Living What We Want to Teach

This may hurt to read, but when it comes to what we teach our kids, how many things do we really do that we tell our kids to do? Ouch! Don't you love those punches in the gut?

So yeah, today, I was cleaning my house like crazy. This part of me doesn't pop up very often but when it does, watch out. I can be a bit of a control freak about the house looking somewhat clean or functional a lot of the time. Funny thing is, when it comes down to it, I really stink at organization and I'm really bad at sticking to any kind of routine to help keep things simpler. Therefore I'm usually always unrestful about the state of my house and I'm terrible at teaching my kids how to do their part. I hate that about myself. It's a daily battle. I'm usually overwhelmed with housework and avoiding my duties...and resenting them...or I'm racing around all over the place to clean like a crazy woman and "stomping" on my kids if they get in my way...and getting upset at them for not doing their part in helping me out or if they mess up what I just cleaned. Yeah, this is not ok to do, is it?


So today I was doing just that. Anything they left out, I told them to pick up or told them to not mess anything up. I was a drill sargeant by the end of the day. And the reason being, I was actually expecting them to automatically be something at age 11, 6, and 5 years of age that they really couldn't be...that actually in my 34 years on this earth, I can't even be. How fair is that? I mean how often do I treat what God has freely given me to enjoy and also to take care of so passively and unmindful? Too often! I have to hope that God is speaking to me about this for a reason. Because I'd like that to change.

Some people are there, I know. But I bet it didn't happen at an early age. Some people floor me at how mindful they are that everything they own is not theirs. And that they are to do everything as unto the Lord...and treat everything given them in a way that pleases Him. That includes our time, bodies, our children, our homes, our finances, and of course His beloved children (and that means everybody...everybody), and I'm sure there's more I'm not thinking of.

So my conclusion is, God needs to do some serious transforming in me before I can ever expect my precious children to even get what it means to treat everything as if it is the Lord's and to not take anything for granted. I still should be teaching them no doubt. But I'm not sure how good I'll be at it unless I'm really living it myself.