Children are a gift from the Lord...............

God has truly blessed us with 5 beautiful children. We as parents are responsible for teaching and molding their young minds and characters and "training them up in the way they should go." This is not always an easy task but we try to be good stewards of our children. We sing worship songs with them. We pray with them. And we even read the bible with them morning, noon and night hoping that they will take it all in and get something out of it. It is always exciting when one of them shares what they have learned..............

So, for our evening devotions we get everyone ready for bed (snack, brush teeth, pajamas etc.) and then gather in their bedroom. We usually go over a memory verse and then read scripture and do a devotion. Well, tonight, we had the kids say several verses that we have been learning, (John 14:23, Exodus 20:12, Luke 6:37 and Joshua 1:9). Then we read Proverbs 22. As I was reading, Samuel was having a hard time sitting still. In fact, he wasn't really interested in behaving at all. I know that comes as a big shock to everyone. But, I kept reading. I got to Proverbs 22:15 which says, "A youngster's heart is filled with foolishness, but discipline will drive it away." I paused and looked at Samuel and then read the verse again with a little bit more volume in my voice so I could make sure he heard me. I looked at him again and spoke to him. I said, "Samuel, the Bible says that 'Every child is full of foolishness, but discipline will get rid of it.' What do you think will happen if you keep acting foolishly?" And then I said, "If you do not quiet down and let Mommy finish reading to everyone, you will get disciplined." Samuel stopped and smiled at me and then stated very matter of fact, "Be bold and strong, For the Lord is with you wherever you go.........Joshua 1:9." And then he started to giggle and act all proud of himself. Now, I am not really sure if he was just randomly quoting a memory verse or if he was saying, 'I'll take anything you can dish out, Mom," but if there is one thing I know about Sammy, it is not to underestimate him.

So, Joshua did end up correcting Sammy and then we finished our devotions. Everything went well after that.