Applying Proverbs

We are almost half way through our journey in Proverbs this month!  I am amazed at the new treasures I find each day!  It is always applicable!  I hope you are staying on track and being blessed and filled with great truth.  If you have missed a day or two or three... there is grace in that!  Just pick up where you left off and move forward.  God has something for you.

The past few days my attention has been drawn to verses that can help me in my mothering.  These are verses I need to apply to my own life, model before my family and others, and teach to my children.  I wanted to share with you these verses and encourage you to incorporate them into your training and disciplining. Did you notice how many times Proverbs reminds us, "Listen carefully, pay attention, keep my words, keep my commands, gain understanding, etc."?  I especially love reminders to never let love and faithfulness leave us... to "bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart."  Oh, this is a prayer of mine!  And another great cry of my heart is that the Lord's word would be hidden so deeply within my heart... but also in the hearts of my children.  At the core, this is where LIFE is found... in trusting Christ as Savior, following him and living a life of obedience because we have been compelled by His great love!  I have listed several verses to share, as well as a few tips that can help us remember, think more on and hopefully memorize these great nuggets of wisdom:

Proverbs 12:18
"Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing."
Application: Teaching ourselves and our children to be gentle in how we speak to one another; to avoid raising our voices, yelling or using hurtful words.

Proverbs 12:22
"The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in men who are truthful."
Application:  God loves when we tell the truth!  This is a reminder for us to always speak the truth.

Proverbs 13:3
"He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin."
Application:  Similar to Proverbs 12:18; However I love how my study Bible expanded on it:
"You have not mastered self-control if you do not control what you say.  Words can cut and destroy.  James recognized this truth when he said, 'The tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts' (James 3:5). If you want to be self-controlled, begin with your tongue.  Stop and think before you react or speak.  If you can control this small but powerful member, you can control the rest of your body."

Proverbs 14:12
"There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death."
Application:  I take this verse as quite honestly reminding me that my ways are not his ways... my ways are most naturally from my flesh... Sometimes I roll my eyes instead of practicing self-control and I also take short cuts in chores sometimes because I'm being lazy.  The right choice often requires self-sacrifice and even hard work.  This is a good way to lead into sharing how we need to walk in the Spirit!  Turn ahead to Galatians 5:16-26 and share the ways walking by the Spirit is contrary to gratifying the desires of the sinful nature.

Proverbs 14:17
"A quick tempered man does foolish things."
Application: Anger

Proverbs 15: 1
"A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger."
Application:  I think this one speaks for itself.... replacing anger with gentleness.

1.  Look at multiple translations of a verse you are wanting to learn with your children.  Better yet, read it in a Study Bible!

I usually read out of my New International Version (NIV) Bible & Study Bible, but also like looking at the English Standard Version (ESV).  A great paraphrase of Scripture in modern day language is The Message Bible.  I always enjoy re-reading verses in this translation.  Sometimes it helps me to understand them better and in turn will help me to explain them better to my children.


2.  Place the scripture you want to remember and bring into your parenting all around your house.

I started this in college.  It began on small notecards displayed along the edges of my mirror in my room. When I got married, I began to hang them throughout the house.  You can get as creative as color coding words in fancy handwriting and putting them on colorful paper with scrapbooking backgrounds OR you can just write it on a strip of paper with a magic marker!  Hang them on your mirrors, your refrigerator, tape it to the wall, or put it on your nightstand.  The possibilities are endless!  I like to change them every so often, but always keep my cards so that I can always pull them back out.

3.  Make a habit of reading the verses (maybe even aloud) as you see them throughout your home.

Before opening the fridge, pause and read the verse in front of you.  Maybe even ask your children to repeat after you as you read it and then talk about it.  I try to remember to not only talk about scripture just when I'm disciplining my children.  Talk through it with them like it tells us in Deuteronomy (5:4-9) as you sit at home, walk along the road (or ride in the car), at bedtime, meal time as a family, and when you wake in the morning.  Prepare them for how the verse is applicable by talking through scenarios or role playing how it looks to live it out:  For example, Romans 12:10 tells us to, "honor one another above yourself (Romans 12:10)".  I may have a conversation with my oldest about how she can honor her little brother above herself when he wants to play with a toy that she has.  She can choose to give it to him rather than keeping it for herself. Or when they are both wanting to sing a song for me or say the mealtime prayer, she can tell her little brother to go ahead and sing or pray first.  This is humility and honor.

