I’ve taken five months off from writing and speaking to have a baby and spend the summer just being mom. WOW! What a summer it has been. My oldest two children have been wonderful welcoming the newest addition to our family.

We spent last week at the beach with Hayden’s family. It was a wonderful trip. The house we stayed in was spacious. The kids loved that they could watch cartoons from any room, as each room had a television set in it. Coming home to our one t.v. with limited channels was disappointing. On Wednesday when the t.v. stopped working, they moved from disappointed to horrified. Afterall, they had to wait a full two days until we were going to have time to go and pick out another one. I realize that our kids live differently from many children in America. This observation took me back to Deuteronomy 6, where God commands us to teach our children his ways. In other words, we are to raise our children differently than the rest of the world. We are to:

1. teach them to love the Lord with all their hearts, soul, and strength. (6:4)

2. teach them to fear the Lord and serve Him only. (6:13)

3. teach them to not test the Lord. (6:16)

4. teach them to keep His commands.(6:17)

5. teach them to do what is right and good in the Lord’s eyes. (6:18)

6. teach them to obey the Lord. (6:24-25)

Christians should live differently than those who do not know the Lord. Our homes should be safe havens where lots of love and laughter prevail. Maybe we should throw out a few more televisions or at least turn them off for a while.

For more on living differently check out: Radical by David Platt, Crazy Love by Francis Chan, and Outlive Your Life by Max Lucado. For a Bible Study on the subject take a look at Jonah by Priscilla Shirer.

Live to be Abundantly His!