Calvin's Catechism

I took a break from translating 1 John and listened in on Kimberly teaching Calvin from "A Catechism for Boys and Girls." This catechism is based on the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith. The catechism breaks up into six parts (God, man and sin; the Ten Commandments; Salvation; Prayer; the Word, church and ordinances; and Last Things) in which a question is asked and an answer is given. Kim will ask a question and Calvin will give the answer. It is a great tool to teach children the Bible and how it fits together.

Calvin doing great, this evening he correctly answered the first forty questions. However, one answer was classic Calvin. Kim asked, "What do we inherit from Adam as a result of this original sin?" Calvin's answer, "Animals!" (The correct answer is 'A sinful nature.')

Responsibility Training

"For each one should carry his own load."

Galatians 6:5

I recently listened to a recorded seminar called, "Raising Large Families," from the 2008 Seminary Wives Institute Seminar Saturday. One main point of the speaker's message was "don't do anything that someone else in your household can do."

This got me thinking: am I doing things for my children that they really should be doing themselves? I realized I was tidying Calvin's room every day, sometimes more than once. If he makes the mess, can't he clean it up?

So I've added to Calvin's list of responsibilities, which I wrote about back in October. He now is responsible for tidying up his room every morning.

I've walked through this process daily with Calvin over the past few weeks:

• Books don't belong on the floor. Put your books in your book box or on the shelf.
• Neither do clothes belong on the floor. Are they clean or dirty?
• Dirty clothes go in the laundry hamper.
• Hang clean shirts in the closet.
• Put clean pants, shorts, underwear, pajamas, and socks in the correct drawers.
• Close the dresser drawers.
• Close the closet door.
• Put your pillow and blankets on your bed (he's not to the point of actually making the bed, but this is a good first step).
• Look around. Did you do everything? Doesn't your room look good now?

I see some progress. Cleaning his room is now an expected part of our "morning jobs," and, for the most part, he has been doing it without grumbling.

Of course, I like his room to be clean. But I hope that I am instilling in him a sense of satisfaction from orderliness and a job well done.

I'm finding out that, yes, a three-year-old can clean his room, though teaching him how is tedious.

Seeds

Before Ken and I even had children, our friends Bob and Heidi gave us these great CD's called Seeds of Faith and Seeds of Courage. We really enjoyed listening to them, even though they were intended for children!

Now that we have two little ones, we enjoy the music that much more. The music is fun, and the lyrics are word-for-word from the New International Version of the Bible.


It's a great scripture memorization tool, as the warning on the CD jacket states:

"WARNING:This package contains songs that may result in the listener unintentionally MEMORIZING SCRIPTURE. Furthermore, those who learn these words may find themselves inexplicably recalling and/or applying them to real-life situations, as the Holy Spirit leads. USE WITH CAUTION"

Click here for some audio clips from Seeds of Faith.

God's Big Picture

On Tuesday, I wrote about the Read and Learn Bible. It's good for exposing children to many Bible stories and characters, but it doesn't tie all those stories together into one cohesive story.

We have also been reading another children's Bible lately called The Big Picture Story Bible, by David Helm. This is a fabulous children's (or adult's!) introduction to biblical theology. It's what Ken calls a "Thematic Bible"--It's a retelling of the Bible in such a way as to emphasize central themes. You cannot read this Bible without catching these two messages:

1. God is the ruler over all, and
2. Jesus is the Forever King.

The Big Picture Story Bible highlights God in every narrative. Instead of looking at the people of the Bible, their characteristics, virtues and vices, it looks at God. It answers questions such as, "What is God doing in this story?" "Why?" and "What is God's plan?" It tells the story of how God has acted through history.

Throughout its pages, this beautifully illustrated book traces God's hand through creation, the fall of man, God's promise of a coming King who will crush sin and death, and the ultimate fulfillment of God's promises in Jesus Christ.

My favorite part of this book is pages 400-411. Jesus has been raised from the dead and is teaching the disciples how all of Scripture points to him. It says, "In [God's holy book] were many word pictures that proved he must die to pay the penalty for sin." The illustrations on these pages are mini drawings from previous stories...A ram being sacrificed on an altar in place of Isaac...the Israelites painting blood over their doors at the first Passover in Egypt...the articles of the temple...the temple destroyed and rebuilt. All these are word pictures that point to Jesus!

