My two-year old daughter's screams, brought me quickly to her room this morning.  Passing son, angry son, in the hallway, I asked him what happened.  He fiercely reported that sister "wants to bow down to Sat*n"!  "What?", I exclaimed.  "She won't bow down to God, so she wants to bow down to Sat*n!"

Okay, clearly our lessons on Elijah and the Baal worshipers was on his mind!  So after quickly telling him that sister did not understand what he was talking about (one crisis at a time!), I headed to my baby girl's screams.  "Baby", I said, "do you know that God made you a special girl and loves you very much?" 

"Yes."

That was a good start.  She asked me to sing her favorite song with her:

"Jesus, how I love you,

I'd be lost without your love for me.

Jesus, my Lord

Your Spirit has set me free.

Oh, Jesus. I love you, Jesus.

I love you, Jesus.

Jesus, I love you!"

Back to sweet son...

"Son, sister doesn't understand all the things you are learning about.  She's too young!  Just like you didn't understand when you were her age." 

With resignation, he agreed: "Ooookay." :(

He was certain that she should comply with his command to bow down to God.  This touched me as I realize that there is such a fine art involved in raising our children to Godliness, while they grow from babies to adulthood.  And, no matter how fast it goes, how much we would be missing if they were shuffled off each day to the "love" and "care" of others.

This also quickly brought to my mind two recent friends' posts.  Belinda--"Linger"!  I love that!  Why are we in such a hurry to cram everything down their throats.  I knew immediately, boy and I (and daughter!) needed to do some immediate lingering!  (Thanks, Belinda!)

The other post was about teaching "Bible, Bible, Bible!" (Sorry, I can't remember who wrote it).  But I realized our Bible lessons were sounding more like Sunday School and less like "Life" school. 

The result?  I pulled out a favorite reference book--For Instruction in Righteousness.  We curled up on the couch and turned to the first sin, pride.  With a deep breath, we continued.  The list of verses is VERY comprehensive, but with brief descriptions, I was able to choose a few specifically. 

As usual, the Lord blessed our time in His Word!  Yeah!  Son saw some striking resemblences to certain characteristics within himself that we have been battling lately (see the 7th "hate" below).  But when we got to Proverbs 6: 16-19, we knew we need not look any further for today:

There are six things the Lord hates.

In fact, he hates seven things.

The Lord hates proud eyes,

a lying tongue,

and hands that kill those who aren't guilty.

He also hates hearts that make evil plans,

feet that are quick to do evil,

any witness who pours out lies,

and anyone who stirs up famiy fights.

We didn't stop there (vs. 20-23)

My son, keep your father's commands.

Don't turn away from your mother's teaching.

Tie them to your heart forever.

Put them around your neck.

When you walk, they will guide you.

When you sleep, they will watch over you.

When you wake up, they will speak to you.

Your father's commands are like a lamp.

Your mother's teaching is like a light.

And the training that corrects you leads to life. (NIrV)

Art project!  (I am so NOT crafty!) We cut out hearts.  Wrote each "hate" on one, then strung them together in a necklace. 

Do you SEEEE the Joy of the Lord on these faces?!!!!

After all this, I thought, "what other school do we need?"  This was just sooo good.  We did do a little history, math and spelling.  All this after starting very late, spending so long in His Word and guess what?  God's miracle of time!  We got done EARLY!  I love it when that happens.  And, let me tell you, boy couldn't wait to help Mama with lunch and helps (chores)!

I can't wait to do it again tomorrow!