Talk About Motivation

First of all, my good friend Angie posted some GREAT thoughts about being a mother today on her blog. Wow! It really made me think about what my goals in parenting are and how to reach those goals.

Then, tonight on Focus on the Family they were talking about raising godly children and what you can do so your children will truly love God and not just know the right things to "do". This part challenged me on the how to reach my goals of children who have a heart for the Lord. They talked about LIVING it and not just putting your best foot forward on Sundays. The verses they converged on were Deuteronomy 6: 4-7.

Deuteronomy 6:4-7
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

Wow! That (we learned at Vacation Bible School this year) is the #1 command to the Jews. It is called the Schema. That is a BIG charge. It really made me think...I say that I love the LORD my God with all my heart, soul and strength, but am I putting actions behind my words? Am I acting different, as a Christian, to show others that I love the LORD my God? And if people can't tell that I'm "different" than how can I impress that upon my children? Even if I do love Him so much, am I living it for my children? Am I talking about it when I'm sitting at home and when I'm on the road, when the girls are going to bed and when we are waking up? I don't necessarily like the answers to some of those questions. I can definitely look back through time and see spiritual growth, but I have so far to go. Especially right now. Libby has entered a phase where she is searching out her own independence and is showing it by asserting an attitude with mommy and daddy. Yet, at the same time she is being extra clingy as well with the move and everything. I am having difficulty finding the proper responses. I feel like we are trying to balance on a floating dock in the middle of a storm. I am clinging to God through this, but at the same time, am I showing my children this? I know, it is just a phase of life and I will figure it out just in time for her to move on to the next phase. :) I am just trusting God and will put this verse (as I have been doing since VBS) into my heart and will work on letting God work on, and in, me.