Training our children to Obey Immediately!

I got the following email from missionary friends of mine who live in South Africa:

Dear Friends and Family,

We would like to thank you all for your faithful prayers on our behalf!
Yesterday the whole family was at the shopping mall getting our mail from the post office (Yes, the post office as well as the grocery store is located at the mall!). While we were approaching the doors to leave the mall some security guards ran up and locked the doors right as I was trying to get out. At the same moment, a man ran up next to us and started pushing on all the doors to try to get out. I realized that this guy was a burglar that the security guards were trying to stop, and I told Jonathan to step back as he was just 4 feet from the burglar! I first thought that we would just walk away, but then I saw the burglar reach down into his bag and pull a gun. I yelled, "Everybody run" and man did we run. Jonathan obeyed right away and took off in a flash. I was holding Stephany in my arms and Jenni and Thomas were in tow too. We ran and then cut into a furniture store to get off the main mall walkway in case the burglar decided to come our way. Well, the burglar got away and thankfully never shot his gun. He basically forced the doors open and fled into the parking lot.

That little event was exciting to say the least. Jenni and I were talking about it afterwards and we both commented how everything seemed to go in slow motion when the events were occurring. I am so proud that both Jonathan and Thomas obeyed right away and did exactly what Daddy said in this emergency situation. We thought we would share this experience with you to illustrate how important your prayers are and how merciful our God is. Thank you so much for everything you all do to make it possible for us to be here and thank you for faithfully praying for us as a family everyday!

In His service,
MB

I can't even imagine what might have happened if this couple hadn't trained their children to obey the first time! It made me think a little as I read it. There are a number of reasons we need to train our children to obey immediately. First and foremost, their disobedience puts them outside the "circle of safety" (if you've never read Shepherding a Child's Heart, you've gotta!) because they are disobeying God. Among others though, is the one displayed in this missionary family's life!

If my little ones haven't been trained to obey immediately in the home, how can I expect them to obey immediately in the world. If my family were in this situation, would my little boy (perhaps when he's a bit older and not stroller bound, but that is beside the point) obey immediately? If your little one is about to chase a ball into the street (in front of an oncoming car) and you yell out for him to stop, is he trained to obey immediately? Not only is it a matter of his spiritual safety (the far greater reason), but on this temporal world, physical safety gives yet another reason! It works for me!

Labels: Life Lessons for Mommy, Passing it On, Raising Children

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 12:06 PM