challenge and every challenge would be to study a passage of scripture for yourself. Maybe start with the Psalms or the Gospels.

A suggestion for how this challenge might play out in your everyday life with your kids is:
*** Get everyone at the table for a meal, or gather them up in a circle on the floor, or take a blanket and sit down together in the backyard, etc. Just get you and your kiddos together and sit down somewhere.***

***Tell your kids about what YOU'RE reading or studying or a passage of scripture that is really speaking to you lately. If you're kids are young, like mine who are 3 and 5, what you say might sound something like, "Kids guess what God has been talking to mommy about? Mommy was reading the Bible and God was talking to me about (just as an example) how HIS words are sweet like honey and nutritious like milk.****

It can be as short as that or if your kids are older your sit down might be able to be more complex- a more involved discussion.

Some great thoughts I heard at Living On the Edge, from some broadcasts titled "What's a Parent to do?" concerning talking of God's word to our kids at different stages in life were:

1. If your kids are young (pre-school and kindergarten aged) talk about WHO God is- His character as revealed in Jesus. Talk about Jesus A LOT. Tell Bible stories.

2. When your kids are school-aged talk about WHAT the Bible says: what is right, what is wrong, what is true, memorizing scripture.

3. In the teenage years talk about WHY. Ask them questions they are asking like, "Why is sex before marriage bad? Why do I need to obey authority? Why aren't there many ways to God?, etc." Talk to them about basic apolegetics.

I HIGHLY recommend the series from Living on the Edge that I mentioned above which you can find at those links.
Also, I invite you to join us tomorrow and any Tuesday you can for Tuesdays For Timothy Moms. It's a great time to take some wisdom from God's word and meditate on it for yourself as a parent. Good way to help you and I with the crucial FIRST part of this challenge in applying God's word to our own lives before imparting it to our children! I'd Love to have you!

Enjoy the challenge ladies! I'm praying for us! And I'm trusting that He who gave us these souls (our children) to lead to Christ will also give us the strength and wisdom to do so as we seek His face!

Be diligent!

Sheila


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

another good idea i'll have to try.. my kids really enjoyed the singing last week!

re: no car! that's great! I wish we could do that, unfortunately we live on a farm, so it's too far to walk to anything except around the farm

Anonymous said...

Wonderful thoughts. You've just reminded me to sing to them today. I sing over them every night, some songs I made up from scripture. But throughout the day, I need to do this.

Lauren said...

Oh, I do love the "who, what, why" Great guidelines!

Gina Marie said...

My ten-year old daughter is choosing our verse of the day - It is going to become our verse to put in action and live out as we go through the day.

Since I have children ranging in age from 10 down to almost two, this is a "do-able" start for us.

We are also filling our home with Biblical TV choices and radio. I want to surround my children in a haven of holiness. We are all learning more scripture and uplifting song lyrics without trying this way!

Praise God!

I also saw the book on your sidebar for Gospel for Asia. My father volunteers with their ministry:-)

God bless!

Gina