Teach your children....

Since becoming a Mother I have discovered the MANY joys of being a parent.  Babies are SO much fun!!! Granted there is a lot of work involved, but the reward is so worth it.  Leeland is like a little sponge! He's very active and lately has become VERY observative. It's so much fun to watch him look at the world around him and learn new things.  All the baby books talk about the importance of naming objects and reading books to him so I've tried my best to use proper words for things and have made it my goal to teach him what he needs to know.  It's so crazy to think that Daniel and I are responsible for him learning his first words, putting together sentences, learning the stove is hot, not to trust strange dogs.... and the list goes on.   But in the Kroh family it's also important for him to learn about Jesus.  

Psalms says this, "Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior; So are the children of one's youth.  Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them;" (127:3-5)  Daniel and I have been blessed with Leeland and hope to raise him up to be a Godly man.  Daniel and I aren't perfect and we don't know it all but we will teach him what we can and rely on friends and family to help also.  Recently I have spent some time reading Leeland the Bible while he plays.  For me, it's just enjoying my time in the Word with God, and for him he's just playing with his toys, but he hears his Mommy's voice, and he hears the Word of God. 

Deuteronomy says, "You shall love the Lord your God will all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.  And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.  You shall TEACH them DILIGENTLY to your children, and shall TALK of them when you sit in your house, when you WALK by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up." (6:5-7)  I pray daily for Leeland, and pray every night when I put him to bed that he comes to know the Lord as his Savior just as Daniel and I have.  We are doing our best to surround him with the Word and be good examples to him.  He has verses posted all over his room, Daniel and I cut out secular music several years ago so he gets to hear songs of praise to the Lord ALL day long.  Daniel and I sing many of our favorites to him.  My hope is that he will never know who Lady GaGa or (insert latest rapper's name here) is! To some, they may think that we are depriving our child, or sheltering him from society.  But honestly our hope is that he will find peace and insurmountable joy in Christ which is better than anything that society has to offer!

To take it a step further, I have even found myself praying for Leeland's future wife.  If it is in the Lord's plan for him to be married, my hope is that he find's a Godly woman, a woman of the Word, the virtuous wife of Proverbs 31.  I pray for her most days and she may not even be born yet.  The Lord knows her and knows her family though, and knows the day that they may meet. 

When it all boils down, there will be a day when Leeland will choose for himself whether he will follow the Lord or whether he will be led astray.  I hope that Daniel and I are planting the seeds necessary for him to choose the narrow path, the path of righteousness.  Proverbs says, "A wise son makes a glad father, But a foolish son is the grief of his mother." (10:1) From this we learn that we should raise our children with the end in sight knowing that one day they will make their own choices.  And in our house, if Leeland chooses a different direction, it won't be because we didn't pray, and it won't be because he didn't hear God's word, and it won't be because we didn't do our best to follow the Lord.