Mirror Image

Part of the fun and terror of parenting is watching our little ones pattern their lives after us.  I love to make things in clay and shared this craft with my children when they were growing up. One day when my daughter was in fifth grade she came home with a coil pot that was a miniature version of one I had made years earlier.

As a parent this gave me a surprise and a jolt!  What stimulates and drives us will drive our children. They may not be able to communicate it verbally or intellectually but they know internally what we admire, worship and hold up as most important.  What excites us will excite them.  What we get from God’s word they may not be able to completely grasp but they understand it on an emotional level.  Isn’t that like faith? Because of their natural inclination to trust, admire and depend on us they naturally model themselves after us.

¹⁴ Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”  (Matt, 19:14, NIV).

When Jesus said, “do not hinder the children,” most parents agree they would never want to stop a child from going to Christ. As children of God we are modeling an image of who we are in Christ and are given wisdom to correct what He may see in us that is acceptable or needing adjustment, or balance. Just like we as parents’ correct unsightly or undesirable behaviors in our children.  Do our children see a parent who seeks out and finds joy in the word of God? Our children already know what we have set aside in our lives as valuable. So how can we be sure they understand that we value Christ? Simply by setting aside time to read, pray and share our joy. Even after a hectic day the simple truth of Christ in a picture book, or better yet one told from memory, will let them know we have a heavenly Father who we depend on and who looks after us all.

Roslyn Alexander