Today Daryl gets to teach a class for Men at our church on being a Leader at home. Not the "wife under the thumb" kind of leadership, but the kind where a man leads his family in the Lord. Talking to young ones (or old ones) about how to lead their families in the Lord may be in his top 5 things to do.
His favorite part of the lesson is telling Men how to have quiet times with their family. It isn't hard. You open your Bible and read a chapter. You talk about it. You pray together. If you have younger children, then you gear part of the quiet time for their age...younger Bible stories, tweak down the story to their age level.
What it does, is to train you and your children together that God's Word is the standard, regardless of the age group or gender. Then, as you raise your children, or have "discussions" with your mate, the standard is not opinions or moods or emotions: it's God's Word. It's pretty hard to come before the Creator of the Universe and stay mad at the mate sitting beside you...it forces you to settle issues and talk things out, because you know where you aren't meeting God's standard, whether your mate is or not!
A friend of mine came to me this week and told me that she and her husband had started having devotions from God's Word with their newly blended family. She was amazed at how much the kids loved their new Bibles, which each had been allowed to pick out for themselves. She and her husband are amazed at the differences in the kids' attitudes. I could have shouted for joy...one more family has discovered the power of the simplicity of God's Word.
