First Quality: Diligence December 27, 2009

Wow…there is so much in Proverbs to teach my kids! It’s hard to even know where to start. But I think we’ll begin with diligence. There’s a lot of our everyday life that revolves around this quality, and lately I’ve been realizing the need to focus more on it. Just one look at the cleanup job my girls do of their toy room is all it takes! Here’s the lessons I’ve gleaned on diligence:

DILIGENCE
* Working brings reward, but chasing meaningless dreams is foolish (12:11, 14)
* Suffering hunger makes one more diligent! (16:26)
* Doing a bad job is similar to someone who destroys things. (18:9)
* Doing an excellent job brings notice from others & gives you a good reputation. (22:29)
* Do your work at the right time! (10:4,5)
* When you’re diligent, you’re put in charge of stuff. When you’re lazy, you work for others.

The Proverbs Project December 9, 2009

I love teaching my children the Bible. It’s so much fun to take the big concepts that are contained in God’s Word and to present them in a way that young minds can grasp (or at least be interested in!). But lately, I’ve been wondering if reading them Bible stories is enough. It’s great to have our daily “Bible time”, but how do I move beyond the knowing to the doing?

Another motivation behind this current project springs from my reading of the 2-volume Hudson Taylor biography. His parents were intentional in their training. They didn’t just read him some good Bible stories, take him to church and hope it all would sink in. They actively encouraged him in good behavior, taking the time to train him in diligence, self-control and obedience. I need to be intentional like that.

But how? Where? What do I teach? All these questions were running around in my head until, a hah! Inspiration struck! What is it that my children need? If I were to use one all-encompassing word, it would probably be “Wisdom”. And what book of the Bible is especially geared towards training in wisdom? Proverbs of course. And thus my motivation to begin what I’ve termed The Proverbs Project began. I’m planning on putting together a resource of the major themes in Proverbs with ideas on how to build these qualities into our children’s lives, as well as thoughts on how our lives as parents should model these ideals. So that’s my project. Anyone want to join along?