Modeling

When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a model. A fashion model. I wasn’t homeschooled, or raised in a Christian home, so the pages of Seventeen magazine held heavy influence over my view of the world. I wanted to be beautiful and have beautiful clothes.

Now that I am a Christian, homeschooling mom – I am a model. Not a fashion model, mind you. Oh, I shudder to think what my 14-year-old self would think of my 45-year-old visage! LOL!

No, I am a model in the most importance sense. My children are watching me. They watch my every move. If they think they find anything hypocritical, or faulty in me at all, I know it. They tell me. Occasionally, they even tell me about things they like about me.

But between having no cable or satellite, and living in a remote area, and homeschooling – Well, I’m the entertainment!

So when you look at your educational itinerary (see previous post) and you wonder how you will get from here to there without dragging your kids, kicking and screaming – think modeling!

If, say for instance, you want your kids to have a strong personal relationship with Jesus – you must have one yourself. And your kids have to see it in action. If you want your children to have the habit of reading their Bibles, read yours. I know a lot of moms who get up early and have a private time with Jesus before the children get up. Well, I don’t . I actually want my kids to see me reading my Bible. I even make them hear it. We have a smallish house (1200 sq ft) and when I sit in the living room and read the Bible out loud, they all hear it. I might get more out of it if I read it in private in a quiet room. Jesus says not to practice your piety in public. But we are not talking about impressing your friends and neighbors. We are talking about making sure that your children know that you value reading the Word. They might interrupt you to ask questions. Answer them. They might interrupt you to whine about something else. Explain to them that this is your Bible reading time, and that you are not to be interrupted unless they have a question about what your are reading. It will take so training, but they will learn.

Sometimes when I am reading my Bible aloud, the children all gather around to listen. And sometimes, they all go on with whatever they were doing. I don’t mind either way. The important thing is that I am spending time with God’s Word, and my kids are seeing (and hearing) it.

Family devotions at our house happen first thing in the morning. We all pile onto the big bed and Big Daddy reads a story out of “Egermeier’s Bible Story Book”. I got handed down to me from my Aunt. I love how she tells the story, and points to Jesus throughout. We are sure to point out to the children that, even though we call them stories, that what we read in the Bible is true. It really happened. Otherwise, children grow up thinking that it’s just another story like “Cinderella” and “Rumplestiltskin”.

More tomorrow on being a model in other areas.

Wish you were here!