A Child's Heart

One of the items which plague parents with large families is how to keep up with the heart attitudes of all of their children. Life gets busy quickly, between meals and chores, worship and fellowship, it seems that every moment of every day is spoken for. One moment the bath is filled with two young children, the older daughter is making dinner, the older son is bringing in the groceries and the baby needs to be fed. From dawn to dusk we mommies spend a lot of time working hard to keep the home fires burning, making sure to run our homes as God commands, striving to please our husbands with the stewardship of his gifts. So when do parents have time to sit with their children and learn their hearts, attitudes and thoughts? No matter what commands our attention, this is one of the most important things we can do, that we must do.

Our plan is simple: we talk throughout the day. Nothing we do is done without referencing our hearts, our attitudes and our relationship with God. When two children begin to fuss over the same toy we talk about sharing, about being a servant. We talk about what God would wish for us in relation to our interactions with others. When the baby is crawling off the blanket and we hit the edge with the wooden spoon to show them their boundaries we talk to them about how to submit in love to their parents is no different than submitting in love to their awesome God. Can the baby understand? Not yet, but it's never too early to talk, to start molding those connections in the baby's mind. They'll learn.

As we take our daily walk outside we talk about nature and how God displays his awesome power through every tree, every flower. We show that God exists in every moment of our lives, in everything we see and do. It is through God's grace we have strong legs to take us on our walk, that it's through God's grace that Daddy can work hard to provide us with shoes. Everything is about education.

Because I homeschool, because I stay at home to protect the sanctity of our home I am with my children every moment of every day. I listen to the way they interact with each other, how they talk, how they reason and I can then know what's in their hearts. I see how they joyfully help with the chores, how they act lovingly towards their siblings, see how they reverence their father and know that those heart attitudes are because I shape them every single day in the image our our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Our children are still young but no topic is off limits. Our girls know already that they are precious jewels that Daddy will jealously protect from the world. The boys know they have their place to protect their sisters and mother, to learn at the knee of their earthly and Heavenly fathers to become godly men that will provide for their families. And all know that we practice JOY: Jesus first, Others second, Yourself last. This is a very obvious decision we've made to direct our children to become servants of their family and, most importantly, of God.

But is that enough? Can we really know their hearts in this way? We know that as they grow Mommy and Daddy will must work even harder to keep their hearts on the correct path of the Lord, to combat the world from intruding on their faith. Because of that there is always Daddy Time.

Every night, once Mommy has tucked everyone into bed, Daddy goes to each child for a few words of encouragement and to press upon their hearts a love of the Lord. He talks about what he has done, what he has seen and how it relates to them growing up into wonderful, godly children and servants. Mommy is usually finishing feeding the baby or tidying up the home or even preparing for her own bedtime. It is a chance for Mommy to have a moment to gather her own thoughts for when she and Daddy have a chance to share their hearts with each other.

No matter how young your children are, you can always reach out to them with God's love, with God's grace and reach their hearts. No greater burden rests upon a Mommy and Daddy's shoulders. We strive to raise Christian warriors and lovely wives. Yes, even though they are young, we parents often dream of the day we gather beautiful grandchildren around us and see the miracle of God's work in the strong, capable, God fearing adults we've raised. We strive to see men who will work to provide homes and security for growing families. We can't wait to see our darling daughters under the authority of godly men, growing their own families, serving the Lord through their children.

But not too fast, please. Lord. We still want to enjoy their babyhood!