4.  Pray Scripture for your children.

For example, if your child is struggling with telling the truth, pray Proverbs 12:22 for them.  It can be a prayer as simple as:  "Lord, you delight in truth!  I pray that my child would also delight in truth and only speak truth.  Help ______ to guard her lips from speaking lies."

~I would really love to hear any other ideas you have for us as we continue to read through Proverbs.  Also, please share any verses that you want to specifically use in your parenting.  I would love to hear how God is speaking to you!~

Loving God with ALL Your Heart

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind. ~ Luke 10:27

When I first shared this verse with Nella we talked about each "part" of us that is instructed to love God… our heart, our soul, our strength, and our minds.  I love the way The Message says it, "all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence.  What does it mean to love God with all of these things?  My first thought of the heart is how it is deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9).  I also think about how our words, what comes out of our mouths, and all we do reveals the condition of our heart (Luke 6:45), which if we think about what we say and do sometimes, it seems much less than honorable before God.  Proverbs 4:23 tells us to guard our hearts (above all else) because it is the wellspring of life.  Our hearts can be the storehouse of good, but also of evil.  They can be filled with light, peace, love and compassion; but also calloused, dulled and far from God.  The good news, however, is the solution provided through Christ to our "heart problem".  If we are going to love the Lord our God with all our heart, we first need Christ to change our heart!  This has had a great impact on how we view the disciplining of our children.  Discipline should be centered on more than just changing the behavior… it should be centered around leading our children to the cross, where there is change in the heart.  Tedd Tripp, author of Shepherding A Child's Heart, says it like this:

"You see, then, how heart attitudes direct behavior.  It is always true.  All behavior is linked to some attitude of the heart.  Therefore, discipline must address attitudes of the heart.  This understanding does marvelous things for discipline.  It makes the heart the issue, not just the behavior.  It focuses correction on deeper things than changed behavior.  The point of confrontation is what is occurring in the heart.  Your concern is to unmask your child's sin, helping them to understand how it reflects a heart that has strayed.  That leads to the cross of Christ.  It underscores the need for a Savior.  It provides opportunities to show the glories of God, who sent His Son to change hearts and free people enslaved to sin."

I see the link between the attitude of my heart and my behavior so clearly in my own life.  And I am beyond words, grateful for the meaning of the cross to my life.  And so, Paul's prayer for the church of Ephesus in Ephesians 3:16-18 is my greatest prayer for my children: "I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.  Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him.  Your roots will grown down into God's love and keep you strong.  And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love it."  

God, you are so gracious to me.  I am so unworthy of the great depths of your love for me, yet I am called your own, your daughter.  Thank you.

Sharing is a Sacrifice

Do no forget to do good to others and to SHARE what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.  Hebrews 13:16

My oldest sister and her crew of three little ones will be filling our tiny home to the brim this coming week!  We will be going from "tiny home, BIG love" to "MEGA love"!  I am so excited about squeezing in together.  Our family is close!  We love being together and relishing every sweet minute of time God gives us.  I am looking forward to time with my sister, nieces and nephew…. letting the kids play, sounds of laughter (and crying, without a doubt), long talks with my big sister about life and the Lord.  There is little else in the world that brings me more pleasure than time with the ones I love!   Yes, there will be a lot of fun, but one thing is for sure…. there will be some cousin "sharing" issues.  And it's safe to say, most of them will have my two year old in the center of the fuss.  

