LESSONS IN LIFE

In our children’s more formative years, we used to have weekly family meetings. The meetings would convey faith lessons and life lessons. I believe it is the parents’ responsibility to try to shape the minds and hearts of their children rather than leave it to the randomness of the world. Still today I enjoy discussing various topics with our children.

We have two of our children living at home right now. Each week we watch a Ray Vander Laan video and then discuss it. This brings me great joy as I get an in depth view of the moral moldings of two of our children. We have great discussions which quite often have fascinating perspectives I’ve never thought of before. They are truly inspirational. There are other times that I gather the kids together and talk about something on my mind. The other night was one example.

I reminded them of what I’ve always taught them. Truth can come from the unlikeliest of places. Often times it comes from people we don’t want to listen to. I also said that if we pay attention we can hear God talking to us in many forms. True, sometimes it’s from someone we don’t want to listen to but it can also be from random sources. I pointed to the Pensacola News Journal article that told of several bus accidents this year, although the school year isn’t a month old. People are hitting these big yellow buses while being distracted when talking or texting on their phones. Some just aren’t paying attention. I told the kids how that article spoke to me and I knew I needed to talk to them about it. So we talked about cell phones and driving. I further reminded them that we can gain many blessings and avoid troubles if we just pay attention to the things around us which speak to us, and act on them. I pointed out that news about a DWI case ought to speak to us to never be intoxicated, and especially never drive intoxicated. In these ways, we can learn from other people’s mistakes and be reminded of who we are and whose we are. If we interact in the world with the right perspective, we should come out a stronger soul, not a weaker one.

Like all parents, we can only do our part in trying to prepare our children to live righteous lives. From there it is up to them. Yet, teach we must and we must remember that the greatest lessons we teach are through our actions.