Episode 13

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Published on:

1st Nov 2023

Untangling The Fear of The Lord: Understanding the Blessing of Obedience

Is it important to help our children obey? Is it just for our convenience or is there a benefit to them? This has become a controversial topic--even in Christian circles and that's why it's important for mothers to look to Scripture for clarity. Listen as Betsy, Emily, Jen, and Steph discuss what it means to have a healthy reverence for the Lord and how this is a pivotal peace in training our children. They even delve into practical topics such as a clean room and what our expectations should be for older children. As always staying true to the foundation of God's Word as the guide is key in Christian parenting. This lesson corresponds with Lesson 8 of Entrusted with a Child's Heart.

Scriptures mentioned:

Proverbs 1:7

Psalm 25:12

Psalm 39:19

Children's Bible referenced: Egermeier's Bible Story Book

Transcript
Speaker:

They're the joyful agains our children

shout on the swings, the exhausting

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agains of cooking and laundry, and

the difficult agains of discipline.

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So much of what we do

as mothers is on repeat.

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So what if we woke up with clarity,

knowing which agains we were called

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to, and went to bed believing we

are faithful in what matters most?

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We believe God's word is

the key to untangle from the

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confusion and overwhelm we feel.

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Let's look up together to embrace a

motherhood full of freedom and joy.

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Thanks for joining us

for the again, podcast.

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This is brought to you by

entrusted ministries and I'm your

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host, Stephanie Hickox today.

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I am joined by the wonderful Jen

Frackman Emily deal and Betsy Courtney.

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Stephanie: This episode we are

talking about the fear of God.

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A godly mother trains her children to

see God as their lifelong authority.

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God's word tells us that there are so

many blessings when we fear God and

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that it is the beginning of wisdom.

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Before we continue with our conversation.

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I wanted to tell you a little

bit more about what's headed

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your way in the months to come.

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Pretty soon.

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We're going to take a break

from the entangled series that

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corresponds with the interest with

a child's heart lesson series.

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We're going to have several episodes

that share our Thanksgiving,

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Christmas and new year's traditions.

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Or evening going to talk about the talk.

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We'll also be sharing natural solutions.

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And answering questions, like what

do you do if it's a Friday night?

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All the stores are closed and

your child has an ear infection.

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Is there anything in your house

that can ease their pain?

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And even promote healing.

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What natural solutions are

there for beauty remedies

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or even What can we

use to clean our homes?

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That is safe and effective.

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Stephanie: All right, ladies, for

this icebreaker question, I'd like

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to ask you if you have any fears that

might seem a little silly to others.

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Jen: I do.

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Betsy: I don't want to say it.

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It might

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get sent to me in a box.

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Jen: I

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Stephanie: Yes.

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Jen: Can't reveal the truths, right?

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I have a dream.

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Oh, not a dream.

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I'm sorry.

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I have a fear.

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Stephanie: Okay, Martin, go ahead.

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Jen: Okay.

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So my fear is, but it's

a legitimate reason.

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I will tell you the reason I have this

fear after I tell you what my fear is.

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I am seriously afraid of mice.

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Like any, even the tiniest little mouse,

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oh, I will scream and freak out.

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I, bad.

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But the reason I fear them so much is

because when I was in high school, my

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parents went away for a weekend and I

stayed home alone and I had done the

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dishes the night before and I left the

dish soap water In the sink and in the

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morning I went to pick up the dish rag

and picked up a dead mouse and I like

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got the heebie jeebies and I was like,

Oh, I couldn't, there was nothing I could

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do to get myself to drain the water.

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I couldn't go near it.

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I was, so I had to go ask

the neighbor guy, I was like,

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there's a dead mouse in our sink.

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Will you come get it out?

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And so from then on, I have

been deathly scared of mice.

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I hate them.

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Stephanie: Okay, this whole episode

now is gonna be rodent stories because

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I know Aunt Betsy, you've got one.

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I've got some.

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Yes, I would say that's not a silly fear,

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Betsy: Yes, your mom is very Afraid

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Stephanie: She can't say the word.

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She cannot.

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She'll say, did you see?

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Or once we were visiting a church,

and they had a promo video of a mouse

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in it, and she was like, can you

believe they showed that in church?

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It was like, highly offensive.

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Betsy: Highly

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inappropriate.

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Stephanie: but she kind of trained.

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Me?

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To be afraid?

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I've had some scary things with

them, but I was determined.

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I'm not gonna pass this on to my children.

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Every time we read a book and there's a

picture of one in it, I'm not gonna react.

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I'm just not gonna do anything.