"What's mine is mine and what's yours is mine."  Sound familiar?  Maybe you've heard it used by a woman directed toward her husband (in a joking way, of course).  Well, I have discovered that this is also the mentality of a toddler.  Teaching your little one to share is a tough task.  You talk about it with her and practice it together in your home, but when you are at your play date and it's time to put it into practice in the "toddler real world" it all flies out the window!  So when I found this week's verse in the Bible, it was ground-breaking!  The Bible says to share!  This is one of those treasures in Scripture that I could not have come across at a better time.  This is a great week to learn this verse and have it on our hearts and minds!

But while teaching your child to share is a tough task, I think it is a great task for us to learn as adults.  No matter how "spiritual" or "good" we may think we are (which, we truly are neither)… by nature we are totally selfish.  I openly admit that about myself.  There are just certain things I have a hard time sharing.  For example…. ice cream.  Long story, short version:  I selfishly ate the rest of the ice cream one night when Ken had already said he wanted some.  It was totally wrong of me.  All I could say for myself was that once I started eating it, I couldn't stop… it was so yummy!  Sorry babe!  That is a silly example, but if we really think about it, it is not always easy to do good for  others or to share the things we love the most.  It is most difficult when there is a cost involved, a personal inconvenience, when it isn't comfortable, or especially when it involves giving up something we feel entitled to.  In Hebrews 13:16 the Lord is telling us that doing good and sharing is a sacrifice.  A sacrifice never came without a cost…. something has to be given up in order to sacrifice.  There is a cost in putting others before yourself.  And the cost is your selfishness.

If you are a believer in Christ, verse 15 comes with great news!  It says that we offer God sacrifices of praise, not through our own power, but "through Jesus".  It is something we can not do on our own.  It is not something always natural for our children that they will always do on their own.  But through Christ we can!  I am excited to teach my daughter and nieces this sweet truth… that sharing and doing good makes God smile AND when it is not easy to do it on our own, we can rely on Him!  

Little Ears

Lately it has been pressed on my heart that my little ones are listening and watching all I say and do.  To think back on your words and tone throughout the day, a lot of truth can be revealed.  What is your attitude towards your husband?  your children?  meeting the needs of others?  Sometimes mine really stinks!  And when it stinks, it also weighs me down.  Anytime I've lost all patience or feel angry, it is an awful feeling!  And the worst part is how it permeates throughout our whole home, changing the tone and moods of all of us.  As I've thought about how infectious my bad attitude is, I've come to admit that my attitude definitely needs some adjusting.  I really struggle with that a lot… a good attitude, patience, understanding, forgiveness.  I want my words to show love, grace and speak His name.  That is one of the main reasons, as I have shared before, for teaching and memorizing Scripture with my family.  The more we learn and store it in our hearts, it is amazing how God brings that up in the right moments.  It is through the Word being alive in us, that the Holy Spirit can overcome our bad attitudes and bring forth sweet words filled with His love, His patience and His heart.  This week's verse is a guard to what we hear.  

"There is no one like you, O Lord,

and there is no God but you,

as we have heard with our own ears."

1 Chronicles 17:20

To even begin and explain the divinity of God, his sovereignty, holiness, omnipotence, self-existence is beyond what I am equipped to do… for that I will refer you to read The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer and, especially, to spend time in the Word.  But, yes, we must teach our little ones that there is no one like our Lord and there is no God but Him!  We have heard this!  We know it is true!  We know he is majestic and powerful… we must pass it on to our children.  Those words should flow from our mouths into their sweet little ears daily.  Let them know however you can that He is great!  When you are in the car together or taking a walk, point out His creation… He made everything, even them!  My favorite Psalm, 139 says: "For you created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother's womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful.  I know that full well."  We are wonderfully made because of our Creator… because He is wonderful and there is no one like Him, no God but Him.

I have to ask myself: What am I filling my own ears with?  or even my eyes?  Growing closer with Christ is a transformation, the process of your mind being renewed (Romans 12:2).  If we can pinpoint what is keeping our focus from Him, we should be quick to remove it.  After all, it will overflow from us into the ears of our children.  My prayer for myself (and you) is that I will speak more of the Lord in our home.  That I will tell my children everyday that there is no one like God.  That my lips will praise Him.  That He will be the foundation and center of our lives, first in everything.  That my attitude will be a reflection of the grace and forgiveness I have experienced and received from Him.  And that I will handle every situation with more grace every day as I hide myself more in Him.

