Training Children To Speak

Psalm 127:4-5, "As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that has his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate."

Many times we forget the purpose of our parenting, don't we? We plod along from day to day with what has to be done and we don't see the future picture. It is good to come back to the Word of God and be reminded of what we are supposed to be doing.

God talks of our children in the context of war. This life is a battle between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. We are raising our children to be warriors for God's kingdom, to know how to face the battle and to stand strong for God.

Recently, I noticed something important in our above Scripture. We are training our children to speak! Did you notice that? We are to raise children who will speak with the enemies in the gates. In Bible times, the gates of the city were more than an entrance way. They were the busiest place in the city. It was here that the elders sat to rule and direct the affairs of the city. It was here the judges and officers judged the daily matters of the people. It was at the gates the soldiers stood sentinel to guard and protect the city.

And this is where God wants our children to speak--in the important places of the city, the state and the nation. He wants us to raise children who will be able to proclaim His truth in the gates--in the high places where decisions and laws are made. We are living in an era where "Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands afar off; for truth is fallen in the street and equity cannot enter." (Isaiah 59:14-15) In this hour of history, we need to raise children who know more than a few Sunday school stories, but children who understand God's truth, who have discernment and know how to execute justice. We need to raise children who are not afraid to speak God's truth, even in the face of opposition and persecution. The psalmist said, "I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed." (Psalm 119:46) I love the Knox translation which says, "Fearlessly will I talk of thy decrees in the presence of kings, and be never abashed."

Truth is not always easy to make known. People often compromise the truth because they are scared of the repercussions. But we are not raising wimps--we are raising warriors. We are raising children who are not afraid to face the enemy. We need soldiers like C.T. Studd prayed for:

Lord, send us lion-hearted men
With good courageous habits,
Who ne'er will run from the devil's gun
Like hares and bunny rabbits!

Some translations of Psalm 127:5 say, "Contend with the enemies in the gate." Our "arrows" must know how to contend for their faith and the truth.

"How do we train our children to speak?" you may ask. Perhaps Apologetics should be part of every homeschooling curriculum. Our children must learn how to give an answer for the faith that is in them (1 Peter 3:15). Of course, it will be difficult to prepare children to be truth-bearers if we are not heralding the truth ourselves. We must not be afraid to speak God's eternal truths, even when they are counter-culture. The ideologies of our society regarding family are not working. There is so much heartache in marriages and family life. Marriages are continually falling apart. God's way, although different to man's ways are the way to success if we are prepared to be obedient to them. We must not ever be ashamed of the truth. We do not have to be intimidated by our adversaries. We can speak with confidence for we know the way that works!

We should be like the apostle Paul who spoke boldly in the synagogue and in the market place, testifying, reasoning, disputing and persuading people in the truth. The psalmist and Paul both confessed, "I believed, therefore have I spoken." (Psalm 116:10 and 2 Corinthians 4:13) What do you believe? That's what you'll speak about. What are you teaching your children to believe? What is the passion of their heart? That's what they'll speak about. Not clichés, but convictions!

Never forget--silence is surrender, but speaking the truth can change the culture of the nation.

Raise your children to be warriors for the Lord. Raise them to know the truth. Prepare them to speak the truth--anointed, not-giving-in, not-backing-down words--in the market place and in high places.


PRAYER:

"Lord, please lift my vision for parenting my children. Help me to train them to know and understand the truth and be filled with zeal and boldness to speak your truth to all they meet. Help me to also be a truth-bearer wherever I go and to never be ashamed of your timeless truths. Amen."

AFFIRMATION:

I am raising children to be Truth Bearers.

Further Reference:

Speaking boldly, disputing and persuading:
Read Acts 4:13; 29-31; 9:27, 29; 13:43, 46; 14:3; 17:17; 18:4, 13, 26; 19:8, 26; 28:23; Ephesians 6:18-19; Philippians 1:20; 2 Corinthians 5:11; Proverbs 28:1.

Speaking before kings and rulers:
Psalm 119:46; Proverbs 22:29; Acts 4:8; 24:10-21; 24-27; 26:1-32.

Always ready to speak, even to those who oppose:
Ezekiel 33:8-9; Matthew 10:18-20; 32-33; Colossians 4:6; 2 Timothy 2:25; 4:1-2; 1 Peter 3:15.


