Talking TO Your Children

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I'll be honest here – I've had a tough time reading this book. I like it, but I'm a very black and white person, which means that I'm constantly going back and re-reading parts that I've already read. Does that make sense? Anyone else out there doing the same thing, or is it just me?

For me, chapter 3 was about conversing with your children. All day, all the time. Even when you don't want to talk with them – you need to be talking to them.

Did you notice that last part? You need to talk TO your children, not AT your children. There is a huge difference, and boy, can they tell.

The defining moment in this chapter for me was the story of Zan rushing around with 2 toddlers, trying to get a dinner ready for a church member and everything going wrong. Tempers were short, cranky kids, no naps…I live that life some days. Generally we soldier on , get done what we can and then move on. But, Zan's friend Sissy came to visit in the midst of the craziness and immediately saw that the boys didn't really understand what was going on. They didn't understand why their mom had to cook dinner, why they were late for lunch, why they were tired. I love that Sissy used a grown up Bible translation with a 2 and 4 year old to explain what their mom was doing – and that they all prayed together.

That is what I want to have with my girls. That is the relationship with Christ that I want to model for them.

I want the girls to understand that it's not always easy to be a follower of Christ, but we are called to follow Him.

I want the girls to know Him. To trust Him. In all circumstances.

I want the girls to pray continually, not whining for what they don't have, but praising Him for the blessings they do have.

I want to have conversations with my girls about everything and anything. I want to listen to their dreams, soothe their fears and cheer them on as they walk in their faith.

This is what I was born to do – to shine His light to all – beginning with my girls.

What insights did you glean from chapter 3?

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