"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he shall not depart from it"(Proverbs 22:6).
God has honored mothers with the blessed privilege of being the daily trainer of their young children. He did not place this responsibility in Grandmas hands or with good friends, teachers, or babysitters. That does not mean that the others may not have to raise someone other than their own children. All of us mothers will stand before God one day and give an cccount of how we trained our children. To love our children is to devote ourselves fully to their training. If we fail here, we fail as a help meet. Husbands go away to work and leave their young children in our care. They trust us to train them up to be all that they can be. If we fail our children, we fail our husband, and we fail God.Some of the new commercial translations say, "Discipline up a child in the way he should go..." We will not put that text in bold because it does not deserve status as Scripture. Only someone who knows little about God and the Hebrew language and even less about children would trtanslate what God said in such a way. God said "train up,", not discipline up. The Hebrew word translated "train up" appears only four other times, and each time it is translated "dedicate." Parents train up their children by dedicating themselves, their time, and their children to that which God desires for them to become as an adult. That is not discipline; it is a commission from God to train them as a full-time occupation. Training up a child means showing them how to; make corn tortillas, pedal a bicycle, make up a bed, put toys away, cook for forty people in one hour, read, demonstrate respect for others, and a thousand other wonderful things. For a mother who loves her children, training is not a chore, it is a full-time consuming passion. They are worth every minute of time and trouble to every "dedicated" mother.
Little Esther is only 5 years old. She is quite confident and competent in setting the table or folding the clothes. She knows the difference between the applications of cabbage and lettuce, because when she helps to make salad and slaw, her mother discusses the whys and wherefores of all that they are doing. When she is asked to wash the broccoli and cauliflower she knows the hows and whys, because mama has taken the time to explain in short sentences.
Esther helps fold the clothes and put them away.
she knows all her colors, because from the earliest age she has helped separate dirty clothes into different color piles. When Esther takes a book off the shelf, she chooses carefully, because she wants books that have words she can read. She can read many words, not because she has been officially schooled, but her her mother has always taken time to read to her, occasionally stopping to point out words and how to say them. All this has been fun.
When Esther starts school she will alaready know how to read many words. Therefore, learning will not be a tense, fearful exercise but only a continuatin of her first five years of informal teaching. Her mother spends all day stimulating her developing mind with intriguing ideas.
Esthers mother has 10 chldren, you may not, yet she is not to busy for Esther or her younger brother. Many little children are not so blessed as Esther. Some mothers treat their children as I treat my cows. I make sure they have good things to eat, clean water, and a place to exercise. If they show any signs of sickness, I attend tothem immediately.
This is good for cows, but i fyou raise kids like that, you're going to have a brood of little dummies.
Unlike your care for the cows, the training of your children is the deepest expression of your love for them.
Mothers, PLEASE don't take all of this and belittle yourself, because yo don't DO exactly as this mother did, but, take what God would have you do, PRAY, PRAY, PRAY, and listen to the Holy spirit whisper in your ear as to how to apply this.
"The woman who invests in a childs life will be the one the child loves and with whom the child bonds."
Love to all who read...
~~~TERRI~~~~~
Posts
