Praising with You
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Praising with You
Read Deut. 10:12 and Luke 10:27.
Do your children know that you love the Lord more than anything or anyone else? These are evidences that any one of your children could report if asked to:
They watch your reaction when you are rebuffed at home, at work, at church, in public or with a friend.
They see your attitude as you talk about your church family or as you prepare for Sunday morning.
They see how you plan your Sabbaths to include worship and rest.
They notice your habits around the house —habits of including God throughout the day, of quiet prayers (maybe while it is still dark) and the habit of opening, enjoying and referencing God’s word.
They hear your heart as you disciple them when they are making wrong choices.
They hear your laughter during good times and fun activities.
They notice your joy in worship. They work WITH you and discover first-hand God’s gift of successful chores.
These and other evidences point your children day by day to the God you love and His unerring Word.
Spelling
A fun summer exercise is to call out any word and spell it. Anyone can call the word and anyone listening may respond. If you want to take turns just call the parent or child’s name after calling the word.
After looking at an unusual spelling of a word like “through” (e.g. “threw”), talk about other words that sound like that word but are spelled differently. If the children are young, repeat the same sound frequently when you call a word. Pause occasionally and write (see) the word.
This is fun for families of all ages. Even calling one or two words per day will review the parts of English that are phonetic and maybe show patterns among words that appear to not be phonetic.
Reading
Add a dimension to your read-aloud by also coming together to talk about what everybody is reading.
Share information, as summarizing what was read.
Talk about the author — what about the writing appeals to the reader.
Evaluate by seeing how the writing defends (or ignores) the absolutes of God’s Word.
Talk about other books you hope to read and why.
Don’t spoil the story for those who still may wish to read the book.
Do all of this with the same attitude as you would come together to watch a movie or to gather around a campfire.
Enjoy all of the great books out there and remember those written in the early 1800s!!
Behavior The Bible verse 1 Samuel 16:7 says in part, that “man looks on the outward appearance but the Lord looks on the heart.” Because of this we must stay tightly connected to the Lord as we train and disciple our children. God will reveal to you what you need to know. Ask Him.
But this verse also reminds us that there may be an outward appearance that reveals something that we need to pray about and/or work on.
Some outward appearance of your child (moaning, sigh, shoulder slump,) may remind you of yourself. How grateful you need to be and how carefully you will need to take steps of change.
Some outward appearances (eye roll, smirk) you may have been labeling as insignificant. Now you are alerted to the grand significance of this behavior in revealing the heart.
Some outward appearances may simply irritate you but are not signaling any evil.
In this you will be led to grow in your own need. Blessings to you as day by day you lovingly come alongside each child with a heart to disciple, to train.
Enjoy the Word Don’t get bogged down as you dig into God’s Word as a family. No matter how old your children are, it is good to come together and read God’s Word. You all may profit by sharing what each is learning in his/her own private time with the Lord.
“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law” (Deut. 29:29)
How comforting these words are to us. They warn us to make sure that the clearly revealed Scriptures are known by us and our children.
Take a moment to think of God’s revealed truth and talk about this with your children. Check to see that each one is growing in understanding how much God loves them and how eager God is for their love.
Love, Becky
