.png)
We're in Chapter 3 of Educating the Wholehearted Child this week. Please feel free to jump in here or go back and check out the previous weeks' discussions.
“… your first responsibility as a parent is to lead your children to the life-giving presence and reality of Christ in your heart and home.”
~ pg. 45
My favorite part of this chapter was learning the background of the word to nurture in Greek. {Sorry, I love the Greek and Hebrew languages. Especially Hebrew.} The word in Greek has the idea of bringing up and feeding. How are we feeding and nourishing our children? In the Old Testament, scripture such Deuteronomy 6:6 show that we are to feed and nourish our children out of what is in our own hearts.
LifeGIFTS is an acronym that the Clarksons use to describe their model for home nurturing:
- Grace
- Inspiration
- Faith
- Training
- Service
Sally Clarkson has written a book, The Ministry of Motherhood, that goes into GIFTS in much more detail. I spent the summer reading this book along with GoodMorningGirls.org. It is a great book too! You can head over to Good Morning Girls to see videos from Sally and discussion from this summer.There are two other helpful acronyms in this chapter: FISH, which is about character, and BREAD, which is about values.
- Faithfulness
- Integrity
- Self-Discipline
- Humility
- Bible
- Relationships
- Eternal Perspective
- Authority
- Disciplines
What are you doing to sow these things in your own life?
What are you doing to sow these into your children's lives?
It starts with you. Be intentional about your relationship with God first. Your children will see that. Then be intentional about walking beside your child in each of these areas. For me, it begins with my mornings. My goal for this month {and likely will be for the next several months} is to reclaim my mornings. I'm working to get back into my “pre-Jacob” morning routines. I'm not naturally a morning person. At the same time, my days are completely off if I'm not up before the boys, have my quiet time first thing, and then set about my day. I want my boys to see that taking care of myself is a priority. I want to help my boys develop similar routines for their own spiritual growth.
It's your turn! Share a link to your blog where you have written about this chapter or share your thoughts in the comments area.
