Eat It Anyway

Yesterday was our first day back to school at the Vaughn Elementary Academy. My girls began there day with Bible Study/Quiet Time. This is to be the first thing they do every morning. This is also my number one reason for wanting to homeschool our children.

I had forgotten how wonderful our days of school are. I had forgotten how satisfying it is to teach my children in my lap the Scriptures of God (my Bekah at 7, still needs help). I had forgotten how breathtaking it was to peek into my Shelby's room (my 10 year old) and see her digging into the Word of God on her own and loving it.

I had forgotten because this summer I allowed this to fall to the wayside...

I still had my quiet time, but I let them slide. I allowed them to go straight to the tv all summer long. I did so because I justified that my summer seemed so crazy that I needed every bit of morning I could get to keep my sanity and study what I knew I had to teach and to plan my lessons. What is funny (or sad) is that as I sit here now, I cannot think of one thing that I actually accomplished this summer. I can't recall what it was about this summer that made it such a whirlwind... but still it seems as though it is just a blur.

My Sunday's I remember. I remember what I have learned as I studied and I recall the lessons I have taught... but I cannot remember why this summer was so crazy.

There is no outside tangible thing that comes to mind... it must have just been an internal hurricane. Maybe it was the constant confusion crashes or the waves of worry or the dunes of doubt or the faith freak outs... probably all of the above. Maybe it was just simply that I was not being still and trusting my Jesus to calm the storm as much as I thought I was.

Maybe it was just that my focus was off completely, my priorities out of wack... again, most likely this was it.

"He humbled you and let you be hungry,

and fed you with manna which you did not know,

nor did your fathers know,

that He might make you understand

that man does not live by bread alone,

but man lives by everything

that proceeds

out of the mouth of the LORD."

Deuteronomy 8:3

You see I had forgotten that before I am a teacher to others... I am first a teacher to my children. I don't want them to just see me doing my Bible study/quiet time I want to teach them this discipline for their life. And it is a discipline. It is something we must purposely choose every morning. One of my new favorite quotes from Charles Stanley is "Discipline, not desire, determines your destiny".

My husband got custody of his oldest when she was 12 years old. I often feel as though I failed miserably at being the mother in the home that she needed. She was homeschooled and when we got custody she began school. One of the biggest things I feel I failed at was fitting in a Bible study/Quiet time with her. I can use the excuse of having a newborn and a toddler and not being used to having to be out the door every morning at 7:30am with all three of them... but still it is simply just an excuse.

Just because something is difficult doesn't mean we put it aside.

I believe that I can tell the difference in the temperament of our entire household when we all begin the day in worship and fellowship with our Creator God through the study of His Word.

I hate to cook. It is difficult for me. I can cook, but it is a challenge. I had much rather pour a bowl of cereal or make a sandwich. However, even though cooking is not easy for me and it is a challenge I still do it. I still know my family must eat. I am not going to go all day (and especially not days or a whole week) without making sure my children are getting food to eat.

"But He answered and said,

“It is written,

‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE,

BUT ON EVERY WORD

THAT PROCEEDS

OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.’”

Matthew 4:4

Our Creator God has made it clear through His Word and through His Son, Jesus, the Word made flesh, that we cannot live on just food alone. I can feed my children on the finest vitamin enriched foods our planet has to offer. I can teach them to eat their greens and drink their milk and I can teach them to dicipline themselves to eat foods they don't particularly like in order to stay healthy, but if I do not teach them to practice this same discipline when it comes to studying the Word of God I am starving them to death.

Child: "But Momma, do I have to eat these? I don't like green beans."   

Mom: "I don't care if you don't like green beans. Your body needs them. Hold your nose and eat them anyway!"

Child: "But Momma, do I have to do this Bible stuff? I don't even like to read?" 

Mom: "I don't care if you don't like to read. Your mind, soul, and spirit needs the Word of God to survive. Put your nose to the page and read it anyway!"  

May we as parents remember this truths of our God, that we do not live on bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of our God. It is after all one of the first examples given to us by Christ as how we are to defeat the enemy of our souls... I probably shouldn't ignore it.

Before He taught us to believe, He taught us to eat.

Before He taught us to pray, He taught us to eat.

Before He taught us to walk, He taught us to eat.

Before He taught us to go, He taught us to eat.

"How sweet are Your words to my taste!
Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth!"

Psalm 119:103