Written By: Renea Oberhansly
There are so many fun insights as moms that we get to experience each and every day. All we have to do is close our eyes, and a flood gate opens. It will remind you of all the antics your family has engaged in. May it never fail to bring a happy, joyful memory to your mind; to bring you a smile upon your face.
Today I saw the definition for the word “listen.” A simple, everyday concept. However, it is an action that involves many components. Because just hearing sounds does not mean you understand the words that you heard. We may hear and not understand what was said or why it was said. Oftentimes it is much more like a mechanical failure.
Many times a mother is told by her munchkins, “I didn’t hear you say that.” We can often be baffled at the range of distortion and confusion that goes on within the household communications. Since we have evidence of this every day, it can be pretty daunting in the home to get things done. The family members can often have their circuits offline and not interacting with each other. I have noticed communication training skills usually fall upon the mother’s shoulders. It is a heavy and additional burden to bear.
In some family dynamics, the moms do have to steer the ship until Pops comes home. They must be as flexible as a rubber band. The best training a mom can do is learning how to be a good listener to the voice of God. You cannot put yourself out to sea without a map, a compass, or radar. This is why mothers are the designated co-pilot. As long as she can hear God’s instructions correctly and has Godly wisdom from above, then she can steer her kiddos through any ocean, any storm, and bring them safely back to port.
This is how she receives her co-pilot’s license- by reading the ship’s manual – A.K.A the Bible. She also learns by enlisting help from other seasoned co-pilots – A.K.A friends with success. They have already gained knowledge and have first-hand experience upon these waterways. They have traveled in life through these shipping lanes with God’s grace and help.
Godly counsel from others is a treasure of great value. This blessing brings friendship and trust and community into our families and their lives. There is nothing new under the sun; it has been the same as it was in the times of old. These experiences are common to everyone along the journey to adulthood. A saving relationship with God is the most important one you can have. With God as your radar, He can see obstacles, treacherous waters, and enemies wherever they may be. He will sound the alarm and guide you to alter your course, or He will help you go through all the storms in life with Him steering you to safe harbors.
With God as your Pilot, you will have no fear or confusion in commanding your vessel and being able to bring all of your passengers safely home into port. If you trust Him, so will your crew.
We guide our young apprentices so that they may be able to sail through the calm and sometimes tempest-tossed seas. We set examples for our children by teaching and preparing them, no matter what kind of weather. Through calm or stormy seas, the truth remains, and teachings will be remembered along the way. Without wisdom from the Lord, nothing except dead words from the world will be heard.
Many sources in the world deal in raging words of confusion: television, bad counsel, self-centered ideology and entitlement, and discontentment. That is why it is wise to instill teaching from HIS Word, His truths founded in the scripture. Fill them with living seeds, for the enemy will try to steal, destroy, or distort the living seed with his corrupt seed. Parents are responsible for this matter because it is a critical learning period. Childhood is a timeframe when they are receptive and open to a relationship with God. It must be guarded and encouraged, and you must keep a Godly light on their path.
“Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” (Romans 10:17)
So if your little ones need anything in life, listening and communicating are high on the priority of life skills. This will make it possible for them to have a relationship with God, with their future spouse, their friends, and their own children. For that is what makes us happy and gives us a full life- to be in favor with God and man. That is not a commodity that is born of this world; it is from the heavenly realm for these relationships also have eternal life. They go past the veil of death in memory and are carried in the soul.
In 20 years from now, as Mark Twain has said, “You will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than the things you did.” So throw off your bowlines, sail away from safe harbors and catch the wind in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover as much as you can while you are able.
We have the choice and opportunity to teach. To encourage ourselves and our little sailors to be bold and make every moment count without fear. To trust in our Lord, who created the seas and can calm the storms in your life and theirs. He can teach them how to sail the seas and rescue others.
For the one who sows generously will reap generously. The scriptures say we are to catch fish (people). We seek relationships, and the more you catch, the more you reap of joy, friendship, and a support system, a life-long knitting together into a family that will be taken to heavenly shores one day. You are creating your heaven on earth.
So trust your vessel. Listen to your Captain. And set your course as you set your sails for your voyage on these vast and unknown blue seas.
Written By: Renea Oberhansly