The book is engaging for preschool children (Calvin said last night, "Let's read the whole thing tonight!"), and I would guess children through elementary school would enjoy it as well.

By the way, if this sounds familiar to readers of Graeme Goldsworthy (one of Ken's favorite theologians), it should. The acknowledgments at the front of the book say, "We are indebted to Graeme Goldsworthy, who first helped us grasp the Bible along the lines of 'God's people in God's place under God's rule.'"

What a great way to introduce children to the Kingdom of God, to his plan and his rule!

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Another theologically rich children's Bible is The Jesus Storybook Bible. See our blog entry here.

Read and Learn Bible

At Christmas time, Calvin received a new Bible from Ken's Aunt Gloria. It is the Read and Learn Bible from the American Bible Society. We have enjoyed reading it with Calvin and have read it once in its entirety, as well as read some of his favorite stories many times over.

This Bible contains "102 of the best-loved stories in the Bible," paraphrased using the Contemporary English Version and the King James Version.

Interestingly, the introduction to the book says it is for children ages 5-8. This guideline might be for childen reading it themselves. But as we've found with our sweet 3-year-old, it can be read to children much younger!

The Read and Learn Bible includes many stories that our other children's Bibles don't. For example, it spends 73 pages on Genesis, including the creation account and detail on all the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph). Calvin really likes the story of Jacob and Esau. I'm not sure why- maybe because it is about brothers and forgiveness, two things he's familiar with. But we've read it many times.

Some other elements of this Bible include geographical and historical notes, and parent pages explaining how you might talk about the stories with your children.

Homeschooling In Question

"Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord." Ephesians 6:4

On February 28, a California appellate court declared that "under provisions in the Education Code, parents do not have a constitutional right to homeschool their children."

My children are not yet school-age. Ken and I have not firmly decided what course of education we will pursue for our kids. We may or may not ever homeschool. Yet this news out of California has my temperature rising.

So I've been thinking on this for the past two days to figure out why I'm so hot about a court ruling in a different state that will likely be appealed and repealed. I've boiled it down to this: God clearly calls me to instruct and train my children, so I don't want the government limiting my own influence over my own children. Viewed in this light, the government limiting parental rights is an afront to my faith in Jesus Christ. In short, it is an afront to the Gospel.

Parents are teachers, the most important teachers. Whether or not the state says I am a teacher, or says I am qualified to be a teacher, God says I am a teacher. Whether or not I teach my children well or embrace my role as my children's teacher, God still calls me to teach them.

This is not to say that homeschooling is the only God-honoring choice for a child's education.

However, parents' rights to choose how their children will be educated is a critical piece to biblical parenting and worth fighting for.

For more perspectives on this recent news, see this article in the Los Angelos Times, this Citizen Link article, and read Dr. Albert Mohler's blog.

The Things They Say

Some more things Calvin has said that I don't want to forget:


Calvin: What are we having for breakfast today?
Me: Pancakes!
Calvin: Ooh, I can't resist pancakes.

Me: Why didn't you want to talk on the phone last night with Grandpa?
Calvin: I was very nervous.

Me: Teddy Dean! You pooped through your pajamas! Oh no, it's on your sheets.
Calvin: I'm very impressed.

Calvin to me: Teddy took away my toy again. We need to throw him in a pit. (FYI: We had just read about Joseph and his brothers.)

Calvin, after knocking Teddy onto the floor, said to no one in particular: And he fell over like Goliath.

Me, reading aloud from the Read and Learn Bible: "Mary sang a song to praise God. With all my heart I praise the Lord, and I..."
Calvin: Sing it!

Calvin: When I was sleepin' this house started stinkin'.

Josiah Scrolls

Two nights ago, for family Bible time, we read about King Josiah. During his reign over Judah, the scriptures were found in the temple.

I don't have too many creative ideas, but as we read and talked about the story, I thought, we could make scrolls!

