Good day dear friends.
We continue our discussion on successful families.
There is a billboard that says, "The bus driver knows who your child has a crush on. Do you?" What a thing to read as you're driving along a busy interstate freeway! And it speaks about the importance of trust and communication within families. A lot of that depends on conversations you may have had about your family situation and how you view different parts of growing up and maturing. Have your views reflected an openness and love towards all or have you given yourself away in terms of what is accepted or isn't?
In the marriage ceremony there is a section on allowing your home to become a "haven." This is a place of refuge and rest. Is your home such a place to your family? Do family members look forward to coming home and for those who may live away is there a reluctance to leave? Of course, there may be other factors involved in that, such as the fully equipped room for your teenagers that allow them to spend countless hours in there without have to come up for air! It used to be that kids could be punished by being sent to their room. Today that is usally a great thing not a punishment. "Go to my room? The one with the home entertainment center, cell phone, internet access, Game Boy, microwave, telephone, mini-fridge, DVD player, CD burner? That room? Why, sure!" Does your home invite conversation and time together? Do you make time to watch programs together and discuss what you've seen? I confess I'm not a fan of Trading Spaces or other shows that my daughters watch. I'm not totatlly a fan of competition involving food, such as building an Elvis cake between teams (though they do get creative!), but watching such shows does allow me time to at least see my girls and what they're watching.
Sunday night in my God In Three Persons class, we talked about the Shema from Deut. 6:4, "4 "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD;" The rest deals with how the Shema was to be used: "5 and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. 6 And these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart; 7 and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
For the Jew, family time meant worship time as well. God was the center of their time together and home worship was key to their identity and their purpose. Somehow, we've gotten away from that and we're relying on Sunday schools and Vacation Bible schools to do that. And they do do their job, but the entire work depends on the home nurturing the child in the Lord as well.
Is it too late to start? No. Show your children and your children's children the center of your life that God possesses. Show them how important God is and how His presence has allowed you to be different and loving. Allow that atmosphere of trust and communication start with how you pray together. Then sharing can take place. You may not know who is the focus of your child's crush but your child will know that when more meaningful relationships develop they can talk to you about it.
PRAYER: Bless my home today, O God. I know there are flaws in me and as a result flaws in my home, but help me to overcome these and help me to be more trusting and open to those around me. Bless my home to be that what You want it to be. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Have a great and blessed day!
e.v.