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And then there was a time my

husband was on a business trip.

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And we lived in a house that

was about 100 years old and

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had been completely renovated.

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But I was taking a shower and I get

out of the shower and there's one on

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the bathroom floor running around,

and I just screamed and my voice

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came like, Mommy, what's wrong?

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And I'm like, Oh no, they're going

to finally know and I am afraid.

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And, I have to tell the sink story

because that's where we're at.

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So I was just determined

to do everything natural.

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And not use mouse poison and all

of that at, but at this house,

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we did have a mouse problem and I

was up really late because I was.

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Doing lesson plans or something.

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So it's 3 in the morning and I had

had a snack and I went to put my

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bowl in the sink and there was a

huge mouse in the sink and I threw

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my cereal bowl at it I was so scared.

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I could not go in the

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room.

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it was terrifying.

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Jen: Was it alive?

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Stephanie: it was alive, yeah.

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Jen: Oh!

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At least mine was dead.

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Stephanie: It was in the middle of

the night, so I think I let my husband

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sleep, but then in the morning,

like, you have to go, you go, and

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I'm sorry, I broke the bowl, and, the

bowl wasn't broken, but the mouse was

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dead in the sink,

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Betsy: It probably hit the mouse.

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Stephanie: yeah, I think so, and it

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Emily: that was some quick reflexes.

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Oh,

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Betsy: Yeah,

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Stephanie: Yeah, we said we

weren't gonna make ourselves

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not be able to sleep tonight,

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right?

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Yeah.

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Betsy: Well, I do have to tell

a mouse story, I'm afraid,

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but I think I even share this a little

bit in, in an entrusted class, but my

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daughter was getting ready to go to

work and she had gone downstairs and

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made a cup of coffee and then took

it upstairs while she was getting

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ready and they lived in the country.

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So when fall comes, you know, all the

critters are trying to get into the house.

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And she drank her coffee and she

wanted another cup and So she called

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down to her husband Adam, would

you bring me another cup of coffee?

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I can't remember exactly how this

happened, but he looked at the coffee

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maker and there was a dead mouse in the

reservoir of the, you know, like one of

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those Keurig things in the water part.

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And so she had already drank that

full cup of coffee with that water.

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And then Adam, was saying, no, I, I'm

not going to bring you a cup of coffee.

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And she didn't know why.

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So she's like, Adam, will you

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bring me a cup?

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Jen: Oh,

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Betsy: No, I'm not going to

bring you a cup of coffee.

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And she runs down there.

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Why won't you bring me a cup of coffee?

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And then there she sees it.

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Oh, that's

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so

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awful.

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Jen: scarred for life.

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I will always check the reservoirs.

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Oh

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Betsy: They're looking for water.

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They're looking for

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water.

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Oh,

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Emily: oh, wow, girls, now I,

yes, if I didn't, I, I just have

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to say that I don't like mice.

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I have nothing

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Stephanie: no!

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It's

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This episode we are talking

about the fear of God.

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A godly mother trains her children to

see God as their lifelong authority.

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And God's word tells us that there are

so many blessings for when we fear God

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and that it is the beginning of wisdom.

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But we find that this is a topic

that is often misunderstood.

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So we hope that this episode

brings clarity and direction as you

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train your children in a healthy,

honoring reverence of the Lord.

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Aunt Betsy, I'm going to ask you to

kick us off and tell us what does

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it look like to have a healthy,

respect, and fear of the Lord?

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Betsy: Well, I think that if we've

ever been at the beach, uh, near the

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ocean and we've seen a huge Powerful

wave come in close to our little ones

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and we're running to grab them because

we know The power of that wave and I

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think that that is just a tiny little

Taste of the power that the water has

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and then and God controls the water.

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So he is awesome in power

He's awesome in holiness.

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He's almighty.

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He's sovereign.

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And when we, in our little perspective,

in our little world, in our minds, we

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come to a realization of who we are

in regards to Him, we are awestruck.

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And we know His power.

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And we live in some ways in

fear of that power, but that's,

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that's just the beginning.

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We know what God is capable of.

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So we live in a healthy

fear of not offending God.

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And I have a definition here.

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The fear of God is the reverential awe or

profound respect for the holiness of God.

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that compels our obedience

and anchors our trust in Him.

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Jen: Hmm.

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Stephanie: Yes,

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oh that's such a powerful analogy.

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It makes me think of just the

richness of hymn lyrics and

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the hymn, Holy, Holy, Holy.

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I took a class once and I had to memorize

those lyrics and the fact that God wants

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to be known, that's the only attribute

that , it says three times in scripture.

