This is a series on setting goals in light of God’s daily gift of mercy to us! Check out the other posts in this series How to set better goals for 2013, 3 ways to build a better library in 2013, and 3 ways to build a better quiet time in 2013 while you’re here! Happy New Year!
The twins love mazes.
But for chubby four-year-old fingers, mazes can be frustrating! If you take a wrong turn or hit a dead end, you’ve ruined your picture with ugly crayon marks! {Insert lots of tears and frowny faces}
So, when I found these Wipe Clean Maze books by Usborne I was ecstatic! Now the boys can easily undo their mistakes with erasable markers and get to the finish line with smiles on their faces.
As I watched one of my boys effortlessly guide the monkey to the banana at the end of his maze, happily erasing his errors at will, I couldn’t help but wish someone had designed wipe-clean markers for parenthood.
In the past few weeks, my husband and I have battled some problem areas in our twinadoes:
-discontent
-disrespect
-defiance
(Actually, we have more issues than that. I just really like alliteration).
I wish I could say that I’ve navigated the twists and turns of loving and firm discipline without error – but I haven’t. In fact, just last night I found myself making some wrong turns as I was hog-tying two sets of arms and legs into their PJ’s. (Who knew bedtime could be so stressful, right?)
Oy! Parenting is a rough gig! But I don’t want to be a parent who overlooks sin. Neither do I want to be that overbearing mother who micromanages her kid’s behavior.
I want to be the type of parent who slows down long enough in the maze of parenthood to patiently guide my kids through the struggles of their fallen humanity.
I want to be the type of parent who faithfully teaches my child to look at the reasons behind their sin and then provides them with tools from God’s Word to combat it.
Okay, who’s with me? Cause this business is hard!
It’s much easier to ignore or over-react. So, this year, I’ve decided that I need to be intentional about training my kids in righteousness (and stepping into Christ’s righteousness myself!)
Here are a few of my goals for building better character in my kiddos in 2013!
1. MEMORIZE A WEEKLY BIBLE VERSE WITH MY KIDS
This is one of our family’s goals for the New Year. I think the key to being consistent with this goal is to keep it simple. Our plan is to introduce one new verse a week.
So far, my husband reads the verse directly from the Scriptures. And it’s taking all my willpower to let go of the bells and whistles – especially with all those Pinterest boards of cute, laminated Scripture cards calling my name. All that jazz is great, but it adds another step to the process. And four months into our commitment, I don’t want to fail to teach my kids Scripture because I didn’t have time to create a colorful printable that week.
2. PRAY WITH MY KIDS FOR THE SPIRIT’S HELP
In 2013, I want to teach my kids that righteousness it not about WHAT they do, but about WHO they know.
I want my children to know that in order to put on the righteousness of Christ, they must press into a relationship with Him that is enabled through the Spirit. And as they grow in Him, the Spirit conforms their thoughts, actions, and emotions to Christ’s!
I think praying together is a great way to help them understand that they need help to “be holy” as God is holy. If I can teach them to ask the Spirit for help, I’m hopeful they will learn to trust him for their enablement and not rely on themselves to meet God’s standard. My goal is to begin incorporating simple prayers for help in the areas of obedience, listening, and loving during meal times.
To build character in my kids, I want to teach them about the character of the God who made them and embedded them with his image. That’s why I got so excited when I came across this study – Get Wisdom!
My goal is to go through this study during the year, focusing on an element of godliness each week (or every other week depending on what’s going on in our lives). Sound non-committal? I’m in no rush. Plus, I’m more apt to fight failure and finish the book if I don’t have a tight deadline looming. Then my plan is to tie those godly qualities to our Heavenly Father!
I want to get to the end of the maze without black lines from my mistakes haunting my path!
Thankfully, no matter how many mistakes I make at bedtime (or breakfast or during the afternoon lull), Christ’s mercies toward me are new and fresh every morning! I want to live in light of that reality that when I cross the finish line!
The wrong turns and dead ends of my parenting failures will be forever erased in Him! In the meantime, I must press into his mercy and his righteousness – without which I am lost!
Are you in the thick of parenting? Have you set any goals for yourself or your kids in 2013? Share them in the comments!
Parenting is quite the journey. (Are you reading Desperate by Sarah Mae & Sally Clarkson?) I have been feeling so stretched lately and challenged. I am just amazed how God uses parenting to mold ME! Love this post on building character in our kids. Pinning it and will share it later too. 🙂
Thanks Kristen! I need to read that book! I signed up to read it at Allume, so I need to download the copy. It’s been on my list for a while and looks so good. I loved hearing Sally Clarkson speak at the conference!
Thanks for the rundown Melissa.I need to explore the kindle version of Wisdom book.We are doing scripture cards too,without bells and whistles for exactly the same reason.
ABC scripture cards are awesome from Lil Light O Mine!
Thanks Steph! I’ll check those out!