A New Season and a Renewed Love

For a while now, Carl and I have felt that the Lord was leading us to move from the house that we are currently in. We have been praying and trying to discern what the Lord would have us do. About a month and a half ago we saw a house for sale that is next door to good friends of ours. We contacted a friend of ours that is a realtor. She set up a showing for us.

We felt the Lord was not leading us to that particular house, but it was good to start the process of looking for a house. With Carl doing football and myself involved in The Prodigals, we just could not find time to look at houses.

Our realtor emailed us one day to say that we should look at a specific house. She said that she thought it would be perfect for our family. We had been looking for one story houses or one and half stories. We wanted to make sure that the house would fit our needs even when the kids started moving out. We wanted lots of space but everything for Carl and I to be on the first floor. We went back and forth from downsizing or going for more space.

For a long time, I have wanted to have a house that I could use for ministry. I have always envisioned my house as a place where the kids could have lots of friends over. A house that we could fill with lots of people. Christmas parties, birthday celebrations, bible studies, writing sessions. I have never had a house that had space where we could do that. Carl and both have been convicted lately that our homes are to be places where we can proclaim the gospel of Christ to those around us. A ministry tool to bring glory to God.

We expressed this desire to our realtor. We also wanted outside space for the kids to play. We have always hated those neighborhoods where they come in a bulldoze all the houses and there are no trees. Our kids said they wanted woods to play in. I told our realtor that I wanted two things. A writing area and a soaking tub. We were all ready for a long search as we did not think we were going to have an easy time finding what we wanted. It is not easy finding a house for 10 people.

When our realtor told us about the house I went online to look at the pictures and was shocked. It was a majestic 3300 square feet two story house. It had a beautiful front porch with columns and a red door. I fell in love instantly without even stepping foot in the door. The listing said that it was 3 bedrooms and we wondered how we would fit everyone in the house. It was the direct opposite of what we had been looking at.

We set up a showing along with 3 other houses in our area. We went on a Sunday afternoon. It was the first house we looked at that day. The minute we turned into the neighborhood I knew I was home. We pulled in the driveway and walked in the house. It was like God was saying to me that this is where he wanted us. It was peace.

Instead of 3 bedrooms, it had 4 and two additional bonus rooms upstairs. The master and everything for Carl was on the first floor. I walked into the family room and could just envision having people over. I walked into the screened porch and looked out to a beautiful wooded 1-acre lot. A writing sanctuary. It even had a flat side and front yard for the kids to play football. I fell in love.

We looked at the other houses that day but knew that we had found our home. We took the kids back on Halloween night. They were so excited to see all the kids in the neighborhood trick or treating. They loved the house and ran from room to room picking out which bedroom would be theirs and planning furniture and decoration.

We put an offer in that Friday. It was accepted. We close December 6.

I am beyond excited. I have already started packing.

This new move has caused me to really think hard about some changes I want to implement in this new house.

I was doing my scripture writing this morning and was in Deuteronomy 6.

⁴ “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. ⁵ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. ⁶ And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. ⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. ⁸ You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ⁹ You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

The part about the doorposts really hit me today. I want our new home to be a beacon that shines the light of Jesus to all those who see our home. I want every part of our house to bring glory to God. I want even our decorations to be evident of who God is. I was immedietly struck with the vision of scripture being placed in every room. When people walk in, I want them feel the presence of God in every space. I got excited at all the possibilities that God could afford us with this new house.

The entire passage in Deuteronomy is one that, as a parent, I have returned to many times. I must confess that I have gotten away from pouring the word of God into my children. I feel that we have gotten away from that as a nation. As a church. I forget that I spent my childhood going to Sunday School where we were taught the scriptures. Our church does not have a Sunday School, so they do not here the stories that I grew up with.

Churches have changed since when I was a little child. Churches are all about entertaining its members. They do things that will bring the people in the door. Our youth groups are full of games and events and silliness, and food. They are lacking the deep discussions about things of God. Most youth groups will spend 50 minutes on the fun and then add the Bible in at the last minute. It is empty.

I am not saying that every youth group or church is like that. My own children attend a youth group where they discuss relevant issues of the day and have deep, theological discussion. They do have fun events and games but getting closer to God and his scriptures is the priority.

As a whole, I feel that we are losing the younger generation. To be honest, the fault lies with my generation. The parents of today have failed in their responsibility to teach our children the Bible. I know that I am guilty of that.

With this move to a new house I want to make some changes with our family. This is the perfect opportunity to start. I can start before then. My children do not need to be entertained more. They do not need special events and themed parties to teach them about God. They do not need the latest app or game or social media page. They do not need to attend a concert of the best Christian group around.

Those things in and of themselves are not bad. They can be used as tools to tell others about Christ. The problem I have is when those things are given a higher priority over basic Bible teaching.

I have been so guilty of this but no longer. I have made a commitment to teach my children the scriptures. We often think that our children are too young to handle the hard things of the Bible. They are not. The passage in Deuteronomy commands us to teach them to our children.

We are to speak scripture to our children. We are to sing scripture to our children. We are to put scripture before their eyes. We are to teach them at every opportunity we can. At the beginning of our day and at night.

I know that I cannot make my children love the word of God. I know that my children must come to a point where they make their own decision to follow Christ. To love what he loves.

It is my job to show them my love for the scriptures. That is my goal for this new house and wherever God will move us in the future. I want my children to see me love Christ with a love that is all encompassing. I want his words to invade every area of my life so that it bubbles out of me.

As we pack up one season of our lives, I want to make sure that the next season is crowned with thankfulness and gratitude to all that God has blessed us with. That includes his written words.

This of course means that I must be reading and meditating and singing about and writing the scriptures. For me, writing scripture out is a form of worship. I am such a visual person that writing the words of God on a new sheet of paper with a good pen using my best penmanship is what solidifies those words into my mind. For my husband, he loves to listen to the word of God in audio form. Each person learns differently and we each need to discover what works for us to imprint the word of God in our minds and hearts.

As parents, we need to help our children discover what works for them. What is it that is going to give them a love for the scriptures? With 8 children, it will be 8 different ways. That is what I think we forget sometimes about others. God made each of us uniquely. We each will love the scriptures in the way that God intends for us as individuals. For me it is music and writing. I cannot expect all of children to learn about the scriptures in the way that I do.

It is my job though to teach them about what the Bible says.

That is my goal. To show my children a mother and wife and Christ follower that loves the scriptures and talks about them and sings them and writes them and decorated with them. To show them a love for all the things that God loves. To walk so close to God that I cannot help but show his love to everyone I encounter. 

In studying the passage in Deuteronomy, I came across a sermon transcript. It was very good and I am including his conclusion here.

“The constant meditation on the commands of God in response to our supreme love for God and His word will impact the way we communicate with our children (Deuteronomy 6:7).

 The constant meditation on the commands of God in response to our supreme love for God and His word will impact every facet of our lives (Deuteronomy 6:8-9).

 It will impact us when we are alone. It will impact us when we are with our families. It will impact us when we are in the community.

 May God give us the grace to love Him and His word supremely, so that we might place our children in the best position to exercise faith in the person and work of Christ and be saved.”

Dale Whitehead – Valley Bible Church  

I hope that many of you will join me in recommitting to teaching our children a love for the scriptures by renewing our own love for the words of God.

This is some of my scripture writing from this month.