By Christian parenting, motherhood, My thoughts, parenting
As I write, I am reminded of a famous line from the Sound of Music, in the scene where Maria taught the Von Trapp children how to sing. They were keen to sound like their governess and maybe had assumed music was just about lyrics. Well to the amazement of the children and viewers, Maria sang, “Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start” before the singing lessons began.
Just like music, we need to start at the very beginning to do right on our parenting journey. But where lies this ‘very beginning’ on the journey of motherhood?
Obviously, this will differ for everyone. For some, it could be the introduction to motherhood, for another, it could be the process of evaluating the journey so far or simply the desire for change this year, and for someone else, the beginning could be all about setting the right foundation, after all, if the foundation be destroyed, what can the righteous do (Psalm 11:3). And so I will like us to look at the ‘beginning’ from the beginning of the Bible (no pun intended).
Genesis 1 verse 1 states, ‘In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth’.  God was there from the start. God was in charge and in control of ‘creation’. Without God, nothing would have been created. And even after the earth and heaven existed, God had to remain on the scene to ensure order, form, and fullness were in place. Likewise, we become parents through the help of God. From conception to delivery, there are many pieces of evidence of God’s mighty hand. But God’s intervention doesn’t have to end on the day of delivery. He is the very present help we need to put ‘form’ and ‘order’ in our day to day parenting experiences. This brings to life the scripture that unless the Lord builds a house, they labour in vain who build it (Psalm 127:1).
Endless time may be spent reading parenting books, consulting with child psychologists, discussing with old-time mothers and repeatedly clicking on the internet for answers, and although all these are good, there still needs to be room for God’s input.
I am sure as mothers; we are done with labouring and have no desire to continue in such a state. We may have tried it our way thus far but it is about time we give God a chance to help us daily, and so here are a few questions we need to truthfully answer in order to start right,
  • Is God in your beginning?
  • Is God at the centre of your parenting goals?
  • What plans do you have in place to teach your children about God?
  • What godly foundations will you establish in your home?
  • What spiritual goals have you set for the children?
Starting right on our parenting journey does not have to be tedious or a tick box exercise but more of a determination to develop our relationship with Him for us and our children, to learn from His word and inevitably to parent as He intends.  To start over and right, we could:-
  1. Write out what you stand for as a family of God, your godly family values and stick to it.
  2. Dedicate time daily to pray and study the Bible
  3. Practice what you study
  4. Set a time for daily family Bible study – This must be convenient for all to be involved. The length could vary depending on the dynamics of your home.
  5. Introduce Bible stories to bedtime for younger children.
  6. Introduce Christian songs in your lullaby playlist (for young children).
  7. Pray in the mornings and at bedtime as a family.
  8. Pray before meals and even before feeding your baby to embed the culture of prayer
  9. Create simple confession cards for your children using Bible verses.
  10. Memorise monthly Bible verses with the children and increase this as they get older.
Remember starting right is all about starting with God.
With His help, we can.
Olabisi,