Train up your child....

"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it"
Proverbs 22:6


About nine months we started talking about going on vacation this summer.  Bryan and I talked of how awesome it would be to go to New York.  This is great but we also needed to take into consideration Ben and if he could manage all the walking we would do.

Bryan has an aunt and uncle that live in New York.  He has been there numerous times growing up and into his adult life.  I had only been there once and it was when we got engaged!  It also happened to be six months before 9/11.  

After talking about it, we finally decided we would do it!  Benjamin would HAVE to do the walking and we knew Emily could manage it.  Now that she was off the steroids and the "puffiness" from the steroids was now gone ~ she could do it!  When we started talking about them and the different places we would go and another issue that came up was money.

Obviously New York is expensive!  Throw into the mix two kids that LOVE to shop and, oh by the way, LOVE toys...this could turn into one extra expensive vacation!   We decided to put some money away for the trip for normal spending ~ food, gas (as we were driving), costs for any museums we may go to, etc.  So to try and teach them something, I got two mason jars.  I took my p-touch and made labels that said "Emilys Jar" and "Benjamins Jar".  The labels were then put on the mason jars.  These were kept high up in the cupboard so the little hands couldn't easily get in them without me knowing.  I showed them the container I had that I was also saving my money in as well.  They did great at saving money.  Emily was saving to go to the American Girl store and Ben ~ well, he is 4 and he wants everything!   Every dime or penny they found it went in the jar.  It got to the point that they started "charging" family members $1.00 per hug to earn more money for the trip.  Emily's birthday fell in there and she asked for only money!  I was so impressed with their determination to save as much as they could so they could get what they wanted while we were gone.   In the end, Emily saved up enough money to buy 3 1/2 American girl dolls (she bought 2) and Ben saved up about half as much as Emily did.  They did an awesome job and they reaped the benefits of it!  The learned a lesson in this!

Their hard work and determination made me feel good!  I mean they have watched me save for things that I wanted. I love my Louis Vuitton ~ I admit.  They watched me save to be able to buy a purse and now they watched as I saved to buy a wallet/change purse when we went to New York.  Knowing how they are watching me and knowing that they see my determination and then I look at them, it reminds me of this verse.   I realize this verse applies to many more areas then just saving for that special thing you want....but it made me realize just how much they are learning.  It made me realize every word I say to them, every time I may yell at them ~ its training them.

Next time you say something to your kids ~ good or bad ~ will you think about it before hand?  Will you regret what you said later?   I am guilty of this.  I need to remember that I am training my kids daily.   Will the training you do, how will it pay off in the long run?  Will they be serving the Lord with it?  Will the training be to honor Him?