Just a Thought

I was talking with my friend Lisa earlier this week and we discussed how we want to raise our children to know the Lord. In a sense we were saying that we want to present Jesus to our kids organically. We talked about how we have heard moms tell their little ones, "Jesus does not like that" or "That makes Jesus sad" when they do or say something that is mean or plain wrong. I just am not sure I am comfortable with that. I mean, I totally get that God sets boundaries for our lives and out of his love and grace for us, he has ways he desires us to live and ways he does not. Maybe I struggle with this because I was raised in the church and always remember learning a list of do's and don'ts and not about really who Christ was and what that meant for me. I think the way it was presented to me made God so far above me: unreachable and distant, yet keeping a "watchful" eye! I should follow the rules, so I followed and made choices based on fear, not based on a response to God's, truth, mercy, love, and grace.

I want my kids to have a deep understanding of the Lord and who he truly is. I do not, however, want to pressure, manipulate, or "brainwash" them either! I want my children to know God first, who he is, what he has done for us, and his love for us, before I talk about living a life that is pleasing to him. I want them to follow the Lord, live for him, and make decisions in life, out of a response to God's love, mercy, and grace. Knowing the truth about God first and out of that have a pure devotion to him. This, I believe, is true faith.

Like the Lord, I want to set boundaries for my kids, not lists of rules. Within those boundaries, I want them to be able to think and make decisions for themselves, even if that means mistakes, and then I want to be able to extend to them the grace they need. But I must say, it is sure easy to have such an ideology when my kids are only almost three and six months!!!