How Much Do Your Kids Know About God?

“Do your kids know more about God than you did at their age?”  A preacher just asked on TV.  Wow!  Did that smack me in the face!  I asked myself that question, and my answer is, “No.”   And I know whose fault it is – mine.

Growing up in the pastors’ home gave me a very interesting perspective on life and the Word of God.  My grandma lived with us, and she was a Sunday school teacher, (does anyone remember flannelgraph?) so she would practice on my sister and me, not to mention the fact that she drilled the Scriptures in to us daily anyway.

It cracks me up to watch TV preachers, and they are telling a story about “sister so and so” and the preacher fills the pauses with “bless God”, or “thank you, Jesus”.  My parents didn’t and don’t talk like that basically in or out of the pulpit.  I’m not saying that is bad, bless God, but what I am saying is that my parents, thank you, Jesus, were real.  Hallelujah.

I’m going to list a few things my parents did that made me very knowledgeable as a child.  I’m going to be honest and say that I should have learned better from my parents.  Some of this is my fault, I take the blame, there is no condemnation, I’m just going to own it and if I can, fix it, some things just can’t be duplicated, and that’s fine too.

First, My parents made me go to church – every time the doors opened.  We had church Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night, the youth met on Friday nights.  My school records will show that I was late or even absent most Mondays and Thursdays.   My parents believed that the Word of God was the most vital education I could receive.  They were right.  Ronda and I both were good students, so our absences really didn’t affect our grades or learning – too much.   I have not been a good example at going to church every time the doors opened, nor have I made my children go every time … I think that needs to change.

Second, My parents did not allow me to become distracted by things outside of the church realm.   I remember I was about eight years old, and I wanted to take dance lessons.  Well at that time dancing outside of the Holy Ghost two step was frowned upon, so my mom found me an alternative – gymnastics.  I was a rolley polley thing anyway.  

Gymnastics class was on a Wednesday, so I had to promise my mom that I would do my homework and still have enough energy to make it to church and get up on Thursday morning.   Yeah, that lasted about 3 months.   Church always came first.  I’m not telling you not to put your kid in little league, but I am saying that if the activity affects your ability to get to church, well, you know how my parents would have handled it.

Third, My parents inundated us with second hand knowledge… what do I mean by that?   Well, my mom worked from home, she was the music director.  So by no choice of our own, we knew the new worship songs and choir numbers before anyone else did.  We didn’t have ear phones and an ipod, we had a reel to reel tape thingy in our living room.

My parents watched Christian television and listened to other ministers’ tapes.  Guess where the TV was and who had priority over it.   Guess who didn’t get to hear her favorite radio station or tape in the car.  Us! Us! Us!    My mom was a bit savvy, though.   My parents would watch TV and listen to the radio with us so that we weren’t completely ignorant of what was going on in the world.   They just kept a much closer eye on our media than I have even thought to do for my kids.

Fourth, My parents sacrificed for us to attend Christian school.   This is monumental in how I have raised my kids.  I never attended public school.   Ronda did for I think about 2 years.  She was so unhappy at her Christian school and was able to attend the local public school with her friend the next door neighbor, so my parents allowed it.  When Ronda hit 9^th grade, my parents found us a new Christian school, Ronda never really was happy in public school.

Yes, I felt sheltered.   I had friends who went to public school - dang, did they know more about the world than I did.  They knew how to inhale, they knew how to get birth control, they knew how to strip down to nothing in front of everyone while changing for sports, they knew whose parents were going to be away for the weekend and where the liquor cabinet was,  and oh, did they have really neat vocabulary words I had never heard. 

Well yes, you can get all of those things at Christian school, too … but at Christian school eventually someone blabs and a caring staff member can intervene before too much is too much.  I think there is a key here, a caring staff member that can intervene.  At Christian school, all of the teachers are Christians, so not only are they looking out for you academically, but spiritually, too.

Fifth, My parents modeled a consistent study and prayer life.   Ewww, that’s definitely got to change in my house now.   Like most normal families we sat down at the table and ate dinner together, we usually had to move my mom’s bible to set the table, and we prayed before every meal.   They would walk around the house singing a Christian song, or praying in the spirit.   We knew when my mom was going in to her room to pray, and my grandma left her door open.

I haven’t talked too much about my dad.  He would have his prayer and study time before we got up, or in his office, or at Denny’s.   We knew how long it took to prepare a sermon.   We knew what was going on in his mind and his life because my parents talked in front of us, modeling good communication.

My parents did a much better job than I did.  I can say that without condemnation to myself, it is o.k. The home I grew up in is different than the home I have given my children.    For one thing it was clean all of the time – haha.

There are so many more areas that my parents were smarter, more dedicated, and more tenacious about.   Yet, I thank God that I have 2 great boys.  Both of my boys are born again, spirit filled, knowledgeable about God and on the right path.

Those words from that TV preacher just struck a chord with me.  “Do my kids know as much about God as I did at their age?”  No, but I can do my best to be asked that question in two years and be able to say, “yes.”

K