This is how a 1-yr-old and a 3-yr-old make scrolls:

1. Mom collects art supplies
2. Mom gives the boys a piece of paper each
3. 1-yr-old and 3-yr-old ball up the paper over and over again to make it look old
4. Mom writes scripture on the scrolls
5. Mom staples popsicle sticks to the ends of the scrolls
6. Mom rolls up the scrolls
7. Mom takes a picture of the scrolls before...
8. 1-yr-old and a 3-yr-old tear the scrolls to bits while playing

(I did preserve some of the scrolls, and we read our memory verse from them at dinner time.)

The Fruit of Discipline

Yesterday was filled with battles between me and Calvin. Lots of disobedience and defiance!

Today, however, God allowed me a taste of fruit from my labor of disciplining Calvin...

Calvin threw a toy at Teddy after I had just told him not to. I told him to go sit on the naughty chair for two minutes. He went to the chair without any struggle. After two minutes, I called him into the kitchen to talk. I told him once more what he had done to deserve correction. He responded by clasping his hands together and saying, "Let's pray! Dear God, I sinned. Please forgive me. Thank you. Amen." I said (after I stopped gaping in shock), "Now go make things right with your brother." "Okay," he said, and then he ran to the living room to apologize to Teddy.

God knew how much I needed that encouragement today, to see Calvin receive correction without a fight, and to see his heart tender before the Lord.

Fights And Carols

"What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your

desires that battle within you?"

James 4:1

A few weeks ago, Calvin asked if he could bring one of his Lightning McQueen cars to Sunday School. "No," I said, "because it causes fights and quarrels among your friends." I learned today that he was actually listening to my response...

Today at lunch, Calvin started a tug-of-war with Teddy over a sippy cup of milk. Calvin won the battle and tossed the cup aside and out of Teddy's reach. He then exclaimed, "Mommy! We're playing fights and carols!"

I tried for a moment to hold back a smile, then gave in and erupted in giggles.

Moms and Dads Are Different

Here's an example of how different moms are from dads:

At the end of lunch yesterday, Teddy took a chunk of cornbread and threw it across the room.

Kim: Teddy Dean! No throwing food!

Ken: Did Teddy do that? What an arm!!



Yes, that's why children need both a mother and a father.

Calvin, the defender of truth II

Well, Calvin is at it again. A month ago two men came to our door. They were Jehovah's Witnesses. Kimberly and I visited with them and I pressed them on the issue of who is Jesus. They replied that he is 'a god'. We showed them Scripture after Scripture that showed that Jesus is God, the God.

Time passed and we thought nothing of it. Three mornings ago Calvin said to Kimberly and me at breakfast, "Those two men said that Jesus is 'a god', but that is not right, he is the God!

Wow, what a lesson for us as parents. Our children are always listening and they are always learning. The Bible says that we are to, "...teach them (the Scriptures) diligently to your children..." (Deut 6:7). Every moment we are teaching something about God to our children in words AND actions.

Without Complaining

This morning at breakfast, I told Calvin that we would be going grocery shopping at Meijer today, to buy food for our family. As I looked at his face, I could see it sink in: this was shopping day. I braced myself for whining and complaining. There has been a lot of whining and complaining coming from his mouth lately, so I've been teaching him Philippians 2:14, "Do everything without complaining." To my delight and complete surprise, he said, "I would love to go to Meijer today." Wow.

Training Calvin to do everything without complaining has been convicting for me. Do I model for him what it looks like not to complain about work, chores, tiredness, people? Sometimes. Sometimes not.

Training Children To Be Responsible

I have been thinking lately about the ways Calvin is becoming more responsible and how I can challenge him with even greater responsibility. Calvin is currently expected to:

• Take his dishes to the sink after meals and snacks
  
• Put his dirty clothes in the hamper
  
• Do his potty routine completely
  
• Pick up his toys at the end of the day
  
• Respect his library materials
  
• Put his shoes away when we come home from outings
  
• Make things right when he has been disobedient, sinned against a friend or brother, or hurt someone
  

The challenge I'm giving him this week is dressing and undressing himself. He is able to do it, and has done it many times. But he wants me to do it for him. I'm encouraging him to do it all the way by himself, to embrace responsibility and reject laziness. A big concept for a two-year-old, I know, but I am always amazed what he can learn if I take the time to teach.

