Walking Lessons

1: Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
2: But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
3: And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
4: The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
5: Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6: For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.  Psalm 1 KJV
As a mother of five, wife to one, I have to continually search these verses out with the world that I was born into.  When we choose to follow Christ, we experience a new birth so we must know at all times where our feet are planted as well as where we walk.  Let us first examine walking. Walking is a fundamental exercise.  We learn to walk at the same time we learn to talk.  These skills develop over the same curve as we grow.   I do not remember what it was like to learn how to walk but I have five children whom I was blessed enough to watch learn the task.   Our first baby, Miles, was so alert and ready to walk at a very early age.  I had all the time in the world to teach him things, but I did not have to teach him to walk, babies just naturally do this.  We hold them up when they are wobbly and soon they take the first step.

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They learn how to sit, eat, talk, stand, and walk all on their own.  Even families that have no education, have children that walk.  It is just amazing.  Four children later, I can say without a doubt, that they have all mastered the walk.

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When we read the very first verse of Psalm 1, we see an admonition to NOT walk after the council of the ungodly.  What does the word ungodly mean?  Let me look it up…

un·god·ly  /ˌənˈgädlē/

Adjective

  1. Irreligious or immoral: “ungodly lives of self-obsession, lust, and pleasure”.
  2. Unreasonably early or inconvenient: “I’ve been troubled by telephone calls at ungodly hours”.

Synonyms
impious – godless – unholy – irreligious

Wow, immoral lives of self-obsession!  So much of society today is absorbed in self.  I call it self indulgence.  People with their cell phones, computers, television, and entertainment have fixed themselves in a position to feed their senses continually.  Fast foods at our disposal, clothing we can buy at the store to fill up our closets to bursting over.  How, in this present age of technology do we stop from walking in the path of the ungodly?  Do we turn our devices off, throw them away?  I do not know.  I have made a conscious choice to NOT allow my kids to indulge in so much of these things.  I chose very early in my life that I did not want to march to the beat of popular opinion or culture.  I chose not to allow video games and ipods for the kids.  I do not shop at abercrombie and fitch.  I do not judge others if they choose to be main stream.  I just do not feel comfortable with too much of the world’s comforts.  Are these indulgences sinful?  Not really, but I think that they can be if you do not moderate them.  Hollywood has their icons that much of society takes council from.  I look at the stars and I say, “I do not want to be them”.  They can not go anywhere without being noticed, they have no freedom.  Often times they have been married to many different people, caught up in drugs, most of them have sold their souls to the devil and all I see is misery-slavery to sin.   A cesspool.  Many people deny Christ, deny creation, deny God.  They forget how much faith it really takes to believe we came from frogs or monkeys.
I do not want to walk after the ungodly.  This we can teach, as a mother.
WE CAN INSTILL A SPIRIT OF THANKFULNESS IN OUR CHILDREN.


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We can choose everyday to be thankful.  Thankful is the opposite of ungodly self indulgence.  When we are thankful we stop scorning.  When our face unfurls, a breath of life flows through us and we are like a tree planted by the rivers of fresh, living water.  When we say to our children, “It is time to pull weeds in the garden,” on a misty, mosquito infested morning, and our child gives us this look that displays utter disappointment, it is our God given duty to teach them to walk all over again.  We tell them, “Be thankful we have a garden, when much of the children in the world starve today.”  There is always something to be thankful for.  You take their little fragile mind, turn it in the proper direction, and you are teaching them how to walk all over again.  You give them some perspective and they can learn to walk out to that garden and appreciate the goal you have set as a family working together to put some fresh food on the table.  It may not be easy, and it sure comes with a cost but the paybacks are worth every ounce of struggle.

They begin to gain perspective each time they are reminded of what someone else less fortunate has to suffer while they are granted such provision and love.  It may take 100 times to train their mind to switch from self indulgent to selfless and thankful.

“God teach me to be more thankful and selfless.  Give me wisdom each morning how to be a good example to thankfulness to my children.  Help me to walk in your ways.  Leaning not unto my own understanding.  Let me acknowledge you in all my ways because I know you will direct our paths.  When I am weak, please teach me to stand strong for them.  Teach me to be ever mindful of training my children how to gain a perspective of how blessed our lives truly are.  Most of all, thank you for coming to earth in the flesh, taking my sin upon yourself, shed your precious blood so that I could really LIVE. ~in Jesus Name, Amen.”


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3 thoughts on “Walking Lessons”

  1. We just purchased all 4 volumes of your DVDs and we absolutely love them. I’ve also been reading your blog and learning about all the trials and physical problems you’ve gone through. Thank you for your example of joy and thankfulness. It is so encouraging to watch your family.

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