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This is important that we

understand the holiness of God.

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And his word over and over,

we are commanded to fear him.

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So, Emily, what does that look

like as you're training children to

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understand blessings of obedience

and a healthy fear of the Lord?

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Can you think of, in your parenting,

What has that looked like?

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Emily: It's modeling for them, What it is.

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We, we train them, of course.

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we train them, through scripture

memory and how we have how we have

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developed our home and how speak

to, why, what we do, what we do.

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But it's, it's truly in modeling.

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For them that they see the

Lord's blessing abundantly.

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We, prayed with our children last

summer about something very specific.

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And, they're at this age, this great

age that they are fully aware of all

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things going And, when they're young,

you can kind of brush over things and

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they're not always aware, but they were

fully aware and they, they prayed with

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us and They saw God move mountains and

answer prayer, and it was a huge huge

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faith building thing for them To see.

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So, to be able to bring them in on

the little things so that one day

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you can bring them in on pray as a

family together, And the Lord is so

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faithful to meet us in those places

when we bring our kids in, pray.

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And the answer praying

for was not right away.

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And in, in in the midst of for an answer,

there were questions from, from the kids.

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And, , and it was, So good to be able

to just talk through and then for them

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to see God answer in this mighty way was

just, something that only the Lord can do.

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But I think by modeling prayer

and showing it in our lives, it's

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just the best way that we can,

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Betsy: I think The fear of God helps us to

understand that we're accountable to God.

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And it's a serious thing because of who He

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Emily: Mm hmm.

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Mm

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Betsy: And you know, we obey Him

first because we fear Him, but then

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we obey Him because we love Him.

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And we don't fear Him in the

same way because We live in close

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relationship him and we see him as

our loving father, but we understand

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that those who do not fear him.

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Stephanie: Mm

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Betsy: And it says it's a terrifying

thing to fall in the hands of the living

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God for the person that doesn't believe.

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And so, we pray for people we know

who don't believe, but we, we know

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that there is an accountability that

all brings around the fact that there

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is an accountability to the Lord

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Emily: hmm.

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Jen: yeah.

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When I think of Fearing God,

I think of in The Lion, the

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Witch, and the Wardrobe, how C.

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S.

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Lewis speaks of Aslan, and, one of

the says, you know, of Aslan the

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lion, who, which represents um.

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he safe?

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And he says, Oh no, but he is good.

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And I, I love that because sometimes

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we think that fear is a bad thing

and fear in a sense of reverence.

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And knowing our place is a good thing.

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If you are, if you go into some royalty

and you enter into their throne room

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unannounced, You, in times of the

Bible, especially, you could be killed

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if you were un, if you, they didn't

call you and you just walked right in.

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So having a fear of that and a position

of someone and Their position of

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authority is a very good, thing to know

that you could be killed before you,

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walk into the room unannounced, you

might have a little bit more respect.

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You might have a different way of

handling things and going back to

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the whole thing with Aslan, like.

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there is a safety in knowing that

he isn't safe, but he is good.

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And so you're not safe with

him to just sin how you want.

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You're not safe with him to disrespect

and not follow his commandments.

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That's not a safe place.

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You,

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he good to And that if you

are following in his ways.

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You are safe with him, you know, so

I don't know every time I hear that

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we've listened to the audiobook a

number of times and I Get chills and

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I also want to cry at the same time

and I also want to be like, Yes.

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so good

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Stephanie: I love that

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Emily: Mm-Hmm.

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Betsy: I do

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Stephanie: I'm going to talk about

another movie here, but not quite

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as wholly of a reference, but when

my boys are little, they loved Pixar

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movies and the movie The Incredibles.

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One of the characters can put

force fields around herself.

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And I was trying to think about teaching.

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My boy's about the blessing of obedience

and about God being like a strong

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tower and a refuge for the righteous.

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And so I explained to my boys that it's

like these force fields, when you obey

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mommy and daddy, and when you obey the

Lord, it's you're you're like in this

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covering and it's protection for you.

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And when you choose to disobey, I

mean it's obviously like this circle

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of illustration and entrusted as

well, but when you choose to disobey,

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you are leaving that force field.

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And, I actually wrote a blog post about

it, and so I was looking at it the

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day, because my boys are older now,

but it was, I have to read this story,

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it was so funny, what My oldest did.

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So, He had disobeyed and I said, okay,

can you tell me what rule you broke?

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And when I explained that the

force field was taken off when he

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dishonored me, his eyes got wide

and we went full circle through it

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and I could just see it soaking in.

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So a few hours later,

he was disrespectful.