I have been using a prayer calendar called, "A Parent's Prayer Program" by Bob Hostetler. Today's prayer, providentially, was for responsibility. It reads, "Grant that my children may learn responsibility, 'for each one should carry his own load.' (Galatians 6:5)." My desire is that my sons will grow to be men who take responsibility for their own work, their manners, tongues, relationships, time, commitments, and who take responsibility for their own sin. That they would be men who follow through and whose word means something because they are responsible. Praying Galatians 6:5 for my boys has encouraged me to persevere in teaching them responsibility, for it is important and God-honoring.

Don't Make Me Count to Three!

I recently read "Don't Make Me Count to Three!" A Mom's Look at Heart-Oriented Discipline by Ginger Plowman. This book is very much influenced by Tedd Tripp's well-known book, Shepherding A Child's Heart. Both books present the same parenting philosophy: effective, biblical parenting is not just correcting outward behavior, but reaching and shaping your child's heart. But where Tripp's book is heavy on theory, Ginger Plowman gets much more practical. She gives words to say for specific situations, ideas of scriptures to memorize and use when correcting and training, and a chart of heart probing questions to ask your child.

Her chapter, "Training Children in Righteousness," was especially helpful to me. It is based on Ephesians 4:22-24, which says, "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness." Plowman's point in this chapter is that we can't just tell our children that their behavior is bad, they shouldn't do it, and give them some form of punishment. We also need to train them how to "put on the new self." We need to show them what they should do just as much as we need to tell them what they shouldn't do.

This morning I had an opportunity to put this into practice. Calvin was on the floor reading a book when Teddy crawled over and started grabbing at it. Calvin yelled at Teddy and pushed him away. Teddy, of course, cried. I told Calvin that he was not to push his brother, and in doing so he was thinking only of himself ("put off your old self"). Calvin apologized to Teddy and asked for forgiveness. Then, I told Calvin, "Teddy wants to read also. You can be kind to him by finding him some board books. And you can sit on the couch, out of his way, where you won't be tempting him to grab your book." (this is how he can "put on the new self").

Many of you seasoned parents already know this concept and have practiced it for years, I'm sure. I'm new at this and at times feel that it takes more patience, wisdom, and creativity than I possess. But I am grateful for the wise, biblical advice of Ginger Plowman, and would highly recommend this book.

Training My Children

I've been learning more lately about training my children, and I don't just mean potty training. I mean bringing them up in the training and instruction of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4). The rules for Teddy at this point are simple: don't touch the houseplants, don't touch electrical cords, and don't swat at the spoon when I'm feeding you. But his rules and boundaries will soon become more complex, just as Calvin's have. Ken and I, when we correct and instruct Calvin, are doing our best to train his heart. It's difficult, challenging, exhausting, and rewarding. I have a lot of learning and growing to do in effectively reaching the hearts of my children. One section of my Essentials I class for the Seminary Wives Institute addressed biblical parenting. That certainly got my brain thinking about what it means to teach and train, correct and rebuke my children. Mrs. Mohler also spoke to us about praying for our children, and gave us some wonderful ideas and resources. I also just read a great book about biblical parenting. Over the next few days, I plan to blog about the subject and unpack some of what I've learned.

Teen or Two?

Is Calvin two or is he fifteen? On mornings like this, it's hard to tell. I went into his room at 8 a.m. to wake him. He pulled his blanket over his head and said, "I want ten more minutes!"

At other times, however, he talks much more like a two-year-old. He favors "f" sounds in his speech. For example, "Mama, I'm firsty. May I have a fink of water?"

Ken taught Calvin how to thank me for making meals. Cal does it often, and not just right after a meal. When he gets up from a nap, or as we're climbing out of the van, or after we read a story, I'll hear, "Thank you for the wonderful dinner, Mama." That is always nice to hear, no matter what time it is.

Meanwhile, Teddy is enjoying a rich environment on a shoestring budget. This morning he played with a flashlight while Calvin and I sang, "This Little Light of Mine." Later, while I was preparing a meal, Teddy made music with some pots and a wooden spoon.