Let's Go for a Walk

"And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart.  And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." Deuteronomy 6:6-7

Good morning, friends!

As I have mentioned already in this blog, I walk A LOT.  There is hardly a day that goes by that I do not walk to the bakery, to the school, to the train station, to a neighbor's house.  If that were not enough, sometimes we will gather up the family and just "go for a walk."

I have such precious memories of walking with my children when they were little.  The village where we lived had a wooded area in the middle of town, which we called our "imagination forest."  We would walk, picnic and play in that forest.

Many times I remember during these pleasant afternoons, the kids asking me to tell them a story about Jesus. I remember sharing the parables with them and we would try and figure out their meanings together.

There have been other times when I would grab one of my children individually and say, "Let's go for a walk." As we roamed in our town, to the bakery, or down by the river which runs through our village, we would talk about their lives, their time at school, their friends, their dreams.  Sometimes the talk was very superficial, just a time to connect.  Sometimes it was to address "issues" in their lives that were hindering their walk with the Lord.  Other times the kids would ask me questions about spiritual things.  No subject was off limits during these walks.

We have always walked our children to the local school here, at least once a day every day. As the children have grown and my oldest two are now taking the bus, I walk now just with my youngest son.  Sometimes we play games, imagining we are tanks or soldiers or dinosaur hunters. Sometimes he will ask me a spiritual question that will lead to more questions until the 15 minute walk to school has turned into an extension of our morning devotions.

Yesterday morning was one of those special times with my son.  He wanted to talk about heaven, one of his favorite topics.  I was amazed at the depth of his knowledge on the subject of the end times, the rapture, and life in heaven.  Where did all this insight come from?

I realized then, that all these walks, and talks, are bearing fruit in his life.

I love the verse in Deuteronomy that addresses our communication of God's truth to our children.  According to this verse, there is not a time when we should NOT be instructing our children in God's word.  If we are in the house, I am to be living and teaching about God.  If I am working, or resting, or starting my day, I should be modelling God's instruction to my children.

When I walk, I am to be walking in a way that leads them to God and the answers in His word, while I answer their questions, guide them with my words, or just spend time with them.

The older my children get, the fewer opportunities I will have to invest this precious time for communicating God's truths to them.

I think it's time to go put on my shoes, grab my kids, and go for yet another walk together.

Who knows what we will talk about today?