Intentional Living: Week Three. "Being an Intentional Mom"

this week's lesson was probably one of the most difficult to prepare for, because i am so passionate about this topic! i could teach a six-week class on this topic alone! it was hard to condense everything i wanted to say into one, one-hour class!


i can not tell you how many times i have heard moms say that they just have no idea what to do with their kids.
that they wish they was an instruction manual
and on and on..
i love the fact that i have THE instruction manual that gives us everything we need to know to raise kids!
i am a very black and white kind of person.
i think there are a lot fewer "gray areas" than most people think!


i started out telling my class that they had to erase anything you've ever heard about raising kids, including...but not limited to:
terrible 2's, phases, stages and rebellious teenagers.
these are not biblical!
when we start buying these lies, we give up before we even start, and just settle into the belief that we are going to have to wait out this phase, just like every. other. parent.


wrong.


not this parent!


*if you are not an intentional woman, you can not be an intentional mom!


my main 2 passages were out of Deuteronomy. 
i love and adore the book of Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy 31:12-13 says:


"Gather the people together...that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and observe to do all the words of this law; and that their children, who have not known anything, may hear, and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as ye live."


i first gave three points of the responsibility of the mom to herself:
1. hear
in order to be in a position to obey God, we need to put ourselves in the right places.
-reading our Bibles
-attending church
-listening to godly music
-surrounding ourselves with godly, positive influences


2. learn to fear
this does not come naturally! 
*if you do not trust God completely with your life, you can not expect your kids to trust God completely with theirs!
i shared Psalms 16:5-6
it says this.
The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup; thou maintainest my lot. The lines are fallen for me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.


i drew this awesome sketch. ha.

this was my point. this is our lot. the lines in this square. God says that HE is maintaining my lot, and that the lines are in pleasant places. 
this means a few things...
God is saying that my lot and my boundaries are in pleasant places. 
HE knows.
this also means that everything that comes inside my particular lot can only get in if God allows them there!
again...HE knows!
by complaining about what is in our lot, and changing the way we live because of our past, we are ultimately saying that we don't trust God. period.
this will affect our children's trust of God as well!


3.Observe to do
matthew 7:24 is the passage i used for this point.
we need to do more than just hear God's words. we need to obey God's words as well.
matthew 7 talks about the wise man and the foolish man. interesting read, or re-read!


next is the responsibility of the mom to her child
Deuteronomy 6:7-8


1.Teach
i love these verses that i found on this point.
I John 5:3 says that this is the love of God: to keep his commands. And his commands...
listen to this...
are not burdensome!
Jeremiah 32 tells us that in obeying God's word, his blessing will be that it will go well with us and our children!
Deuteronomy 6:24 says that if we obey God's word, we will ALWAYS prosper!
is that how we show our kids (and our friends) what God is all about?
or do they end up thinking that this is just a religion.
a set of rules
regulations
demands.
NO! NO! NO!
God's commands are NOT burdensome!! they are always always for our good!
do our kids see us getting up on sunday morning grumbling and yelling at them because we have to go to church? or do they see us getting up with a smile, so excited that we get to go and worship God with other people who have the same desire as us? 
how about our Bible reading?
do they see us grudgingly reading because we have to?
how about respecting our husbands?
is it with eye rolls, and mouthing off?
or is it with joy, because we know that if we obey WE are the ones who will be blessed?


we are showing our kids from an early age what God's commands are all about with our words, but mostly with our actions.
i never missed a church service growing up, but i was never "dragged" to church. 
my parents loved going to church, and it was just what our family did! 
not optional.
not complaining,
just a given.
that has definitely affected how i feel about church today!


2.Talk
Deuteronomy 31:13 - always, always, always be talking about what God has done! 
why?
so your kids won't forget (and so YOU won't forget!) remind them of God's love, protection, and power!
(you can start this when your kids are super little. teach them bible verses early! "children obey" "be ye kind" are easy starters!)


3.Write
have God's word readily available all over your house! 
have your kids find verses that pertain to whatever they are going through and write them down and hang them on their wall!


i finished the class with three do nots, and three do's.
here are the do nots:
1.do not ever talk bad about your husband to your kids. ever. (praise him to them!)
2. do not ever talk bad about your kids to anyone!
3. do not ever be too prideful to say i'm sorry
(i ask the boys as i'm tucking them in at night..did i do anything that made you sad today, or anything that hurt your feelings? be ready for an honest answer, and be ready to say sorry!)


the do's:
1. do get into the habit of praising your kids
2. do pray for your kids daily
(find a verse that you can pray over them for that week, for this time in their life, for their future spouse, etc.)
3. do use the Bible in a practical way
always be reminding them of how God's word is for today! it is practical, and it is all they need!


sorry this one was so long. i told you i had a lot to say!


i am so thankful for the instruction manual God gave us for raising our kids.
i am always available to give advice if anyone needs it...i would love to, to be honest!
i have an article i wrote on child-discipline that i am happy to give to anyone who would like it.
please feel free to email me, ajnrileysmommy @ hotmail (dot com) or facebook me here



let's be intentional moms together!!