Time for Your Children is Time for God

"Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Prov. 22:6

Scripture gives us a bountiful resource of child rearing tips and directives, but not all contain a promise as inviting as this one. many a parent has wondered, though, what went wrong... They thought they had trained their children well, yet watch in agony as a son is lost to drugs or a daughter wanders far from the Lord. I have no easy answers here. We may not know the entire scope of any situation this side of Glory but can rest assured that the God's promises are kept.

Does this mean I'm laying blame at parental feet whenever a child goes astray? No, of course not. This, as all scripture quotes, must be taken in context of God's Word as a whole. It is cited here as a reminder of the awesome responsibility and trust God places in us when He entrusts children to our care. Such a charge requires much time, and it's so important to properly focus that time.

I am a great grandmother now and much wiser than I was as a mother. With a houseful of children to care for, I didn't pause to play enough. Now I know the kids would much rather have had me making mud pies with them than spending my time cleaning or cooking or doing any of the thousand things I thought were so important then. And what does it matter now if my towels were all folded neatly in thirds or the floors were compulsively swept after each meal? Oh, I missed so much! And so did they...

Yes, we took some time to play, but not enough. Yes, there was time to read, but not enough. Yes, there was time to learn about the Lord, but not nearly enough! There is much I would change if I had it to do again, but that cannot be. The next best thing is to remind others how precious these children are and how swiftly the years fly away! They'll be grown and gone before you can imagine, so stop now and consider this...

If I live in a house of spotless beauty with everything in its place,
but have not love, I am a housekeeper -- not a homemaker.

If I have time for waxing, polishing, and decorative achievements,
but have not love, my children learn cleanliness -- not godliness.

Love leaves the dust in search of a child's laugh.
Love smiles at the tiny fingerprints on a newly cleaned window.
Love wipes away the tears before it wipes up the spilled milk.
Love picks up the child before it picks up the toys.

Love is present through the trials.
Love reprimands, reproves, and is responsive.
Love crawls with the baby, walks with the toddler, runs with the child,
then stands aside to let the youth walk into adulthood.
Love is the key that opens salvation's message to a child's heart.

Before I became a mother I took glory in my house of perfection.
Now I glory in God's perfection of my child.
As a mother there is much I must teach my child,
but the greatest of all is love.
Submitted by Julia Townsend
(author unknown)

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