Spiritual Heritage

I am finally back at it.   I am on a plan, a bible reading plan that is.   I am being realistic this time and instead I am going to read through the bible in 100 days.   :)   Just kidding....kind of.   In 100 days I will read "an overview of the bible... without getting bogged down."   Rather than the 10 chapters a day that my last plan put me on, I have a chapter or two a day.   Yesterday was Genesis 1 & 2, today was Genesis 3.   Tomorrow half of chapter 5 and all of 6, etc.   I am excited but know that this will require some commitment on my part too as there are no "days off" as there was with the last plan.  But I figure I can find 5 to 10 minutes in each day to read my chapter or so, even if it is as I am going to bed at night.  

I have had a couple of things come at me in the past few days, and for some reason somewhere in my head, I have the nagging thought that they all connect together and that I need to pay attention to this.   Perhaps in typing this out to you I will find the connection.  

In church on Sunday the message was about the spiritual heritage we leave our children.   We can't, as parents, choose for our child to live a life of faith as that is a personally made decision.  We can, however, make sure that the "spiritual heritage" that we leave our children gives them the correct tools to choose a life of faith.   We have to make Jesus a natural thing in our lives.   When E and Addy are grown up, and someone asks them, what was something important in your family while you were growing up, would they answer "We loved Jesus"? 

• Are conversations about Jesus we have as a family natural?   Do the kids hear Mark and I talking about Jesus?  Do we talk about Jesus with our kids?  
• Is prayer a natural thing in our family?  Do the kids see us pray?  Do we pray with the kids?   Do we pray as a part of life, not just meal times or in times of crisis? 
• Is devotion time a natural part of our family?   Do we read the bible with the kids?  Do we read the bible ourselves?  Do we talk about our bible reading and the things we are learning? 
  
  

This message hit me deep inside.   I want our children to grow up knowing Jesus and having the tools to choose a life of faith as I had growing up.   I remember family devotions, where we would all sit at the breakfast table eating breakfast together as a family and prayers that followed.  I remember cuddling up to my mom every morning when we woke up while she finished reading her bible.  I remember as a child wondering why the story of Abraham sacrificing Isaac would make Mom cry, and now as a mom, I get it.   There are many more memories from my childhood that I remember a life of faith modeled for me.   I hope I can do the same for my children.  



As time drew near for both kids to be in school all day, I wondered how I would fill my days.  I didn't want to waste my days and in the future look back and say, "What was I doing all day?"   Rather, I have the desire to make each day meaningful in a new way.   I want to still model a life of faith to the kids, but what does that look like now that they are not around 24/7?  Obviously, taking time to adjust to my new job, some things had to be put on the back burner for a little while as there is only so many things a person can focus on at one time.   But now that I am settling in there, I am ready to start getting back to some things and possibly adding some new things.   This past summer when I was reading my bible every day, I was amazed at how much it really helped my day!   I wasn't reading because I was required to read, I was reading because I wanted to read.   I have missed it.   I have missed that time I spent with God each day.  So I have set up a new plan for myself, and I am really excited about it.   This will be an easy conversation point when talking to the kids about bible stories.   It is hard to talk to them about the stories if I am not reading them myself! 

I am excited about my new plan to be at the gym and get back to feeling good about myself and taking better care of myself.   Life has a much better perspective for me when I am feeling good about myself.   It is amazing how much that impacts my daily life.   I am amazed at the energy I feel today after my workout even though I was up at 5:30 to get to the gym.   I am anxious to see if I can maintain, this, but I am putting a priority on it so that I can. 

I tell you this because I read a blog post about pruning.   I want to be careful that while I am adding things to my life, I don't want to become over committed.   I want to be adding things to my life that bring value to life, both mine and my family.  I understand that pruning is not just about schedules, but about growth as well.   I know there will still be a time of pruning even though I am careful about what I add to my schedule.   But I am glad to have the reminder before hand. 

The other thing I wanted to share with you was from a different blog post that I read.   I still want my job as a parent to be my top priority in this season of life that we are in.   Just because the kids are at school all day does not mean that my job as a parent is any less important.  :)   Please check out this post , make sure to scroll down below the pictures and read what has encouraged me and given me a fresh view on my role as a parent.