Memorize the Good Stuff

It's so easy to project the image of the happy little family.  We edit our words, written and oral, as we tell our families' stories to the world.  But let's not kid ourselves.  We all have issues.  Some are run-of-the-mill problems, the kind that nearly every parent recognizes when we're honest enough to share the stories.  Bedtime dilemmas.  Potty-training horrors.  Hitting or biting or simply not sharing at all.  Some problems are bigger, harder to deal with, harder to share.

And our kids grow, their issues do, too.  Peer influence.  Poor choices.  Driving and drinking and all those other things we worry about.

So I don't make this suggestion in any way shape or form to sound like we have it all goin' on over here at our house.  Like all of you, we are trying our best and dealing with the problems and issues as they come.

But as we work through this thing called parenting, one of the practices we've found most helpful is to have the kids memorize bible verses.  We print one out for the week (or two, or three if it's really long) and put it on the fridge.  Part of the dinner conversation is taking turns practicing the verse.  When everyone has it, we move on to the next one.  We also see who can remember the previous verses.  The kids enjoy the challenge, and we find it extremely useful to refer to the verses they know--to talk about them, and what they mean, and how to apply them--when the tougher times come around.