Copycat...

I'm sitting here with Amelia.  I let her stay up late.  We're just hanging out on my bed.  I told her I was reading.  She said she would go get her reading stuff too.  She brought a mess of stuff in here and is making all sorts of notes.  

She's a note taker. 

She's a list maker.  

Just like her Mama.  

She mimics everything I do.  

She mimics everything I say.  

I love to hear her say, "well stink" or "oh dear" when something goes wrong.  Or when she looks at Sydney and says, "now Sydney that's just an accident waiting to happen!" It makes me chuckle because I know she picked that up from me.  

Knowing she copies everything she sees/hears makes me very aware of what I do and say.  

I was sitting here reading a blog on my computer and she asked what I was doing.  I told her I was reading and she said, "you're not reading...that's not even the Bible." Ironically, I was reading THIS POST.  

One thing Angela Cottrell shared at dotMom was we're always planting little seeds.  We may not think they're listening/retaining but they are.  And we may not see fruit from those seeds until years down the road but we can rest assured, His word will not return void.  (Isaiah 55:11)  He will be faithful to grow those seeds.

She reminded us of Deuteronomy 6:1-9.  In these verses we learn a few things:

1. That we're to love the Lord with all our heart.  

Remember that our children see what we love by what they see us do.  They learn more by what they observe than even what they hear much of the time.  

2. God's commands are to be in our heart.  

We achieve this by reading/studying God's Word. 

She encouraged us as Moms to little ones to not get caught up in having a full hour of quiet time every day.  Take what we can get.  And in these years with little ones, sometimes it's just one verse that He gives us and we can meditate on that one verse all day.  And look for ways to share that verse with our children throughout the day.  

3. We're to teach His words to our children.  

We can do this by repeating the words of scripture to our children.  It doesn't have to be drilling a verse into their heads.  It can just be in conversation with them.  It can be as simple as telling them stories of what God did in my life.  The Bible is full of wonderful God stories, but we have our own God stories as well and we need to be sharing those with our children.  Share what He did for me in a certain situation.  Amelia never forgets a story.  

When they're struggling with hurt feelings, anger, loss, disappointment, body image, anything at all, take them to what God's Word says about it.  Angie Smith said to us that first day, "our children need to know that we're pilgrims too."  I hadn't ever really thought about this but she's right.  We as parents seem to always want to have the answers for our children and ya know what?  They need to know we don't have it all figured out.  They need to have permission to struggle.  And they need to know where to go when they're struggling.  His Word has the answers and as we hide it in our heart, it's easier to combat the daily struggles because His words will be the first thing to come to our mind.  Or if not the first, hopefully the second or third. :)

I want to be purposeful in teaching my children God's Word.  

What are we talking to our children about all day?  

"Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." -Deuteronomy 11:18-19

Love to all,