Teaching:
Constructive and positive instruction in how to live. (Colossians 3:16)
In my earlier years I was a home-school mom, but I never imagined myself being my kids’ teacher. Obviously God had other plans! I fought God for a year! I heard everywhere,”Home-school your kids!” I didn’t want to do it! Eventually I gave in and obeyed God. It wasn’t easy though! Homeschooling showed me my flaws and my kids’ flaws, and it was the most difficult – while the most rewarding – thing I have ever done.
Teaching our own children can be difficult! Honestly, most kids don’t like to be taught, but we must persevere! Why do we persevere? We know it is best for them. As parents, we can see into their futures and have a good idea about what they need to be successful adults.
Homeschooling for me was not just about academics; it was equally about life skills. I remember teaching our boys how to clean the bathroom. Oh, how mad they would be at me when I went into the bathroom to inspect the job they did… and had them do the job again. It was not my intention to anger them, but I wanted them to learn the correct way to get a bathroom clean. Cleaning a bathroom well translates into finishing what we start, knowing the difference between a job well done and a job, well, just done. One day they would probably (and they do) have a wife, and she would appreciate the fact that her husband can clean a bathroom and finish tasks he starts!
Since I home-schooled my children, it was important that our boys learned to be ready on time. They had to get up, get dressed, make their beds and be ready for school at a certain time. Sure, I could have been relaxed with this, since we home-schooled after-all, but what would that teach them? One day, they would need to be at a job on time. One day, they would have to be responsible for themselves. As a parent, I needed to prepare them for that.
Parents, one day your sweet little ones will be grown and on their own. He/She will be an adult and will no longer be under your wing of protection. You do your child a disservice if you fail to teach him/her responsibility, upright character, money matters (give, save, live), cleanliness, thankfulness, gratitude and so much more!
I remember when our boys left for college. My husband told them that it was “their faith, their responsibility, everything was their choice now”. We have our kids for a small amount of time. When they leave our home…that is it! We no longer have a say, our kids make their own choices. Will you give them great examples of what good choices in life should be? Let’s get them ready to succeed in their journey to maturity.
Proverbs 22:6
“ Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
Do you believe this scripture? Will you believe enough to teach your children the way they should go? Daily decisions that we make as parents are not always so clear-cut or easily discerned. Even when we know what we should do, doing it may not always be easy or popular. Do you recognize that God’s way is THE way? Know Him; walk with Him each day; parent accordingly.
He will guide you.
Proverbs 3: 5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight,