Living Proverbs 22:6

"Train up a child in the way he should go,
even when he is old he will not depart from it."
Proverbs 22:6

How do you encourage your children?

Do you praise them and encourage with your words and attitude?

Are you a bold witness to them? Lifting them up and building their spirit?

Are we doing this in such a manner that even when discipline is being reinforced, that it is done in such a Godly way that they are built up and not torn down?

I know that is my hearts desire. You know, it's easy for us to do this when things are running smoothly. When the day is running perfectly to plan and we have had plenty of sleep and have started the day with God's awesome word and a quiet cup of coffee (or diet coke for some of you =). Everything is just falling into place....ahhhhh...just the thought of it. It's easy to encourage and discipline in a Godly manner then right?

BUT...

But what about when real life kicks in. When things go Topsy turvy and crazy? When kids are screaming and everything is crumbling around you. When there is rush-rush-rush, and I forgot, or it wasn't me- I don't know - MOM yelling from every corner, phone ringing, vomit upstairs and poop down...oh and add a few pets in the mix. Then what?!

=)

I know I feel defeated and my flesh kicks in. My old self reactions bubble to the top, and they are ugly. Those attitudes and responses seem to add fuel to the fire and more times than not, when things calm back down, many regrets of I should have handled that better occur.

We absolutely can not do it ourselves. I feel that to get completely rid of our old self and reactions we need God to train US with better way to handle things. How can God train us?? By first and foremost asking Him. Then trusting Him. Not just speaking words, "Lord help me with my attitude or anger" but really feeling it in your heart. Allowing Him to teach us through His word. Being obedient to His calling. Daily picking up our cross and making the choice to follow Him. It is easy to just give up and fall back into old attitudes, but to really glorify God and live out your faith...choosing to do it His way, even though so badly you want to really justify yourself and how you are feeling at the moment. It's hard. I fail daily. Praise God for His grace that picks me back up and dusts me off. I pray that each day I get rid of a little more of me and put on more and more of Him!! This is a very hard job! Only through the strength and direction of Christ can we do it!

I desire to continually praise, encourage and lift up my husband and my children. I desire to do this no matter what is going on around us. To see my husband built up and encouraged, to see the faces of my children when they are filled up... *sigh*....I have no words. When they are filled, I am filled and God's will is fulfilled!

Here are a few scriptures (out of Proverbs of course =) that the Lord has brought back to my mind in those crazy moments lately. I smile when the Holy Spirit brings them into remembrance and I have been holding on and obeying them. THEY WORK!

"A gentle answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger." Proverbs 15:1

"A soothing tongue is a tree of life, But perversion in it crushes the spirit." Proverbs 15:4

"A joyful heart makes a cheerful face, But when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken." Proverbs 15:13

These are just a few that I have noted from chapter 15, but the pages are just bursting with God's awesome wisdom. We have the most wonderful manual for living at our fingertips. We just have to pick it up and apply it to our lives.

What are some of the way's that you encourage and exhort your husband and children?

Please share with us what God has taught you along the journey.

How can we encourage each other as woman to stay on course and not give up?

With much love~Tina