Baby Steps

September 24, 2012

I think I just realized what my problem is. I have been expecting too much from myself, my kids and my God. I had the silly notion that I would just have lots of Bible time with my children, do some character training and everything would just fall into place. Surely God would reward my efforts with instant gratification.

Then today we were studying the fear of the Lord in our Keys for Kids devotional. And I was explaining that we are not to be afraid of God but respect Him for the power that He alone has and that that respect should manifest itself in obedience. So I asked them “If you say you love God and do not obey Him or show Him respect, do you truly love Him?” The answer was easy for them, “No.” Next question, “If I say I love Daddy and then show him no respect and don’t listen to anything he tells me, do I love him?” Again the answer was easy for them. Next question, “If you say you love me and then show me no respect and don’t listen to anything I say, do you love me?” You could almost hear the sound of little motors turning and tiny little light bulbs flickering on as the dots were being connected. After a brief pause the answer… “No.” We ended the moment with James’ reminder that he could show his faith through his works; and, that you can say ‘I believe’ or ‘I love you’ but if you don’t have the actions to back it up your words are meaningless.

We breezed through our morning routine without incident (or at least none worth remembering). Getting the whole house cleaned so we can enjoy the rest of our week.

For our character training studies I read Deuteronomy 6 with my son (we’re still working on the qualities of a good leader). We all know the passage, we like to quote it as a homeschool mantra. I’ve even used it a couple of times myself. But as I was relating the events of our day to my husband I said something along the lines of “Every once in a while I see a glimmer of growth in him.”

That is when it hit me. This is going to take time. It has to be all day, every day. And I have to live it. God isn’t using all this Bible time to change just my children; He’s using it to change me too. Not all at once lest we break under the pressure; but in baby steps.