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Let’s take a sweeping look at what we have covered. First, thanksgiving and praise for Christ’s redemption must be larger and more important than any other endeavor in family life. Godly homes have an upward view, a God consciousness. With this in mind we then studied six principles from Deuteronomy six to aid a family in this pursuit. In the third and fourth articles we examined sins that diminish mom’s and dad’s ability to have a godly home. If parents are to influence their children for God, they must be spiritually mature themselves. Fifthly, we noted that godly parenting is characterized by the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23). Articles six through nine studied the actual discipline of children, the nurturing and admonishing them in the Lord.
In sum, “seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness” as a family “and all these things shall be added unto you” (Mt 6:33). A godly focus has the promise of a wide range of blessings in life experiences (I Tim 6:17). Families of God recognize they are not of the world, but they also recognize they are in the world (Jn 17:13-19). They recognize that the world is passing away and must not be an end in itself but is an arena to seek God (I Cor 7:29-31; I Jo 2:15). They recognize that only as they seek Him first in all things will the varied areas of family life be blessed (Col 3:17,23-25).
Faithful obedience to God in the family yields great reward (Heb 11:6). It brings one of the richest blessings next to salvation that I have ever known. Christian parents, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness in your family. Only by His blessing will true joy in any area be experienced (Ro 14:17). Charlotte’s and my children are raised, ‘our’ family album is complete, and in a few years ‘our’ photographs will be just artifacts, curiosities of a distant past. There is inexpressible joy for me just to sit and hold Charlotte’s hand at end of day. More and more therefore we reflect upon God’s goodness stored up in our treasure chest of family memory. Indulge me a little as I reflect upon some areas in which we experienced God’s hand as a family.
Worship. It is always primary. Please note that not observing the Lord’s Day in public assembly is an egregious sin (Ex 20:11, Heb 10:24-31). Look, though, at the joy of our ancient brethren, “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord” (Ps 122:1). “I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday” (Ps 42:4). Reflect upon the priority of their ardent desire, “I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids . . . We will go into his tabernacles: we will worship at his footstool” (Ps 132:4, 7). Involve yourselves in the house of God with full tilt delight. Make the house of God more than a responsibility; make it the most anticipated occasion of every week. The worship of God must be first in your family. Absenting yourself from the public assembly of the saints must not ever become easy or common. Many are our memories of annual meetings, the preachers we grew to love, the sermons we heard, and the joys we experienced. We are humbled at the Christian fellowship and prayers of friends we have across the nation. What a joy it has been!
Reading. Read the bible to your children (I Tim 4:13). Also read other books to them (II Tim 4:13). The revelation of God is in scripture and roads to imagination and enrichment in other books. Read of far away places, history, and heroic characters. Reading expands the mind, piques our interest in many things, and enlarges one’s vision of life. Many evening hours or whizzing miles, Charlotte read until she was hoarse. We read of God’s providential care in The Mercies of a Covenant God, the journey of reaching the celestial city in Pilgrim’s Progress, struggles of a fledgling nation in Patrick Henry Firebrand of the Revolution, and hardship on the
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prairie in The Little House Books We thank thee Lord for children on our laps and at our sides as we heard of Jesus’ work or yesteryear!
Music. Of course listen to sacred hymns (Ps 119:54), they are the greatest part of listening, but do not restrict your family to spiritual songs alone. Certainly lyrics must be decent, and rhythm and beat acceptable, but songs that express romance, celebrate life, take one down memory lane, or promote patriotism are great. Many kinds of music have a way of touching the soul for good, and such music can wash away the gray of everyday life. The classics are powerful; Handel’s Messiah was always a Christmas favorite. A word to the wise though, one morning as I took the children to school I had a tape of Acapella turned up very loud and as I kept time by beating my hands on the steering wheel, swinging my head, and stomping my feet on the floorboard, I drove over the family cat as we left the driveway. Again, enjoy music to the fullest, but don’t go this far!
Travel. Many times God gave us a break from responsibility and in travel we saw His handiwork. We have marveled at the snowcapped Rockies and the fall color of the Appalachians. We have played in the waves of the Atlantic and the Gulf and visited the Atlanta Zoo. I thank Him for fun at Disney World and Six Flags, seriousness at Vicksburg Battleground and Andersonville Civil War Prisoner Camp, patriotism at Mt. Rushmore and the USS Alabama, and interest at the Biltmore House and Laura Ingall Wilder’s farmstead. We have had the wide range of blessing from spending the night in a Governor’s mansion to an all night sweat in a station wagon because it was to late to set up the tent and the mosquitoes were to bad to roll down the windows of the car. Joyful memories?!!
Pets. We purposely allowed our children to have pets. I am not naturally a pet lover, but pets are an enriching part of raising children. Animals foster affection and invite nurturing. Our dogs, Peaches, Panda, Buckwheat, and KoKo, and numerous cats brought laughter and love into our home. Pets also teach responsibility. They must be fed, cleaned up after, groomed, and trained. A child who learns to properly care for an animal will have also properly learned responsibility. You can’t imagine the challenge of trying to lasso a hog in the pine trees of Georgia in order to load in the trailer to haul to show. Animals bring dimension to life. What Fun!
Theatre. This medium is misused and one must be wise, know the plot and lines, and be sure of what the costumes entail, but in this also we found family enrichment. On occasion we attended productions of our local theatre group, but a highlight forever etched in Charlotte’s and my mind is Melissa, Emily, and Matthew in their costumes as they performed together in the community’s production of South Pacific. Many miles we were together in taking them to practice, and the final production was a hoot. Keep righteousness in focus, but you may even find family blessing in a community play!
Special Times. There was joy in athletic competitions, literary meets, speeches in mock legislature, and numerous school events and banquets. With fondness Charlotte and I remember when she or I were with the children whitewater rafting, going to Washington D.C. or observing Drum and Bugle Core competition. We also lovingly look back to the one on one overnight trip with the children previous to their reaching adolescence. The Lord has been so gracious!
In every age and involvement of your children seek first God’s righteousness. This is the only way a treasure chest of memories can be blessed. Also, I am not here advocating you do exactly as we did, for other than worship your family must determine its own pursuits. Those of you with children, however, will all too soon look back and wonder where the years have gone, so, diligently seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, for only then will things in other areas of your life be added to your family with true lasting joy.
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