Show your kids the way to go

I grew up watching my parents and siblings come together at a particular time to kneel and pray. 

What did this teach me?

*Prayer was important and was considered a vital part of their lives

*They made me understand, I had to set and make time for prayer

*And it wasn't just about setting time but I also had to ensure I prayed when the set time arrived

These were major lessons for me

As I grew a little older, I watched as the TV set was put off just before a soap opera we all loved was about to be aired. Why? Because it was time to kneel in prayers. They made me understand that the programme could wait. If we finished praying and it was still being aired, fine but if not whatever... What was most important was we had honoured GOD.

With this prioritizing became easy

Prayers wasn't just done in the evenings but also in the mornings. The prayer time in the mornings, was where I learnt and understood the words "delayed gratification". The moment you hear Daddy or mummy's knock at the door, you had to forsake your precious sleep and arise to answer the call. I remember us getting to the sitting room sometimes, and finding out some people were missing or watching someone drifting off while praying, until he or she was being tapped out of sleep. Looking back, I can't help but appreciate the fact that dad and mum took the time to shape and model us into a pattern that would help us later in life.

Daddy usually shared the Word before we prayed. With time, the baton was passed round. Everyone took turns leading and praying. 

What did I learn from what he did?

*No matter how little I was, I was required to learn

*I was expected to know how to lead, how to teach and share lessons learnt and also how to pray before people and not just in my closet.

What pattern are you shaping your kids into?

Was it is easy for our parents to do back then? Nope! Would it be easy for you or me to do with our kids? Nope. But if we don't, there are so many patterns they can adopt. So we have to be intentional.

Before I could really grasp and understand the importance of prayers and some other important values, they showed me via their actions. My parents and siblings didn't have to say; Tope, putting GOD first or communing with Him is something you should do as you continue in life, rather they showed me how to.

Our actions are important. We can't teach one thing and act out another. Someone said, an inheritance is not what we leave behind for our kids, it goes way beyond that. An inheritance includes the things you teach them, the things they watch you do, the values they see you live by, how you treat people and so much more.

Be intentional about the growth of your kids, not just with respect to their academics only. There are phases where they ought to learn some major things about life, don't let those important windows slip by. If Teachers take their time to teach kids based on the curriculum given to them by the universal board of education, you should also use the laid down curriculum given to you as a parent by GOD.

It doesn't matter how young your kids are, show and teach them the tenets of your faith. They will thank you later that you did.

Yspot!