Me: (on the way to preschool) Lord, I pray for Eva this morning. Please help her to be kind to her friends and help her to share today. I pray these things in Jesus’ name- Amen
Eva: (glaring) MINE!
Me: This is going well.
My dad purchased his first three horses in 1988: Twister, Buck, and Mr. Ed. He broke all three to sell but ended up keeping Mr. Ed. The name alone should explain why. Brittney and I used to run in between his legs when we were small. He was a kid’s horse above all.
Dad ensured we were right in the middle of whatever he was doing. Even at three and four, Mom would bring us to the barn every day to watch dad work the horses. Brittney and I would play in the barn until Dad finished, then he would help us ride around the corral for a bit. We loved it.
As we grew, horses came naturally to my sister and me. Brittney loved everything about them, including the competition. I, however, was more of a pleasure rider.
You prepare for the teen years during the young years.
Dad intentionally saw to it that he had enough horses for the family to ride together at times- whether we liked it or not.
During children’s church a few months back, we led the children in their prayers. It’s an easy pattern for the kids to follow and teaches them to talk to God personally. It looks like this.
Dear Lord, I am sorry…Forgive me…Please help…Thank you…I love you. Amen
During the “I am sorry” section, I told them how I needed to say I was sorry for my behavior that morning. I was scrambling, trying to get everyone ready, and I got snappy. Here I am, the Sunday school teacher, trying to teach the kids to follow God, yet I was rude and abrupt. Eva followed up my confession with, “Ya, Mommy was ugly to Daddy!” I just grinned slightly and nodded as if to say, “Thank you, Eva, for sharing that with the class.”
I am not suggesting we should air out all the things we take before the Lord. However, sometimes our kids need to see us “own up” and repent when we blow it. They need to see us make things right.
Teaching Charlotte and Eva to pray doesn’t start when they can comprehend all the significant stories of the Bible and phrase together the correct vocabulary to reach heaven. It begins at the supper table over the food or bedtime with goodnight prayers. Those training moments allow them to learn how to talk to the Lord.
Nehemiah 13:23-24 reads, “In those days I also saw Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. And half their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and could not speak the language of Judah, but spoke according to the language of one or the other people.”
These scriptures show the ugly truth of what happens when we marry the world and forget the importance of teaching our children the fundamental integrity of God’s word.
When everything else becomes more vital, and we race against the clock to arrive at bedtime, our children cannot speak the language of peace, healing, prosperity, protection, or a slew of other promises embodied in the Bible.
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My parents may have had their teenage battles to fight through, but they laid the groundwork for winning when we were young.
I can proudly tell you that my sister and I are serving the Lord today and raising our children to do the same. – remember, Dad bought four horses.
The other day, Eva was swimming in the pool while her daddy was weed-eating around the fence. I opened the door to tell Eva something with Charlotte attached to my leg. Eva wasn’t watching where she was walking and fell off the corner of the pool into the deep end, scraping her ankle and foot on the concrete as she went in.
I yelled out, “Chuck! Eva fell in!” He was already heading her way. All the while, Eva swam to the side, climbed out, and then started to cry.
Eva is a great swimmer; She says she is a mermaid. I am starting to believe her. Yet, I wasn’t sure how she would respond in an emergency.
She had some pretty good open wounds that needed attention. As I was tending to them on the back porch, I asked her how she knew what to do? She said “Mommy, you and daddy had practiced with me when it wasn’t a real emergency.” “You always tell me, don’t panic, swim to the side, get out, and then cry. So, that’s what I did.” “God gave his angels charge over me, Mommy.”
I nodded without saying a word. I was stunned at the training and how it paid off when it really counted. Not only had she understood how to get out of the pool in an emergency, but she was so familiar with my prayers that Eva knew WHO kept her safe. She could speak the language.
We told her how proud we were of her and that some ice cream was in order. That seemed to dry the tears up.
Learning how to respond before it is necessary is vital in growing our kids in God’s way. When the storms of life come, what we deposit inside of them will show itself.
Teach them to pray.
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“…Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” Luke 11:1
