I’m learning that I have to be extra careful of what I do in front of my daughter.
A few nights ago, as we laid there right before bed, our stories read and our prayers said, she starts telling me bible stories. She first shares with me the one about the little girl who had died. When her mother cried out to Jesus, He tells her that she’s not dead and proceeds to wake her up, then tells her mother to give her something to eat. I laid in amazement listening to her. She then proceeds to talk about the woman who was sick and all she did was touch Jesus, and He made her better. Jesus then asked who touched me, and the woman came forward. These were stories told to me by a 4 year old.
I wanted to know where she had heard them. While we read bible stories together, we rarely get into the New Testament. So, it was unlikely that she’d heard them from me. She initially said home, but then corrected herself and said school. She might have also heard it in sabbath school, as we try to make an effort to get there. She’ll learn about Jesus’ love and actions in different places.
Last night as we were saying our prayers, hers is usually short and to the point. Every now and again, she’ll throw something in that really surprises me. Last night I was tired, so I tried the very short and to the point prayer that she normally prays, not praying for anyone specifically. She was not having it – she told me that I needed to pray like I normally do. I had to start over, and say a prayer that is ‘typical’ of our nightly routine, calling specific names of people, and thanking God for all His mercies and all He’s done.
These two examples from this week, show me just how much my daughter is paying attention to me, my habits and our routine. This forces me to think – what example am I setting for her? I can’t live a life that says ‘do as I say, but not as I do’. I have the awesome responsibility of setting examples for her life.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for your blessings. Thank you for your call to action to live the way you want us to live. Help us to set good examples for our children, so that they may want to know you as their own personal savior, because they have learned of your love at our feet, and in our routines.