Written by Nancy Campbell
To subscribe to her email devotional where I received this article from, click here.

One Family

"How can one family affect anything?

One person battling away to put selfish interests aside,
to put other people before herself or himself, even for a fraction of time,
day by day,
how could that help?

. . . One family and the children of that family can do marvelous things to affect the world



or devastating things
to destroy it."







-Edith Schaeffer


Thank you for sharing this Miss Jen @ Blessed Femina

Reformation Day Celebration

We have been busy studying the Reformation at the Fuentes household. It is an amazing thing to learn about Christian history especially when you are a first generation Christian. I don't ever remember the Reformation being taught in school and now I am grateful for a chance to dig deeper as I educate my children on their Christian roots.

As I sifted through the thought that mothers are the memory makers of their homes and children's lives-- I wanted to take this opportunity to begin a new tradition at our home. Starting this year we will anticipate our first Reformation Celebration.

The 95 Theses were nailed on the door at Wittenberg, German on October 31, 1517 by Martin Luther. A profound moment for our faith, this act would shake Europe to its foundation and cause great religious divide and spiritual freedom for so many. Which is why I want my children to remember the example set before them-- to remember that it takes one person to change the world.

In the past, Oct. 31st was used to pass out tracts but when the costumes became too gruesome for my little ones, we stopped. Before all of this, we had also watched a video about the origins of Halloween from Moody Bible Bookstore and was convicted that we personally wouldn't take part of it. Now we have a wonderful way to celebrate the day--to remember the sacrifices of our reforming and courageous spiritual forefathers.


World magazine had a great article examining some of the origins of Halloween and how to celebrate Reformation day that I highly recommend that you read here: Reformation Day

I did some research too and here are some ideas of what we are going to do for that day:

Dress up in costume (have a skit, try to guess who we are),
hold a medieval banquet (with authentic German food--some ideas I found were Roasted Papal Bull and Diet of Worms cake!)
and playing German music in the background

Games:

Sing the Battle Hymn of the Reformation "Almighty Fortress is our God"/or use this song to play musical chairs/who can build castles out of legos quickest
Boffer Wars,
Hide the Heretic (Hide and Seek),
Pin the Theses on the Door(blindfolded)
Bows and arrow event/tug of war (Reformers vs. Cardinals of course!)
Bonfire with storytelling about the Reformation
Indulgences relay race throwing indulgences in the trash

Daddy can teach about our thankful to our forefathers and their hefty sacrifices that led to religious freedom today. This is a wonderful experience for all! Here are some helpful links:

How to celebrate at home
Easy Costume Tips
Put on a celebration at your church
-includes Medieval games, costumes, recipes

Visit a Reformation Day Faire

Doorposts offers a book I'm looking forward to getting:
A Night of Reformation

We took a week off of 'regular' school to focus on this period and do a Unit Study on the Reformation, I have heard of others taking a month or more. We still incorporated math, spelling, literature, vocabulary, creative writing etc. into our history lesson.

You can view our Reformation Unit study here.

We will also be watching this October 31st:

(Be sure to turn off the music in the sidebar!)

The Broad and Narrow

"How can it be a large career
to tell other people's children about arithmetic

and a small career to tell one's own children about the universe?

How can it be broad to be the same thing to everyone
and narrow to be everything to someone?

No, a woman's function is laborious
because it is gigantic,

not because it is minute."



G. K. Chesterton

Searching The World

A man

travels the world

over in search

of what he needs

and returns home

to find it.


-George Moore

The Wise Woman and the Foolish Woman

I found this excellent article by Mercy King and thought I should share it:

This morning, I began to consider Proverbs 14:1 which says, “Every wise woman builds her house: but the foolish pluck it down with her hands.” And to reflect on the wise woman verses the foolish woman. This passage contrasts two women who were both “stay-at-home” types. However, only one is praised for her virtue.

The Wise Woman

First, the wise woman will build her home. She will garnish it with the grace of feminine beauty suitable to the admiration of both sexes. She will adorn it with the flowers of fair speech, kindly intuition, and gracious acts of mercy. She may not have much in terms of material possessions, but she is thrifty and builds upon what she already has. Or, if she is wealthy, she gives much of it away for the service of God and to be used to build His kingdom. She adds to the family economy by working “willingly with her hands.” She fixes mementos in her home by making memories out of her speech, which is “the law of kindness.” It is her portrait that is seen when a stray thought returns to her home. Her husband may be grand, or less esteemed in the world’s eyes, but she builds him up in love, respect, and affection, calling him lord. She shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of his house. Her society may be disagreeable or pleasurable, but she does all that she can to benefit the downtrodden and needy. She does not shame, but builds and restores that which is broken within and without. And, to all, she is careful not to show impatience or impolite behavior. The woman who builds her house lays it with her very life, her health, and her strength. She willingly lays down her life so that others around her may flourish. Her pleasure is gained by seeing others edified and cared for.

