The following post is from one of my favorite people in the world, Jill at Diaper Diaries:

source: pinprick

I love Impress Your Kids. It is in my reader, I absolutely adore its author Amanda, and I am committed to raising my kids to know God. But can I be honest with you? Sometimes I read it and it just makes me feel like a failure as a mom.

Now I know that is the last thing on earth Impress Your Kids is meant to do. It is meant to encourage and bless moms who desperately want their children to grow up with a foundation in Christ.

But I can probably count on one hand the amount of times I have done crafts with my kids. Just thinking about doing them gives me hives. I read about all these adorable crafts Amanda does with her kids, and meaningful crafts with deep spiritual lessons no less, and think…. well honestly I think, just shoot me now.

Is it possible to be a great mom and hate doing crafts with them?

Here is the deal as I see it (so you can take that for what it is worth). I have read a decent amount of the Bible nowhere have I found a verse that says “Thou must be crafty.” I know the Proverbs 31 woman sews clothes, but it never talks about her taking egg cartons and turning them into caterpillars to teach her children about the resurrection.

There is so much mommy guilt to go around. Working vs. Stay at Home. Breastfeeding vs. Bottle. Let’s not add crafty vs. hopelessly unable to use glue without losing it. I am pretty sure if it is my job to represent Jesus to my children then crafting is the last thing I should be doing. Nothing brings out my non-Christlikeness like glitter.

So I save the crafts for VBS and Sunday school. Oh and Grandma Day. But we do a ton of singing about Jesus. We do plays and ballets and concerts. We might even do a play acting out a bible story here and there (sans puppets. Puppets are creepy). {editors note: Jill, puppets are NOT creepy!}

But it doesn’t really matter what your thing is. What matters is that we are investing quality time with our children. Spend time looking for teachable moments to point them towards Jesus. Listen when they ask questions about their faith. And most importantly all the crafts, songs and puppets in the world aren’t going to matter if our lives don’t model what we teach them about.

Are we focused on the right thing? Are we focused on the right person? At the end of the day it isn’t remotely about us and how good of a mom we are. We don’t have to be perfect. We don’t have to have all the answers. But our lives should point our kids towards the One that is perfect and the One that is the answer to their every question.

How do YOU point your kids toward God?

photo source: richard.keen

I can taste the fruit of Eve. I’m aware of sickness death and disease. The results of her choices were vast. Eve was the first but she wasn’t the last. If I were honest with myself, had I been standing at that tree, my mouth and my hands would be covered with fruit. Things I shouldn’t know and things I shouldn’t see.

Remind me of this with every decision. Generations will reap what I sow. I can pass on a curse or a blessing to those I will never know.

She taught us to fear the serpent. I’m learning to fear myself and all of the things I am capable of in my search for acceptance, wisdom and wealth. To say the devil made me do it is a cop-out and a lie. The devil can’t make me do anything when I’m calling on Jesus Christ.

Remind me of this with every decision. Generations will reap what I sow. I can pass on a curse or a blessing to those I will never know.

To my great-great-great-granddaughter, live in peace. To my great-great-great-grandson, live in peace. To my great-great-great granddaughter, live in peace. To my great-great-great-grandson, live in peace, live in peace.

Remind me of this with every decision. Generations will reap what I sow. I can pass on a curse or a blessing to those I will never know.

Eve was the first but she wasn’t the last.

Generations by Sara Groves. From the album, Conversations. Reprinted with permission.

This is a guest post by the fabulous Alicia from Alicia’s Homemaking.

My 15 month old has started frequently copying what I say and do.

I smile at his silly antics and half-formed words, but part of me is sobered at having a little someone watching everything I do. Learning from my every action, response, and attitude.

I’m sure I’m right there with the rest of you when I say that my deepest heart desire for my children is that they grow up as Jesus-followers. I want to train them in Biblical truth using every resource I can–but I know that who I am and how I act speaks the loudest. Every day my son watches what it looks like as mommy “walks with Jesus.” Am I the gospel in action to him?


My parents, I’m sure, asked themselves the same question when I was little. Now I know that their love for God has been the single most influencing factor in my life. How did I see the truth of Jesus most clearly portrayed in their lives as a child?

A few key memories:

Prayer. Honest, repentant, needy prayers. My mom prayed with my siblings and I daily as part of our homeschool routine, and my dad would randomly pray out loud as we went about our activities (which is very in keeping with his personality!). I watched my parents reach out to God for perspective and wisdom in the mundane and stressful parts of daily life. My mind also pictures my mom, dancing in the living room in worship to God…something only our child eyes saw.

They apologized. This was huge. Kids can sense when you have a bad attitude! The point of correction can be lost if it’s loaded with frustration. I remember multiple times when my mom would apologize for her attitude or for hurting us. It cleared the air and caused resentment to dissipate. Children are well-acquainted with their parent’s faults, so it spoke volumes when my wonderful, imperfect parents were genuine about their shortcomings. Jesus shone in their weakness (isn’t that encouraging?)!

They let themselves be inconvenienced to love others. We were watching and saw the behind the scenes sacrifices. As kids, we were oblivious to some of the cost, but not all of it was lost on us.

They loved each other. I always felt safe in the fact that my parents were together for always. Marriage is the living picture of God’s love!

My parents were not perfect. But it’s impossible for me to look at their lives and deny the reality of Jesus that they lived out in front of me.

Most people see the polished side of your life, but your children see the exposed underside.  Because they know you so well, your life lived honestly in joy and in struggle for God can be one of the most powerful truths they witness.

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Alicia is a tea-drinking, book-reading, sushi-eating, bread-baking, Jesus-serving gal who loves her family and all things domestic. She is a stay-at-home-mom to one squishy little boy, wife to her sweet Andrew, and she blogs regularly at Alicia’s Homemaking.

photo by Alicia