"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge..." Proverbs 1:7
So, I know that I ended my last blog saying that I would continue posting throughout the summer, but I had no idea how busy things were about to get for us. Near the end of May, we started house hunting and by the beginning of June, we had found a house and had a closing date of June 28th. The packing and paper work and address changes began and the stress level started climbing. I had heard several times from various people that moving was one of the top ten most stressful things in a person's life. I knew that statement had some truth to it, but I had no idea exactly how much.
At home with the boys while Adam was at work, I tried to do as much packing as my busy little guys would allow. It proved to be a challenging task with having to stop every couple of seconds to change diapers, take potty brakes, clean up messes, have snack time, make bottles, play, discipline, and have a nap time thrown in here and there. It was definitely an exciting time though and we could see God's hand in every situation. But through all of this, I learned an important lesson in "home" schooling. As Christians, our homeschooling involves so much more than teaching about numbers and letters and science and nature. As J. C. Ryle writes,
"We live in days when there is a mighty zeal for education in every quarter: We hear of new schools rising on all sides. We are told of new systems, and new books for the young, of every sort and description. And still for all this, the vast majority of children are manifestly not trained in the way they should go, for when they grow up to man's estate, they do not walk with God." (The Duties of Parents)
How deeply this quote touches me as a mother because I do NOT want my children to be grouped into that category. I long to see my boys walking closely with the Lord and handling every situation in life in a way that glorifies Him. I know education is important. The book of Proverbs holds wisdom in high regards, but we must be aware that wisdom comes from walking closely with God, not just knowing all the right answers.
Our AMAZING family and friends served us in a mighty way by conducting the fastest move known to man! Starting at 9am and ending just a little before 1pm, everything was moved from one house to another. Our neighbors all commented that they couldn't believe how fast it all happened. God is good! But, the stress did not end after the boxes moved from one house to another. It was a new place for the boys and it brought out new emotions and attitudes for the both of them. They both became rather clingy and I couldn't seem to walk two feet away from Bug without him screaming. I did most of the unpacking with him on my hip and poor Jayce was feeling left out, so he too, wanted and asked for Mommy a lot more than usual. This was also the time that a heat wave came about and our new house was not equipped with central AC. This wasn't a huge deal for us UNTIL two out of the three of our window units gave out, when the temperature outside was 104 degrees. So we were left with one little ac unit(praise the Lord for that little ac unit!!) in the very back of the house in the boy's room. Not to mention, our vacation started in less than two weeks, something else to pack up for and plan for. And this is where the lessons begins, the Lord says...
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." Deuteronomy 6:5-9
And Elisabeth Elliot says,
"Nothing trains and teaches so powerfully as love. Love attracts; it does not coerce. If the aim of the parents is to teach their children to love God, they must show their love for Him by loving each other and loving the children."
With all of the stress, excitement, and challenges going on, I was tempted to lose it, every day, and most of the time, every hour! Whiny kids, boxes EVERYWHERE, dirty floors and windows, a million fixer-upper projects laying around, hubby gone at work, HOT HOT HOT in the house, and a family vacation looming over me, tested me to my limits. I regret to say that I did NOT win every battle, but the Lord is gracious. He would remind me "How would you want YOUR children to act in this same situation years from now?" Of course, I would want them to pray, rejoice, find the good and blessing in all things, laugh, and share God's love. So, I would ask Him to do that through me. When I was melting down (and so were the kids) I would pray, pray that my kids would learn the lesson of loving God with all their heart, knowing He would provide. I want them to remember that as Christians "we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. Let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our 'God is a consuming fire.'" (Heb. 12:28-29
During those hectic days, we laughed and jumped and danced A LOT, but we also whined and complained and cried A LOT! But, like I said, we are LEARNING! Praise the Lord that He is slow to anger and abounding in love! God has reminded me in all of this that the most important thing I can teach my kids is to love Him first and with everything we have, if they can learn that, they will be the smarted kids on earth! "The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever." 1 John 2:17
The boys enjoying our new backyard!
