i asked beautiful nic of 60piggies to tell us how she teaches her four little ones about God, and his grace…
when i pause between herding legos and nomadic socks long enough to consider the task of parenting, its gravity is stunning: nourish and defend actual human beings? grow them from mewling, myopic bundles into tallish people who keep commitments to their spouses and show up to work on time and remember to flush? who tie their own shoelaces and carve an existence out of cherishing God?
i tend to blink at that job description, set it down carefully, and tiptoe away.
but in a hot minute i’m back on the scene saying why not. sign me up. because who but God and their parents will ever look upon these small folk with tenderness so fierce it burns us straight through?
and since i’m here, committed to the death, it’s best if i distill the job down to essentials: my main goal as a parent is to help my kids make much of God. it’s as simple and impossible as that. college scholarships and trombone lessons and starting midfield are all icing on the cake, buttery but optional. if i can knead their hearts soft toward Him, i will have mothered well.
and here’s where my inadequacy really starts to sing. i’ll want to stuff them full of right ideas, which is likely not what they most need and always goes awry. we’ll be talking theology and i’ll start off toward Mt Open Discussion, take the wrong fork and end up at Lecture Lookout.
and i realize, it’s much like teaching my kiddos about a healthy marriage: i could pelt them with advice and admonishments, or i could simply love their father.
so i trek back to the early part of deuteronomy 6 (ie love God with all you’ve got, help your kids swim in His word). and i love Him in my floundering dogged way, and i try to do it front of the kids, asking Him to help me drop the inhibitions even though it feels awkward to lay bare something intensely personal. i try to talk to Him in front of them. look things up in His book when we’re searching for answers. love the people around us and the people most in need. and the littles ask me questions, about Jesus and belief systems and eternity and grace, and sometimes i say i don’t know, and mostly i give them my best guess and ask God to please cover the difference.
and when i worry myself awake late at night that i am failing Him and them because i am the Feeblest Christian Ever, it helps to remember this is Yahweh we’re talking about. He doesn’t need me to stack the deck in His favor. heck, He made the deck. He just wants me to let Him show up in my life so my kids can see who He is.
i’m pretty sure He’ll take it from there.