Last month we journeyed through Truth. If you missed any of those posts go back here and check them out. I’m amazed at how close-knit the journey of Truth and Obedience has been for my family. I want my kids to know how God sees them and to fully embrace the seemingly unimaginable way He fully knows, fully accepts, and fully loves them. He does not withhold His pleasure for them when they disobey. Can I say the same is true for me? Do I withhold pleasure for them when they disobey and give more pleasantries when they obey?
Ephesians 6:1 says “Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” It is so easy for me to use this verse solely as proof for them to do what I say, when I say, how I say, every day I say. I often parent out of shame, anger, and fear. That is not how God parents me! Why do I hold perfect behavior as the standard when God doesn’t. He parents out of trust; gently leading me toward the me He knows I am. I want to be drawing my kids closer to the person I know they are day by day, minute by minute, behavior by behavior. Jeannie Cunnion is a writer I HAVE to share with you this week. You will find a video at the bottom of her blog on this page. My heart resonated with her words so much! Even if you can’t watch the whole video, hang on for the first 3 minutes.
I also want to give you a practical, hands on activity to teach your kids how to obey. Sometimes we are not seeing the behavior we want because we have skipped the coaching step. In our home, we have a couple areas where we are continually asking our kids to do the same things. It has become evident that some different teaching and training needs to take place. For example: Meal Time. This week we will implement the following:
- I am going to tie a ribbon to each child’s chair.
- When we sit down for a meal, I will remind them of the expectations - what we have asked them to do at the table.
- Each time they finish a meal and have done the behavior they will get a key to tie on their ribbon. (I am using these)
- When they earn 10 keys, they will get a reward. They will get to pick from things like a trip to the ice cream store, an icee at Target, or staying up late.
Stepping back from this commanding role I play at meal time to more of a teacher and coach will hopefully create confidence in their ability to obey and a habit for future meals. Where is the area in your family that needs coaching/retraining?