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And I said, Lincoln, did you

remember God's commandment to

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honor your father and mother?

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Do you really want to

take that force field off?

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And he needed a few minutes, but a

couple hours later, he came to me

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and said, mommy, I almost took off

my force field, but I decided not to.

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And he just had he had this look of joy

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Obviously when we relate anything earthly

to our perfect Heavenly Father, it's going

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to be an inadequate illustration, but I

think that's been helpful As they've been

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growing you know how Wonder Woman has

that lasso of truth, , it's, that's what

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we're supposed to do to take every thought

captive And make it obedient to Christ.

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Proverbs 1 7 says the fear of the

Lord is the beginning of knowledge.

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Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

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And.

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When we talk about this idea of being so

countercultural, it's almost heartbreaking

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to read that verse and to think there

are so many who are despising wisdom and

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instruction . but when we fear the Lord,

that's just the beginning of knowledge.

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I can see in my own life as an

adult, there are times where I've

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thought, Lord, I don't understand why

it's so important to obey in this.

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It's so hard, but I know your word

tells me to to honor you in this.

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and I can see how the Lord has grown me in

a healthier fear of him, that it's become

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a motivation because I delight in him.

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I want to honor him and things

that, that I encounter in his word,

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even if they're very difficult.

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Aunt Betsy, you've parented teenagers,

obviously the stakes get higher and

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they're starting to drive and make these.

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Big decisions, do you continue

to guide them as they grow?

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Betsy: Well, I think that when they're

little bitty, and we mentioned in

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a previous podcast that God gives

them to us as infants, and he gives

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them to us for about 20 years or

so, that when they're little, they

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can't do anything for themselves.

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They're completely...

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Dependent upon us.

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And because of that, we have

full authority over them.

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We have full responsibility over them.

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But as they grow up, and we've trained

them to do certain things, and we've

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set some foundational pieces in place,

That now we can, uh, pull back a little

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bit, ease up on the authority, and teach

them and train them more by guidance,

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a little bit more by coaching, and see

how they handle making the decisions,

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and if they do well, then they get more

responsibility, a little bit more slack

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in the rope as some might say, and then

if if they don't do well, then we kind of

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have to bring them back in and say let's

reconsider the choices that you're making

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or what do we need to be doing here.

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And so the heavy Authority, that

begins when they're little, ends up

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to be low in authority and high in

guidance over that 20 year period.

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There's sort of a easing off

of one and an increase of the

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Stephanie: Mm hmm.

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Mm

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Betsy: I think that's helpful for parents

to know because one of the big things,

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and I know it'll come up at other times.

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But is how does your

child keep their room?

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So we might say, when they're

little, you're going to train them.

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Okay.

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this is how, you keep your room.

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how you keep your closet.

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this is how, what you don't

do with your wet towels.

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And this is what you do

do with your wet towels.

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And, uh, this is how you make your

bed and let's make it together.

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And, you how do we want to put the pillows

and the animals and all these things.

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And then when they get older.

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You say, well, now it's your

responsibility to keep your room.

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And how do you want to keep your room?

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And then we have certain guidelines

to say, well, now are you being

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responsible with your room?

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Maybe they don't make their bed every

day, but we're not going to be saying,

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Hey, you have to make your bed every day.

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You can.

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I mean, That's that's your decision as

a mom, but we give a little bit more

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slack to see how they respond to the

training that they've already had.

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And I think they'll, they'll take, you

know, benefit of that, advantage of that,

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or whatever you want to say, because

they have a lot of things going on and

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parents will give a little bit more slack.

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But the ultimate thing is that you'll

be seeing No, they know what to do.

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They know the right response.

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And, as long as you know that that's

happening, we don't have to be so

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concerned about every, little thing

for that example, you know, of, well.

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They still have to have those

wet towels off the floor.

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Stephanie: Yeah.

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Betsy: That can never happen.

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you know, what I'm saying is

you're relying on the training

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that you've put in place and you're

watching it and seeing how It's

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going.

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Emily: Mm-Hmm.

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Jen: That's so true.

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It's interesting because

I'm reading this book.

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Actually, I just finished it this weekend

called Your Teenager Is Not Crazy.

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And it's written from a Christian

worldview and it talks about how.

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The teen brain works and how at

different portions of going through

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adolescence, the different parts of

the brain literally shut down and

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it cannot work and during that part.

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And so it makes sense that, sometimes

when we look at our teens and we're like.

377

:

really, you got nothing there?

378

:

What's going on here?

379

:

And and it just has been

a helpful book for me.