No Fear

I am obviously late posting our memory verse for the week!  It's been a busy start of the week and I'm just finding the time to sit down and share.  This week's verse really fell into my lap.  Last week, my daughter went to Vacation Bible School at my in-law's church.  On the last night, she brought home all of her crafts from the week.  They were so sweet!  After she went to bed that night, I placed them as centerpieces and decorations in our dining room.  The next morning she was so excited to see everything I had displayed.  She pointed at one of the crafts and nearly said the entire verse!  She jumbled up some words and forgot a few as well, so I decided this should be the next verse we work on.  

The verse is Joshua 1:9 (shortened and paraphrased for a little one).  

"Be strong. Do not be afraid.  God is with you."

This verse is actually very applicable to Nella.  Lately, she has expressed fear in certain situations… from petting farm animals, letting us let go of her in the pool, and going down the slide to refusing to get her shoes out of her closet because she thinks there is a monster.  We were truly perplexed about where she heard about monsters in the closet!  She blames it on her cousin… who denies it… it's been a hilarious conversation over Skype.  Very much like her mother, she "plays it safe".  In contrast, her daddy is a risk taker.  This difference has always seemed to balance my husband and me.  At times I am a voice of caution to him, while he is so great at helping me step out of my comfort zone when it really is best.  

We are working with Nella on this… and I really think I continually need work in this area, too.  We have to learn to control our thought life and think on TRUTH, trusting in the Lord and his presence in our life, relying on his strength and power that is made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).  I have struggled with this before and during those times have remembered Philippians 4:8-9:

" Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious- the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.  Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized.  Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies." (The Message)

My prayer is that we will not let fear or worry govern our thoughts and our life, but that we will rejoice, even in the middle of suffering and trials, because we have been set free from that bondage through Christ our Lord.  There is freedom in Christ.

Why Do We Love?

Nella memorized her first Bible verse last week!  It is most definitely the sweetest collection of words to ever come out of her mouth… even in comparison to "I love you, Mommy".  There is something about her sweet, squeaky voice saying she loves the Lord that brings me (and, especially, our Father) great joy!  She is also very excited to share what she has learned with her daddy, who has been on a mission trip in South Africa and Mozambique for almost two weeks.  It will be a great surprise for him when he returns.

I saw the greatest commercial the other day.  It is not often that we have a TV on and even more rare that it keeps my attention with littles ones,  but I feel that God intentionally placed that commercial in front of me.  It was a scene of a little boy playing dodge ball in a gym while his mom is hovering in front of him protecting him from all the balls flying his way.  She is shouting with great determination, "Don't worry, honey, mommy is here!… I'll protect you".  It was completely comical and absolutely true of how I feel about my children. I want to dodge balls for them! Isn't it true that as parents we want to protect our child and rescue them from anything that might hurt them?!  And of course, we should have that desire.  That is part of our responsibility as parents.  But isn't it also true that there will be times when we can't be there right in time to save them?  Sadly, to a parent's heart, that is true, too.  Remember your little one's first fall… scraped knee… blood?   The first time they were really sick?  You just want to take it from them!  It is the most helpless feeling as a parent.  Seeing your child hurting or in pain is hard to bare. 

I feel like God is teaching me so much through that commercial… I could really go in many directions explaining what He revealed through that.  But what is on my heart now, is how it relates to my prayer for the verses I am teaching my child.   It is my prayer for her as we continue to learn what God's Word says that she will store up Truth in her heart so that one day, in the future, when she is walking through a season of trial and turmoil, trying to dodge all the balls flying her way (because we all go through those seasons) that she will find peace and refuge in Christ. 

I am really excited about this week's verse!  After professing last week our love for the Lord and learning that he hears us, I want to stay along the lines of love.  This weeks verse is 1 John 4:19:

"We love because he first loved us."

