One of the things I enjoy is writing to and for children. I've always loved children (who are not mine, I mean) and enjoyed relating to them. Before I met my husband (I married relatively late in life and had actually thought God was going to let me remain a single), my days were spent relating to young teens (I was a teacher, then Director of Personal Development in an independent/private school). I loved every moment of it! When my married friends told me that having your own children was even more satisfying and wonderful (they were trying to get me married; which was strange as there wasn't anyone yet for me!) I wasn't convinced. I thought I had my fill (of course I didn't dare hope I'd be married and then have my own children so why not just be content with my lot?).

Well, the Lord took over and I'm of course now thrilled to be a mother of two gorgeous children. I'm so thrilled too that I can home school them. As a school teacher then, that thought NEVER crossed my mind. I happily played the role what parents themselves should have had been playing. Over the years as a teacher/Director, I must have had read hundreds of journals my hundreds of school kids diligently scribed. And I must have had spent hundreds of hours just responding to what they'd written in their journals. Oh, the fears, dreams, relationship quandaries that splashed across their journal pages...the philosophical questions they anxiously aired...the spiritual void their hurried words voiced...On retrospection, it really was sad that most, if not all, of those kids couldn't and wouldn't share with their parents what they had shared with me. To some extent, through my writing to them, I, the school teacher, was the one directing and shaping some of their thoughts.

Today, I try to keep the communication channels with my own children open at all times. I do not want to stop listening to them; to dismiss their constant chatter as idle babble. No, I do not want them to turn to someone else just as my pupils had turned to me instead of their parents years ago.

By being actively attentive to them, I also hope that they will listen to me when I take Deuteronomy 6:7-9 seriously. We want to reach the hearts of our children. We want to win their hearts. All too soon, they grow up and unless we have their hearts now, other interests and people will keep their hearts in captivity. And they must know too, beyond any shadow of doubt, that we love them, and that we desire the best for them. And that includes the kind of friends they keep, the kind of books they read. No, it is not about control. For day-to-day, we're also teaching them about godly self-government. We are teaching them the real meaning of liberty in Christ. The liberty to do what is right; to choose what is godly! But unless we have a real relationship with them, all our words and counsel will fall flat! Hence we need to win their hearts! A relationship cannot thrive if the heart is not there!

One way I draw closer to my daughter is to just talk about topics that she's interested in (like trains and Thornton Burgess characters for now). And while we laugh about the cleverness or silliness of some character or other, I bring in the Word and remind her of biblical principles we've covered. I want her to have a Biblical world view. Nothing is secular in this life. Everything is relevant to the Lord.

Sometime back, I noticed she had a little problem. She still has that tendency. We're working on it. She gets upset when her friends don't like what she likes. For instance, she will plan for days a particular scene she thinks her friends will certainly LOVE to act out. Well, not everyone is as passionate as she is about that scene from a current favorite book! She has to understand that! Then when her friends are ho-hum about it, oh my, she becomes devastated! If I don't correct this attitude in her now, she will be in for a lot of trouble when she is older. So I wrote a book for her. It is about friendship. Friendship based on sound biblical principles. One principle I covered was that of God's Individuality and Diversity. Some principles may be over her head now, but these are sound principles. And she needs them. For that matter, I need them myself! LOL.

Anyway, it is a book your preteen daughter can read alone. She will probably enjoy it too if both of you read it together. There are some thought-provoking questions for each chapter which may be fun for both of you to answer. The reading and discusion time is also a bonding time. My daughter always looks forward to it when we spend some time over it together.

Here is the link to the book if you are interested. It was a labor of love for my daughter and I hope some of you will be blessed by it.

We did two days of JBC/Week 6 (Abraham) the past two weeks. We need to get back on track and we probably will before November is up!  I hope to post a review of Week 6 before we start our Advent Bible Study on November 27^th  (first Advent Sunday). And goodness, that’s about a week away ! Oh well, there is no JBC police looking over my shoulders so I’m not going to stress out about it. We’ll see what happens and go with the flow, LOL.

We’ve been side-tracked by trips to the dentist, picture-taking, Thanksgiving activities, sniffles and coughs, and getting the Christmas photo-cards done for my friends and family overseas. I’ve also been trying to de-clutter and to get the guest room ready for a dear friend who arrives next week for a three-day visit (November 22^nd to November 24^th).

I’m also re-starting on this challenging journey to help my children cultivate better habits. A sweet friend said that parenting was part of her sanctification. How very true. I don’t know many times a month I weep in frustration when I see something in my children, especially my daughter,  that I dislike, only to realize it’s a reflection of her mother, me! Yes, our children have a sinful nature, but before I’m too quick to judge them, I need to root out the evil tendencies in me too. Only then can I truly reach and influence their heart.

John S.C. Abbott, the writer of The Mother At Home, says in page 78:

It is a beautiful arrangement of Providence that requires that the great work of the formation of the character of children should be done in the heart of the parent herself. I am to teach my child to avoid vanity, and pride, and selfishness, by cultivating within myself, with never tiring assiduity, the spirit of lowliness, of humility, of self sacrifice. It is thus, more effectually than, in any other way that I am to reach and influence his heart. So I am to curb the impetuous passions of my child, mainly by gaining the victory over myself, and bringing all my own passions under perfect control. It is thus within myself, -it is in my own heart, that I can work most effectually in molding the character of my children; for in promoting their moral progress I must go before them and lead the way.

Oh, these words both inspire and rebuke me.  May God do that work in me as I seek to be conformed to the image of God.  And may He be gracious to you too, dear reader.

Happy Thanksgiving, y’all! J