380

:

But as I hear you saying that we

lighten up on some of the things that

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:

we're laying the ground rules and and

teaching them and training them how

382

:

they do it when they're young, when

they're old, in the book, it actually

383

:

says that teens respond huge to rewards.

384

:

If you are like, Hey, you know what?

385

:

If you pick up your room the way

that you and I have discussed about,

386

:

um, and you do that significantly

for this month, I'll give you this

387

:

X reward, whatever that might be.

388

:

But if you try to do that with a

little child, they can't handle that.

389

:

One, they can't handle that long

of a timeframe, but also, They're

390

:

not in the stage of life where

they, the reward is the benefit.

391

:

They need to be disciplined and

trained how to do it and walked

392

:

through and been like, Hey, good job.

393

:

That's that's awesome that you did that.

394

:

Let's keep doing it.

395

:

As they get older, that reward is helpful.

396

:

And so I feel like that was so interesting

to hear you say that about how we kind

397

:

of slack off on some of the things

and we reward them when they do do it.

398

:

that works really well with

the way that their brain works.

399

:

Betsy: Well, we always had something

called the definition of a clean room.

400

:

And I had it on the back of their doors

and in their bedroom or bathroom vanity.

401

:

So every Friday night before

they went out, they had to meet

402

:

the definition of a clean room.

403

:

So during the week, I wasn't so

concerned about it, but they could

404

:

not go anywhere on Friday night

unless that definition was met.

405

:

And so they learned to not just.

406

:

Stuff all their sweaters, you know, in

under their bed or whatever, because

407

:

that wouldn't meet the definition and

you don't get the shortcut way out.

408

:

So if you are careful with your

sweaters or whatever during the

409

:

week, then you'll need less time to

meet the definition of a clean room.

410

:

But I I think it's really

important that we're not going

411

:

to just completely let it slide.

412

:

I feel like they still need,

they still need some guidance.

413

:

Because it says...

414

:

I will instruct you in the good

and right way, and we want to

415

:

sort of keep the standard up

there, even if we're not demanding

416

:

compliance of it every single day.

417

:

They know.

418

:

I think that's so important, we

don't lower the standard.

419

:

Keep the standard high, and they grow

into meeting it, rather than, you

420

:

know, there's so much of this just

lowering the standard, lowering the

421

:

standard, until there's nothing that

they're really working to achieve.

422

:

Stephanie: In the last episode

you said that it's never too late.

423

:

Obviously we do want to set all of

this, Groundwork this foundation when

424

:

they're little, but I just want to

bring that up again, in case someone's

425

:

listening and thinking, Oh no, you

know, I didn't start that early enough.

426

:

It can be something dramatic, like

teaching them to fear the Lord.

427

:

It's not too late to start.

428

:

Or it could be something like, I

actually didn't teach them how to

429

:

clean their room when they were little.

430

:

It's

431

:

okay.

432

:

As you said last episode, it's okay

To teach them that there's going to

433

:

be a new standard and that this is

the way the family is going to operate

434

:

now and to train them in the right way

435

:

regardless of their age.

436

:

Betsy: And even Going along with that,

you could have grown up in a home where

437

:

the house was just sort of messy, and you

grow up to be a real neatnik because , the

438

:

pendulum swings the other way and it's

a concern for you and sometimes people

439

:

just have that temperament where they

just like to be more organized, or it's

440

:

frustrating for them to work in too much

disorder so it kind of depends a little

441

:

bit on that so you're you're letting your

kids kind of Blossom into who they are

442

:

And not just forcing them to be.

443

:

who you want them to be.

444

:

I mean, that's kind of what's

happening during those,

445

:

those little bit older years.

446

:

And it's really interesting

and fun to, to see that happen.

447

:

I've seen my kids just develop

things that really, really surprised

448

:

me in those those later years.

449

:

And I remember Emily, when she first got

married, she said, Oh mom, I can't leave

450

:

the house because there's one of those

coffee filters still in the coffee pot.

451

:

And I'm like, wow, who are you?

452

:

because that was such a change.

453

:

And then And then the kids come along and,

then you have to flex a different way.

454

:

And, when my kids were teens and they

like to cook chili or whatever they

455

:

like to make, I just did not worry

about my pantry being in perfect

456

:

order, which I like to keep it in.

457

:

But, I'm gonna give to that a little

bit because, I'm going to have them

458

:

enjoy creating things as long as

they clean up afterwards, right?

459

:

Emily: We do want our homes

to be a comfortable place of

460

:

learning as they're older.

461

:

I'm talking teen years.

462

:

I wouldn't let off on any of

the things when they were young

463

:

because consi consistency is key.

