5 Things I Want My Kids to Catch Me Doing

Like it or not, it’s what we do in secret that usually speaks the loudest about who we are.

As much as we want to be defined by how we present ourselves and by our accomplishments, those around us know us best by what we say and do when no one is watching. Perhaps this is most true with our children. Our kids see us unfiltered. They know how we really react to disappointment, they hear the words we say in frustration.

Praise God, his grace is sufficient for these and every other manifestation of our sinful flesh!

And so, today, I’m thinking about what it is to have our children catch us doing good…catch us living out Christ-likeness. You see, our kids often learn more by what is caught rather than what they’re taught. Rather than aiming to be seen as righteous by our kids, perhaps we can best start at the foot of the Cross, where we confess that no good works can come from our own effort. When we read of godly mothers in history, influencing their children by their faithfulness, it was not to that end that these mothers lived godly lives, but rather to the ultimate end of loving Jesus and glorifying Him alone:

…Charles Spurgeon, on his mom:

“How can I ever forget her tearful eye when she warned me to escape from the wrath to come?…How can I ever forget when she bowed her knee, and with her arms about my neck, prayed, ‘Oh, that my son might live before Thee!’”

…or of Susanna Wesley, who was said to flip her apron over her head to have alone time in prayer while raising 10 children. What might have it been like to be one of those 10 children, looking on as a mother surrenders her cares and concerns to the Lord, treasuring time with Him at all costs– even at the expense of looking foolish.

By faith, in Christ, may we seek Him first as mothers…and find our children catching us in what only He can produce in us.

So, here are the first five things I’m asking the Lord to help me grow in…that my children my discover in me, unawares:

1. That my kids would catch me in quiet prayer.

2. That my kids would catch me speaking words of praise about their dad.

3. That my kids would catch me giving thanks, not complaining, about my job as mother.

4. That my kids would catch me reading my Bible.

5. That my kids would catch me with a smile on my face.

What about you? What’s on your list of things you hope to have your children catch you being about?

 

Because of grace,

www.gracelaced.com