I didn't grow up in a household that went to church regularly. My cousins and I attended the local Bible School each summer and learned all the sweet little Sunday School songs.
We also grew up with a grandmother who is deeply spiritual. Grandma Dorothy is the one who read Bible stories to us, told us of the strength of Jesus' name to ward off evil. She also taught us to pray. She reminded us that sometimes you just have to fall to your knees and ask God to help you accept His will.
These days, my family is still not a church-going family. We sleep in on Sundays, enjoy a leisurely breakfast and go on about the business of preparing for the coming week.
But I'm trying to continue Grandma Dorothy's teachings. I'm trying to instill spirituality in my girls as my mom and grandma did for me and my brothers. While I don't get much from organized religion, I do get a lot from God Himself and I hope to teach that to my girls.
I want them to know that God is always there for them. That He is always in control, even when they feel out of control.
I want them to know that they are never truly alone. A strong relationship with God will help them with that.
We pray, we talk about God and Jesus and how They sacrificed for us. We talk about heaven and how amazing it is that God loves us so much.
I hope that through our discussions and through living a good life, God and Tom and I will have more influence on the girls as they grow than will their friends, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga.
There are a lot of less than good things in this world but there is also a lot of really, really good out there. I want to prepare my children for both, with a strong sense of self and family and God to help them through anything that might come their way.
To me, this is more important than getting up early every Sunday morning and attending a church service where some man tells us how he interprets the word of God. It's better that we learn to interpret it ourselves, that we listen with our hearts to what God is telling us. Because if Grandma Dorothy taught me anything, it's that God is always talking to us, always telling us which way to go, we just have to listen carefully, live quietly enough to hear Him.
A mom, a dad and two daughters. We're living ordinary lives with a twist of 5p- (Cri du Chat) for spice. But we're about so much more than our younger daughter's genetic diagnosis.
4 comments:
I'm so glad that you are passing on your faith to your girls.
Your grandma Dorothy sound like a very wise woman. My grandma was a lot like that and I still feel a connection to her even after all of these years since she passed away. Thank goodness for women like these!
Boy that Grandma Dorothy sounds like a smart and wonderful lady...
I feel this post and I agree. God works in the hearts and lives of people whether they go to church or not and *going* to church has no sway on His love or caring.
I hope that God continues to bless you and your sweet family - that your children and following generations will know His goodness and mercy no matter where they worship.
Hugs!
We do all of our religion studies at home too. :)
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