In Training...

Raising these daughters of ours is an on-going process. We are out of the diapers stage. We are all self-feeding (just working on the manners part). Everyone, for the most part, sleeps through the night. When I look back to just a few years ago it is amazing how independent everyone has become.

But I am not NEARLY finished raising them. They are very young and need guidance and constant watching. We have been involved with a homeschool play group this year and I have been SO impressed with the children's behavior. It is a very mixed group with children ranging from 1 month old to 18 years old. The first week we were there, the two oldest children arranged games for the other kids to play. I watched in amazement as older children stopped and helped younger ones tie shoes, as they all stopped playing to see if my daughter was OK when she fell, and just generally took care of each other. All the teenagers were involved with what the other children were doing, instead of hanging around the adults or sulking around in the corner that they even had to be there. MUCH different than what I'm used to seeing! I complimented one of the moms and she was quick to say, "Oh, our kids can be like any others. Just wait and see!"

Well, a few weeks later I am still impressed. However, last week a whole bunch of children were playing outside unsupervised. Sweetheart had been instructed, "Stay inside the fenced area." I went out and couldn't find her. When I finally did, I saw that they were pulling limbs off of trees and having a big "girls against boys war." It wasn't anything big, but they were all in areas they probably weren't supposed to be in, climbing on things they shouldn't be climbing on, hitting harder than they should have been, and tearing up young trees that did not belong to them. Supervised...none of that would have happened. I know it could have been much worse, but it just made me think that unsupervised, all children can start down wrong paths.

I'm not just homeschooling. I'm not just staying home with my kids. I'm not just keeping house. Every minute that they are awake I am training them. As a Christian, I understand the concept of training. The Bible talks about it. I have read excellent material on it. I am learning how to do it better every day. And it's not too hard to find examples of poor training if you look around.

This morning I watched a clip on the Duggar family. You can see the clip at A Wise Woman Builds Her House. Meredith Vieira of The Today Show is interviewing the Duggars in New York when she asks their oldest son, Joshua, a question. He gives his mom credit for training them well. "Training?" Meredith Vieira stammers. At the end of the interview, she compliments them saying, "You have trained them well."

The concept of training is strange to the world. I have heard all the "what do you think they are, dogs?" comments before. But the effect of good, godly training are obvious and it's hard to deny that it's good. Very good. All the years of training your children will pay off with the good fruit their lives produce.

And how can you train them if you are not with them? Just a question.

So, I will log off now because mine are awake. Have a great day!