walking with my children

We are on Day #8 of our Summer Break. Caleb had a good year. A very good year in 1st grade. But he loves being home, playing with his brothers, not being asked to do anything or go anywhere. He loves his PJs and TV and at 60+ pounds he still delights in the kiddie pool and sprinklers too. I'm so happy for him. And it's amazing to me how dear, obedient, and helpful he is when he's not being pushed so hard.

For the last year he had fought me be at every turn. Get up, get going, get your shoes on, did you hear me ask you to brush your teeth? Where's your bag? Did you forget it by the door? Off we go to baseball, where's your glove? Caleb, it's time to practice piano..." And the motherly harping rings out incessently... But these last days as I've let him be, he's been such a joy. Even when I ask him to take out the trash cans or help Asher get ready for bed there's a softer spirit; the fight is gone. There's nothing like walking into my littlest boys room to find him cuddled up with his biggest brother, reading, "How Does a Dinosaur Say Goodnight?"

In this slowed down pace of Summer it is my desire to walk and not run with my children.

Two scriptures Spring to mind beside my current favorite, Ephesians 2:10. The first is Deuteronomy 11:19, which charges parents to "teach them (the commandments) to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." How I long to simply walk along the way with them this Summer. Not rushing or bossing, but walking and gently instructing them. And Caleb has shown me already this week how soft and subtle and receptive he can be when we walk at a gentle pace.

The second scripture is one I felt challenged to heed a year and a half ago. Acts 28:30-31 tells the story of Paul's time under house arrest. "And he stayed two full years in his own rented quarters, and was welcoming all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness, unhindered."

Paul did not think of his time confined to home as cause to stop the ministry of Jesus Christ through him, instead he preached the kingdom of God with all openness, unhindered to those who came to him. Here in my home my children are ALWAYS coming to me. There are few moments of reprieve each day when one or more of them are not coming to me. But God is asking me to have the same heart as Paul toward these little intruders, to teach them concerning the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so I see my good works, that God has prepared beforehand for me in Jesus, as ones to walk out alongside my little ones this Summer. As the pace is slower, the sun warmer, the flowers sweeter... I will walk with them, with all openness, unhindered.