Priorities

Last week I recieved some news that has made me take a serious look at my own priorities and how I am raising my children. So often I get caught up in the things that need to be done and don't take enough time to just have fun and laugh with the kids. I get lost in the never-ending cycle of laundry, dishes, and dirty floors. Those things are important but is God really going to say "Carrie, how often did you mop that floor that I trusted you with?" or "Did you wash/fold clothes every day?" Silly, huh! But one day He will ask how I raised these kids that He has given to me, how did I care for them, how did I teach them about Him. Proverbs says "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it." Am I teaching them the way that they should go? Too often I lose my temper or focus on other things and don't spend enough time reading God's Word myself much less teaching it to my children. But apart from the Word is there any "right" way to go? Yes, people who aren't Christians can be good people, they can have good morals, they can do good things but apart from God it's all meaningless. I am thankful that Brooks has been redeemed by Christ and I pray that Eli, Audrey, and Metz will also be saved at an early age but that is just the beginning. I have to teach them to grow in Christ. To read God's word. To pray diligently. I have to have the right priorities in order to teach them the right way. Actions speak louder than words. How true that is! I don't ever want to be the parent that says to do as I say, not as I do. And I don't ever want to be the parent that puts what I want/need/desire before what is best for my family.

"I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit, for apart fro me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned."
John 15:5-6