464

:

But giving them the wiggle

room and, and as you were...

465

:

Speaking about that, Betsy, this thought

came to my mind, how the Lord allows

466

:

us the process He gently leads us

along in this process of sanctification.

467

:

If we allow our children to kind of

just give them a little window to figure

468

:

things out, the Lord so graciously gives

that to us while He's sanctifying us.

469

:

So, We can most definitely give them a

little wiggle room to figure out, a clean

470

:

room and all of that when when we know

they know the baseline, but they need to

471

:

figure out a system that works for them.

472

:

Betsy: Correct.

473

:

That's a good

474

:

thought.

475

:

And I think that's so important.

476

:

They're going to, be figuring out

how to self govern, how to, put

477

:

systems in place because we're

not going to be like controlling

478

:

behavior their whole lives.

479

:

We want them to.

480

:

Figure out things and figure out some

things by making some bad decisions.

481

:

I saw a card that said poor

decisions make great stories.

482

:

And, you know, those decisions

that they make are some of

483

:

the funniest things we talk

484

:

Emily: It is

485

:

very true.

486

:

Jen: I've actually said that to one of

my children who has a fear of making any

487

:

mistake, and I am constantly saying, I

would rather you try and make a mistake

488

:

because you will learn more from making

the mistake than from not trying at all.

489

:

So go ahead and try.

490

:

And make those mistakes and then

we'll talk about it and you will

491

:

have learned so much through that.

492

:

And so don't fear, you know, now

this isn't anything sinful, But then

493

:

with the other kids, I'm like, can

you stop making so many mistakes?

494

:

The balance of children.

495

:

Betsy: Yes, they're so different.

496

:

So different from each other.

497

:

Well, I think it's interesting to, to

think about people that fear the Lord

498

:

because often in the Bible, it will

say, and the midwives feared the Lord.

499

:

And so they did not, kill the babies,

in Egypt, but they Saved all the

500

:

Israelite babies, things like that

you'll hear and he feared the Lord or,

501

:

and he did not fear God and he rebelled.

502

:

So there is obviously a distinction

in the Bible between people and

503

:

people that don't, who, who relish,

cherish his protection of them.

504

:

in his awesome power that he protects

them, but they have a fear of not stepping

505

:

too close to danger in this lesson, and

in fact, we went through some of the

506

:

the special provisions of God to people

that fear him, and we always have this

507

:

lesson, uh, pretty close to Thanksgiving.

508

:

Cause it's a nice little list to read.

509

:

Uh, For how the Lord blesses us.

510

:

And we can be so thankful that

because we fear the Lord, He has

511

:

allowed special provisions to us.

512

:

And we just have a little list.

513

:

We actually, in the class, we have

a list of about 23, it says that,

514

:

Who is the man who fears the Lord?

515

:

He will instruct him in

the way he should choose.

516

:

That's Psalm 25, 12.

517

:

So God fearing people receive

God's guidance through his

518

:

word to make wise decisions.

519

:

And that's really what we were

talking about before with kids

520

:

that, we were talking about guiding

kids and making wise decisions.

521

:

And here's, God does this for us.

522

:

For the people that fear Him and

I think that's an awesome blessing

523

:

Stephanie: yes, In Psalm 3119, it says,

how great is your goodness, which you

524

:

have stored up for those who fear you,

which you have wrought for those who take

525

:

refuge in you before the sons of men.

526

:

And I I have, a shocking

testimony from this past week

527

:

of just how the Lord stored up.

528

:

His goodness for our family and in a

way that made my son feel so seen and so

529

:

loved by someone in the body of Christ.

530

:

And it really is amazing, the goodness

of the Lord and his his provision

531

:

when we fear him and walk in his ways.

532

:

It really is humbling.

533

:

Emily: so good for our

534

:

kids to see.

535

:

Jen: In our homeschool, we have a

Bible storybook that I absolutely love.

536

:

In fact, I have found four

different copies of it and.

537

:

I'm saving them for our children to be

able to have each of them have one for

538

:

their family some day Because it is so

special and each year when we finish

539

:

reading the Bible We have them write

their name and how old they are in it

540

:

and it is so cute to see their little

handwriting and and how it's changed and

541

:

But just a Sweet thing, but one

of the things that I love about

542

:

this Bible story book is the

consistency of how she words things.

543

:

The author is very close to

how it is written in scripture.

544

:

It's not watered down, but

it's written in a order.

545

:

And, in a

546

:

Emily: Mm-Hmm.

547

:

Jen: way that is easy for

children to understand, but

548

:

not spoken like Talking to a

549

:

Emily: Mm-Hmm.

