Actions Speak Louder

What are your bad habits? Come on, you know you've got some. Watching movies, eating junk food, getting angry with the slow driver ahead of me, occasionally arguing with my husband, obsessively cleaning... Now that I've got a baby, all those habits are being carefully studied. Along with everything good I'm trying to teach our son, he's learning from my habits, good and bad.

I noticed it just lately -- he is fascinated by the computer and my cell phone. He is making mental notes while I chat with my mother. He's curious what I'm reading and cooking. He is developing his idea of "normal behavior" that will stick with him the rest of his life. Children learn from what we say, but so much more from what we do.

"Oh, Lord, make me better than I am!" This was our staff prayer the first year I taught at the Christian school in town. How much more I need it now! It is a divine mystery how my effort and God's grace work together to bring me to spiritual maturity, making me better than I am. My example is instructive for my son, so I pray and strive to make it an example worthy to be followed.

RESOURCES

How to Behave So Your Children Will, Too!