they are watching

after 24 days of teaching my babies about the purpose, the history, and the miracle of Easter.. we are taking a break from the proactive parenting lessons for a week. But truthfully the lessons really never end....

....you see we are all teaching our kids something whether we are proactively doing it or not. They are watching... EVERYTHING!

Listening to what we say, watching what we do, how we respond to situations and others, how we spend our time, money, what we value, what makes us laugh and cry.

We are all teaching our children to think the way we think whether we want to or not.

They will see the world as we do... if God is only some distant being to us.. it will be the same for them. If we are just religious people who pray at bed time and go to a church occasionally.... they will see only that ...religion. If we in our heart of hearts don't trust God... they will pick up on that. What we value they will value.

One day other influences will enter their life and they will all have a choice to see the world as we (their parents) have or to see the world and live differently.

TALK ABOUT PRESSURE.... but that is a part of parenting and something i have been think about since before we even had our first child. So no matter what little art project or activity i do with the kids to teach them what i know to be true, 90% of they retain will be what i believe to be true... which they will see through my actions.

... how i love and treat others, how i spend my time, how treat them, Jonathan, and myself. They pick up on it all.

So if i want my kids to know that they can have a personal relationship with LIVING God, to see the world as he does, and know that God created them, loves them, and is wanting them to know Him... all i have to do is fall more in love with my creator and see the world as he does and know that He loves me and is wanting to know me!

The simplicity of just me seeking Him takes some of the pressure off. Though be a parent has made me examine the motives of my heart and if i really believe what i say i believe like never before.

I have made plenty of bad decisions and my kids have seen it all, they have also witnessed me experience God's love in the form of grace and discipline.

So though i am planning and attempting to be a proactive parent... it always comes back to one thing..... the core of life... my relationship with God.

Today is nieces and nephew day... we had a full house with some of my nieces and nephews and little Susita! Great time with great kids!