The Foolish Woman

In opposition, the foolish woman will be the one that pulls down with her hands what she does have. That which she alone has been entrusted with to cultivate, nurture, and beautify, she destroys. With crass words, complaining lips, and a murmuring spirit, she finds discontentment in everything. Her work is to chase vanity and to imitate vain people. Rather than work on her home (her very heart) she lets the thorns of bitterness encapsulate the life pulses of love and tenderness. Mark that woman! And, approach not unto her home to learn her ways. She will continue to sink lower and lower as her foundations crumble. Eventually, she will have nothing left. She who pulls it down, uses others to gratify her own desires. Her pleasure is mounted on the displeasures and discomforts of others.

Let us, as Reforming Women, strive to be those who build up their houses.

Repentance to God and man may be a daily thing as it is with me!

You may always wonder whether you will gain the mastery over your spirit.

You may cry every day “Help me God to do what’s right.”
God sees you and he knows you.

He will comfort you so that you can comfort others. Psalm 55:22 says, “Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.”

A house is not built except one stone at a time.

Even what has been torn down can be rebuilt for service to God!

Let’s get building
the home God has given
each of us to cultivate!

The Making of a Home

One of the most rewarding endeavors a homemaker can partake of is making her home lovely for those who live in it. We have talked about making our homes lovely spiritually and now we will look at some ways women take extra care to add the loving details in their home.

These two blogs will introduce us to Tablescaping:

Between Naps on the Porch

The Tablescaper

The Inspired Room shares practicals tips on how to have a peaceful home at Serenity Now: A Peaceful Home

I also like that Nesting Place teaches thriftiness using you might already have.

Warm Pie Happy Home inspires us to decorate for fall with a little Autumn Goodness.

I think no matter what kind of a budget you have you can still make your home a lovely place by being creative. I know many women decorate their homes on a shoestring by integrating a bit of ingenuity. It just takes a little thought and love to add those finishing touches to a room.

I have heard of women who framed children's personal art to decorate their childrens or baby's rooms, and women out in the country who like to decorate naturally bring in boughs, berries and pinecones from the forest and fill decorative bowls with them and hang swags on the wall. In the old days Grandma would find old scraps of material and creative beautiful heirloom quilts to hang on the wall. Once I watched a video of a women decorate her whole home in patterned bedsheets!!! It just goes to show you the lengths a women will go to to make her home special to those who a dear to her. Family photos that are framed also are a readily available source to cozying up a room It really is so simple and ideas can be easily found on the internet today. No home should have empty or bare walls, in my opinion, we must make it a beautiful place for our husband and children to be in no matter how small or large it might be.

I have seen cozy homes decorated strictly from thrift stores and stunned by them--so I don't believe you need alot of money to create special places for your loved ones. My home is not extravagant by any means---it is simple and basic. But I try to use what I have to make it special. The idea is to weave and spin a beautiful, cozy, comfortable refuge for our families every day and not look at it as burdensome but instead as a great blessing and honor to be entrusted by God to even have a family and home to care for.

Know that it is not perfection we are striving for--instead we are doing this to bless and be attentive to those we love. It doesn't have to be glamorous, just practical. Do you have a child that loves to play chess or a daughter who likes to sew? Why not set up a little comfortable corner of the home just for that? Have a husband who needs a place to study?
Be thoughtful and create a space for him like Brenda, her love for her husband speaks louder than any home decorator magazine could!

Remember Christ must always be center of our homes and hearts as we create this refuge. If there is quarreling and strife we fail at creating such a place. So be careful to mind the 'temperature' of peace in your home as well!

It just takes a woman's touch:

(Don't forget to turn off the sound in the sidebar)





I hope this post has inspired you,

now I am off to conquer some rooms!

Have a blessed weekend as you lovingly make your house into a home!




(You can purchase Calamity Jane here.)