Have you ever had one of those days? Or weeks? Or months? You know, the ones I'm talking about. You want to scream, cry, and pull your hair out all at once. Yeah, those.
Jacob is pushing his boundaries… and his momma's patience. He's supposed to be in bed… but he's at his door jabbering for the 2nd or 3rd time. Earlier in the day he intentionally dumped his bowl of cereal on the floor. After cleaning it up, he did it again. He's a toddler and he's pushing his boundaries. He's exploring. He's experimenting. He's expressing his sinful nature.
His sinful nature? Yes, even as cute as he is, he is sinful at the core. We all are. He's pushes this momma's buttons and then my sinful nature comes out.
Here's what I have to remember: God has charged me with leading this little one to him. Being the best example I can. Teaching him, day in and day out.
You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. Deuteronomy 6:7
But right before that verse, is this:
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. Deuteronomy 6:5-6
Kids learn by example. They need to see me living and loving God with everything that I have and am. They need to see me following the boundaries that God has set in place.
Eventually, I'll get to this point with Jacob:
Even this stage with Jonathan has it's ups and downs. This is Jonathan reading his Child Training Bible. He pushes new boundaries that come with being 5.
I cling to this truth today:
I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13
Do you have boundary pushers? How do you handle it? How have you kept your kids in the Word in this week? Share in the comments or link up a post. The link up for posts relating to kids AND the Bible, character, or worldview. Grab the button from my sidebar to put in your post.