Today is January 10, 2012. It is my son Andrew's 20th birthday. That's kind of a milestone. Hard to believe he's not a teenager anymore. We were blessed, blessed, blessed that he did not give us trouble during the teen years. Let me also say, that we are doubly blessed, to have a 16 year old daughter, Rachel, that has not given us trouble either. I am not saying that they have not experienced their personal ups & downs, only that they continued to be obedient as best they could during their hard times. I sincerely pray that God will continue to give us wisdom and love in our relationship with these two wonderful children. Typically, when it is a person's birthday, they are thinking "Woo-hoo! It's my birthday! Where's the presents & the cake?!" However, I've come to realize that from a mother's point of view, I am always reflecting on the day that child was born. Now, that it's been 20 years, I am reflecting on whether I accomplished the job that I started 20 years ago when I earned my title, "mom". Is God pleased with me? I know that I was not perfect. There were many times I had to read the instruction manual---the Bible. I listened to sermon after sermon and read books by many well known Christian authors. I listened faithfully to Dr. James Dobson's "Focus on the Family".
Deuteronomy 6:5-7 "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with ALL thine heart, and with ALL thy soul, and with ALL thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up."
Children relate God to boredom if they are only taught about God in formal teaching settings. According to these verses, parents are to teach their children and talk about God and set an example at home and wherever you go. I will tell you from experience that this really does work! We spent many hours riding in the car through the years. When the kids were in preschool & elementary school, they were active in AWANA's, so they always had Bible verses to learn. I would write the Bible verses on notecards and we practiced during 5 minute trips to the grocery store or bus stop. Every time we got into the car, it was a time of learning. Children learn by repetition. The reason practice makes perfect is because it is simply repetition. The more we do something, the more it becomes easier and even habitual. I think it helped to start this when they were very young, and try to make it fun and give them lots of praise.
When I married Andy, I was just 20 years old. Due to his job and schedule, it was best for me to be a stay-at-home wife. I was ok with this, as I had really prayed about it. However, during those early years I struggled to feel like a worthwhile person because I did not finish college and/or have a successful job like many of my friends. I still trusted God that He knew what was best for me and that my personal sacrifice of not finishing college would be for God's glory. I can whole-heartedly say that it was all for God's glory! For one, I did not realize that I would deal with infertility issues, so it was a good thing that I had my kids when I was young. When I was 27, I realized that when I meet God, He will not care whether I went to college or what kind of job I had. He only cares about my faithfulness to Him. This was a life changing concept for me! I understood that the world views success as where you went to college, your career, the kind of car you drive, the kind of house you live in, the amount of money in the bank....but God doesn't care about any of those things! I could finally feel at peace that as long as I was seeking to please the Lord, that was all that mattered and everything else fell into place.
Still realizing that after 20 years, I'm struggling with this weight....and that's pretty frustrating. However, since I started writing this blog, my mind is on God more and not so much on food, so I'm feeding on His Word more than I'm feeding my stomach. I have to be patient and know that the weight loss will be slow. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy celebrating the 20th year of Andrew's life!
Thank you Lord for blessing us with Andrew and Rachel. You deserve the glory and credit for the wisdom You gave us in Your Word, the Bible. Help us Lord to love unconditionally and keep our family close to You. AMEN!
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