Left to ourselves, to our flesh, our love is so flawed…much of the time conditional… it really isn't love at all!  We choose to give it and we choose to take it away.  But, if you are a believer in Christ Jesus and the finished work of the cross that covers all our sin and shame… you have experienced LOVE!  Extravagant, sacrificial, perfect, unconditional, patient, forgiving, complete agape LOVE!  While we were sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).  Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends. (John 15:12).  It is through, not only His example, but through HIM that we love.  Because He, God, is love.  (1 John 4:16b)  We love because we have experienced God's love for us and it compels us to share it with others, to love others, even when we don't want to or when it is hard… that is where we find our need for Christ and allow the Holy Spirit to love through us-when it is hard.

Along with teaching Nella this verse, I am also going to read in small sections and talk about the latter half of 1 John 4.  If you have decided to join me in my "Summer Resolution" to teach and memorize scripture with your children, I would love to hear from you!  

A Summer Resolution

Lately I've noticed my daughter's conversations becoming continual… all day is one great, big conversation between the two of us.  It is the greatest joy and entertainment to hear her express herself now that she is becoming more vocal.  She totally cracks me up, sometimes we are both cracking up.  Toddlers are truly so cute!  Her silliness brings my husband and I countless smiles and consumes much of our conversation in the evenings after the house is quiet and it's just the two of us.  When we get on a roll talking about all of their cuteness, we usually end up sneaking into their room and watching them sleep… I know that might sound weird, but is so sweet to us!  If you have children or even a special niece, nephew or sweet little one in your life, I'm sure you can relate.  

It is amazing how they pick up on things… and a little scary, too.  My daughter has even became increasingly better at memorizing books and singing songs.  I feel that with this developmental growth spurt God is urging me to begin teaching her to memorize scripture.  So this is my new adventure and first chance since becoming a mom to get into my "teacher mode" from back in the day.  I know I have been the role of "teacher" to her all through her life, but this is getting serious… like get out the markers, card stock, scissors, and glue to make a bulletin board kind-of-serious!  It all started this morning when I was catching up on one of my favorite blogs.  It was so clear…  God is leading me to further how I am sowing the seeds of his Word into her heart!  I am so excited!  So I immediately stopped and said, "Nella, it's time to get the Bible out!"  She set off for hers in one direction and I went for mine in the other.  When we met back in the living room she asked, "We read the Bible, mommy?" And I said, "We are going to speak the Bible."  Before you could snap a finger, I was thumbing through my textbook (The Bible)  looking for the right verse to start with.    The verse I chose for this week is: 

"I love the Lord, for he heard my voice." Psalm 116:1a

I wrestled between this one and a few others, but I felt it was clear why God led me here.  First, I want my children to love the Lord.  It is something Ken and I pray for them fervently.  Second, I want them to know He hears us!  What a great truth for a little one to grasp.  We have been modeling and teaching Nella to pray for several months now.  It has been such a joy to hear her prayers grow!  We both want her to speak to the Lord from her heart and love hearing what she comes up with… from, "thank you for my taco" to "I love you Jesus".  It is endearing!  But, now I want her to know that those are not words she is throwing into thin air.  God hears her gratitude and heart.  

I hope you can use this mess of a plan I have devised to join me in teaching our children Truth.  My goal is to teach her (and myself) one verse from scripture every week.  Being a little more "teacher-y" I color coded the words, in attempt for her to learn "concept of a word".  I put them on card stock and taped on a door in the kitchen where it is BIG and visible throughout the day.  I also put the verse on a notecard and taped it to my dash so that while we are in the car we can talk about it and practice saying it.  And… I came up with a  song.  My husband will looove this detail!  I will only sing it for her, but she really got into it when I started singing.  She was a little aloof while I was asking her to repeat each word after me, but when I starting singing it was as if a trance came over her and she became interested.  Since I have been slack about my blog lately, I am going to try to form a habit of posting our weekly verse.  I'm excited to teach my children God's word and hope you are encouraged to do this with your little one(s), too!  

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil…Therefore take up the whole armor of God… fasten on the belt of truth, put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.  In all circumstances take up the shield of faith… and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."  ---Ephesians 6: 10, 13-17