Train Up A Child...

That verse from Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.", came to my mind yesterday.
You see I wanted to get back to Meijers this week to stock up on the Fiber One deal they were running. As my husband and 17 year old daughter were out yesterday, I knew they would be going right by Meijers. So with a list, coupons, and cash, I sent my daughter on her first real couponing adventure without me.
Well, needless to say, she did marvelously!!
She got:
4 boxes Fiber One Cereal
2 boxes Fiber One Bars
2 Boxes Fiber One pastries
oop = $8...a great deal considering 1 box of the cereal is regularly priced at $4!!
She even had to use two peelies to get the pastries FREE!

I thought about how I've shown her to be frugal, shop the sales, use coupons effectively, and get the best deals. I also pondered, though, how my husband and I have trained her for the last 17 years.
Most importantly, I believe that we have trained her to love God, to live for Him, and to serve Him every day of her life. Secondly, I believe that we have taught her to love others, to treat people kindly, and to love them with the love of Jesus. These are, in fact, the two greatest commandments Jesus gave us.
I believe that it is important that we, not only, tell our children; but, more importantly, that they see these characteristics in our lives. Because we home school all four of our children, they are essentially with us all the time. They know us... our lives are open books for them to "read" every day.
I pray that our training of putting God first, spending daily time in His Word and prayer, and allowing Him to direct and use us has spoken volumes to them. The time had gone so quickly...they grow up so fast. Our "training" of them is short; but, in reality, I believe it will stay with them the rest of their lives.

(By the way, the reason they went out yesterday was to register my daughter for an online course at a Bible college in Cincinnati...a real answer to prayer.)