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Friday, February 5, 2010

A Boy and His Bible

Little Boy read 3 bibles over the last week. 3 versions of kids' bibles. He spent 30 minutes one evening analyzing each version and comparing them. I was amused and wildly pleased.

Evangelizing to one's own children is a delicate affair. I feared that an over zealous religious instruction would push them to the other extreme where like my friend M, the word "God" is the push button for every mental barrier he can erect against anything you say from thereon. So, I've never preached to my children. I never purposed to explain the bible to them... and I felt so guilty for it too.

I bought them children's bibles of every colour. At bedtime, we pored over the pictures and even before Little Boy could read, he had fun examining pictures of the Good Samaritan and he tralalalala-ed with me when the trumpets brought down the walls of Jericho. Such exciting stories!

But I could never force them to go for Bible Study classes nor to attend church services, nor could I bring myself to preach to them. I was too afraid that in preaching to them perfection, I would never be able to live up to my own preaching. I know very well that a church is a hospital for sinners, not a haven for saints... and I could never feel comfortable evangelizing them. I was too afraid of the hurt they could inflict when pointing baby fingers at me, they criticized me for not walking the talk.

This way, I am not vulnerable to criticism.

Maybe it was a cop out on my part but I told myself that God gave me free will, and who am I to mess with the free will He gave to my children? Again, it is perhaps a cop out but I figured that if God placed my children in my care, then He had every intention of saving them too. And so I chose to leave it to God.

And it is wonderful that He has wrought His beautiful handiwork in first The Daughter and then Little Boy. The Daughter reads her bible every night. Little Boy has just begun to be curious about God. God provides everything I need for the garden to grow and I know He will provide all I need for my children to grow too.

I must resist the temptation to overwhelm Little Boy with my joy and kill his search with an overdose of enthusiasm. I put so much magnesium in my garden that the plants died. I mustn't do the same to Little Boy.

2 comments:

Open Kitchen Concept said...

You are such a wise mother - The Little Boy and The Daughter is very fortunate indeed.. :)

Petunia Lee said...

Hee! Thank you! Actually, I thought for a long time that it was a failing of mine. Good thing it turned out alright though.