Your Children Are Watching

A few days ago I was reading a newsletter from a church we previously attended, and the following paragraph written by the youth leaders really hit home:

Our children are observing us every day. They watch us as we journey through life. They observe our relationship with our Master and how we respond to Him. Under the scrutiny of our children, our walk with God is closely observed. As God leads us down new paths and strange environments, our children watch our response and react accordingly. “Is Mom frightened?,” “Is Mom okay with these changes?,” “Is Mom fighting the Master or is she obeying Him?”

Ken also commented in his blog this past weekend about the importance of being godly parents who leave a godly legacy with our children. I hope and pray it will make us all stop and think about how we as parents respond to situations in the presence of our children. How do we respond when a car suddenly cuts us off while driving, a person at church gossips, an unexpected expense threatens our savings, or a spouse suddenly loses their job? All of these situations have happened in my family in the past couple years. I know sometimes she saw me “fighting” God and sometimes she saw me trusting and obeying Him (hopefully more of the latter).

I know I will never be a perfect parent, and my daughter will never be a perfect child, but I pray that God will use me (failures and all) to communicate to her the importance of trusting in Him and standing on the authority of His Word for every situation we face in life.