550

:

Jen: But one of the themes is that she

says often, they feared the Lord and did

551

:

what was right in the eyes of the Lord.

552

:

And I thought, you know, hearing that

constantly being, they feared the Lord

553

:

and did what was right in the eyes of the

Lord, and then she'll often end up with,

554

:

at the end, we will talk as well and say,

And it went well for them, didn't it?

555

:

Like in the end, things

worked out well for them.

556

:

And then at times where they did not

fear the Lord and they did not do what

557

:

was right in the eyes of the Lord.

558

:

And my kids will stop and be like, and

it's not going to go well for them.

559

:

It's just a sweet thing.

560

:

But I just think of this fear of the Lord.

561

:

It's for our good.

562

:

It's for our safety.

563

:

It's for our, our goodness and also it's

a guidance and in a way for us to be able

564

:

to know him better because if we fear

him and we have a right perspective of

565

:

our position before him and his holiness.

566

:

Then we can enter the throne room

with humility and, and ask for

567

:

anything that he's willing to

568

:

give.

569

:

Stephanie: You have

570

:

to tell us the title, please.

571

:

Jen: Yeah, it's called the Ergomer's

Bible Storybook and I love it.

572

:

We, maybe we could link

it in the show notes.

573

:

But, um, yes, the book is so good.

574

:

It's so well written and it

starts, from creation and goes.

575

:

To Revelation, and in the one that we

have, we read six and a half pages for

576

:

three days a week, and we get through

the entire Bible in a school year.

577

:

it does not have Proverbs, Or Psalms

in it, which is a little sad, but

578

:

I will sometimes, if we finish

early, I'll read through Psalms

579

:

and Proverbs on our own with the

kids, but it's been a huge blessing.

580

:

In fact, in our homeschool, if

there's things that we didn't get to

581

:

in the day, but we got to the Bible,

I'm like, well, we did the most

582

:

Stephanie: Mm hmm.

583

:

Yes,

584

:

for sure.

585

:

Jen: Yeah.

586

:

Every morning we started

out with reading that.

587

:

Stephanie: We've been

going through a study.

588

:

It's called Proverbs People

589

:

By Marilyn and Rick Boyer,

and it's an older resource.

590

:

I'm not sure if it's still

in print, but it goes through

591

:

Proverbs and it talks about the

righteous man and the wicked man.

592

:

And it's really helpful.

593

:

It's just sweet to see at the end of

every chapter, it'll say, would this be

594

:

a righteous person or a wicked person and

how quickly they can identify, they know.

595

:

And so I think anyone who is regularly

in the word, that idea of fearing

596

:

God, you hear it so much that, you

know, it's right, you know, it's true.

597

:

And I think that's the best

way we can train our children.

598

:

That this is good.

599

:

This is for you.

600

:

This is for your blessing.

601

:

.

Jen: Yeah.

602

:

Because isn't that one of the things

that he wants from us when we fear

603

:

him is to help us do what's right?

604

:

If, If we go through life and we have

no consequence and no fear of anything

605

:

how foolish and unwise of decisions we

would make if there were no boundaries

606

:

and we, we could just do what we want,

when we want, how we want, however we

607

:

want that doesn't sound, it sounds fun

for a moment, but to live your life that

608

:

way all the time, it really is not good.

609

:

That's not good in any way.

610

:

So yeah, it just is, this fear of God

is, it's a big thing and it's paramount

611

:

to having a right

relationship with the Lord.

612

:

Emily: Yes.

613

:

And in the eyes of the Lord, to do right

in the eyes of Him, not in the eyes

614

:

of your friends or in the eyes of what

you're feeling or you could fill in the

615

:

million things there, but to do right

in the eyes of the Lord, that instills

616

:

the healthy fear into them of of just

how awesome God is and His goodness.

617

:

Jen: Yeah.

618

:

Stephanie: I was listening to a

podcast earlier this week and.

619

:

The gentleman said, when I was young,

I had multiple opportunities to look

620

:

at, impure images and every time I

knew not to look because I feared God.

621

:

And he said, I knew that my parents

probably wouldn't find out, but

622

:

I wanted to honor the Lord in it.

623

:

So he said, his parents did a

really great job of teaching him.

624

:

His identity was as a child of God, but,

but also that his role was to honor God.

625

:

This has very far reaching

implications, right?

626

:

When our children understand

that This is the God who sees.

627

:

This is the God who hears.

628

:

Scripture tells us over and over.

629

:

I've even done recently a

study on the eyes of the Lord.

