Over the past few years I have only begun to come to an appreciation of all that my parents did for me from providing physically to providing emotionally; however, I think that the thing that I am most grateful for is that they provided for me spiritually. In my introduction blog I mentioned that I grew up in a God-centered and family-oriented home. I am blessed that I did.
Growing up my family stressed the importance of God, worship, and the Bible. We consistently attended worship even when we were traveling. When I was younger my parents always brought me to activities with the church, and when I was older encouraged me to choose to do so on my own. I still remember my father preparing diligently for the Bible classes he taught and my mother’s enthusiasm to help prepare food for those who were sick.
My father tells me that he took every opportunity to show God through whatever my sister and I were doing. When we were camping he would explain how God made the beautiful surroundings we were in or when I did well in school he would explain that God gave man the ability to think. As Deuteronomy 11:18-19 states: “Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.”
Now that I am an adult I am truly thankful I was raised, according to Ephesians 6:4, “in the training and admonition of the Lord.” I was not only taught about God but also that I should study the Bible to determine if what I was doing was in accordance with God’s Word. I look forward to the time when my husband and I may be blessed with children and can share God and His Word with them. I encourage all parents to stay strong when training your children in the Lord for by doing so you will be able to have an impact on their eternal future. As Proverbs 22:6 states, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”