630

:

makes me think of that sweet little song.

631

:

Be careful little eyes what you see.

632

:

For the Lord is up above and

He's looking down in love.

633

:

And I think if it didn't have that last

line, it could really be misconstrued.

634

:

But when we teach he's

looking down in love.

635

:

This is for your good.

636

:

And there are blessings and Deuteronomy

28 and 29 are such helpful chapters.

637

:

If you're wanting to understand, are

there blessings of obedience it's very

638

:

clear That is a pattern in scripture

of when we choose wisely, it's

639

:

not always a prescription, right?

640

:

But we do have God's favor in those

choices, especially when we do it

641

:

from a pure heart of honoring him.

642

:

We have been so encouraged by

your faithful listening and we

643

:

have a couple favors to ask of

you to help spread the word.

644

:

Our desire is that this podcast

would encourage mothers who desire to

645

:

parent biblically and you can help us

646

:

the first way is you can write a review.

647

:

Podcast platforms are more likely to

recommend this podcast to mothers if

648

:

we have a greater number of reviews.

649

:

So we would really appreciate that.

650

:

You can also like us on social media.

651

:

Our Facebook page is Entrusted

Ministries and our Instagram is

652

:

Entrusted with a Child's Heart.

653

:

We would still love it if you sent us

a question to answer on the podcast.

654

:

And lastly, did you know that we would be

more than happy to speak at your church

655

:

and encourage moms in your community?

656

:

So reach out to us.

657

:

You can fill out a contact form on the

Entrusted Ministries website and we'll

658

:

try to get something on the calendar.

659

:

We know you're busy, Mama, so

we are truly grateful you joined

660

:

us for this episode of Again.

661

:

If you're looking for more information

about building your home on the

662

:

foundation of Jesus Christ, head to www.

663

:

EntrustedMinistries.

664

:

com to learn more about our study for

moms, Entrusted with a Child's Heart.

665

:

This scripture saturated study

has blessed families around the

666

:

world, and we want it for you, too.

667

:

Before you go, I want to pray

this benediction over you

668

:

from 2 Thessalonians 1, 11 12.

669

:

We're rooting for you.

670

:

To this end, we always pray for you,

that our God may make you worthy of His

671

:

calling, and may fulfill every resolve

for good, and every work of faith by

672

:

His power, so that the name of our Lord

Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in

673

:

Him, according to the grace of our God.

674

:

And the Lord Jesus Christ.

675

:

Amen.

676

:

Until we meet again.

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About the Podcast

Again
Biblical Motherhood Untangled
So much of what we do as mothers is on repeat. Join us to redeem this repetition and untangle from the confusion and overwhelm of parenting. We'll follow the Agains in the Bible to focus on the things that matter most. Let's look up together to embrace a motherhood full of freedom and joy! This podcast is sponsored by Entrusted Ministries.

About your host

Profile picture for Stephanie Hickox

Stephanie Hickox

Stephanie has always delighted in God’s Word and in sharing it with others. Whether it is equipping mothers and leaders through Entrusted with a Child’s Heart, inspiring students when teaching at homeschool co-ops or children’s ministry, or homeschooling her own children, Stephanie’s life mission is to encourage others to follow faithfully and joyfully after Jesus—especially if they hold her favorite job title: mom.

Betsy Corning wrote Entrusted with a Child’s Heart in 1999 in response to the needs she saw in families as she and David counseled young parents just a few years behind them. Entrusted has been taught in hundreds of churches nationwide, been translated into several foreign languages, and has made its way around the world. More recently, Betsy received her Masters in Biblical Studies from The Master’s University and is developing a new Bible Study program called Get the Word Out. Her passion for God’s Word, discipleship, and teaching biblical principles as they apply to family life has remained strong to this day. One of the greatest blessings in Betsy’s life are her three grown children, their spouses, and ten grandchildren that keep her constantly in touch with every age and stage.

Jen Freckman Is an incredible wealth of wisdom. She will tell you a natural remedy for just about anything! She is also a voracious reader and she is just overflowing with quotes and guidance that she's encountered through reading and being faithful. She delights in her children and is a devoted mother. She is also an amazingly creative problem solver! Her solutions to manage her home and guide her children are inspiring.

Emily Deyo is such a treasure. She is an incredible encourager and servant-hearted woman. When she has the mic in front of her, so much value comes out! She is a wordsmith and her heart consistently beats for how she can encourage and serve others. She is a truly loving and attentive mother.

Join Betsy, Emily, Jen, and Stephanie as they share the wisdom only Scripture and on-the-job training can provide to help untangle the joyful calling of motherhood.