God Teaches Us the Way We Should Go

This past Thursday I went to the Moms in Prayer group for Nitrauer Elementary School. We focused on the MIP prayer sheet on God being our teacher.  The lady leading this small group of moms asked if we could volunteer to read a verse. I said volunteered for Psalm 32:8. When I turned there, I found this particular verse was already underlined and called out with a bubble in my Bible from my recent reading of it. I was once again reminded that God teaches us in the way we should go and watches over us. (All the verses in this post were from that meeting.)

Psalm 32:8 "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you."

I felt like 2013 will be a year of change for us. We have a lot of decisions to make regarding Shawn's job, and then life in general. Is Lancaster, PA where we want to live permanently? Or, is there somewhere else God is calling our family? We want to be sensitive to His leading. While I thought I may never move from this area, I have been reading passages like these and various devotions that have talked about moving. For example, I was reading about Mary near Christmas time and the book noted that when Joseph dreamed that they needed to move to Egypt to keep baby Jesus safe, Mary didn't whine and forcefully stay behind but went along for her family's best interest. The placement of this sidebar didn't make a lot of sense for what the rest of the Bible study was about, but it spoke volumes to me. Is God preparing my heart for something different.

The answer is... I don't know. But, I believe that I can trust God and we WILL know.

Job 36:22 "God is exalted in His power. Who is a teacher like Him?"

We had just decided that we were going to send Caleb to another year of preschool. While he's academically advanced for his age, he's very shy. He will also be a very young five with having a summer birthday, and I've heard over and over again how much better kids do when they are older versus younger. While he's tall for his age and very easygoing, we want him to excel in all his endeavors. Then his preschool teacher stopped me in the hallway (based on my asking to see her for her thoughts on the situation) and she said that if it were her son, she would send him. She said he plays well with the other children, even though it took him awhile to warm up, and she didn't see his shyness being an issue. She said he's more than ready in the academic department and she didn't think he'd struggle with the social setting either. So, now we are going back to God and praying for wisdom. Is it better to hold him back? Or will we be setting him up for a life of boredom? I truly want whatever is best for him. I don't want to make the decision just based on kindergarten, either. Whatever we decide will affect him for the rest of his life - do we want him to be the youngest when it comes to driving, sports, etc?

Ironically (or not, since we know that God plans all divine appointments), the morning that his teacher approached me was the same morning of this prayer meeting. I looked at these verses and they gave me renewed confidence that we can trust that God will teach us, give us wisdom and direct our paths in His way. And I believe He wants what's best for our children as well. He loves them even more than we do!

Isaiah 48:17 "This is what the Lord says - your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: 'I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.'"

Another thing we had been talking about doing was the Spanish immersion program. Shawn doesn't think it's the way to go for Joshua, though. But, it could be a good thing. I don't think we're going to do it, but IF it would be in his best interest, I pray that God changes both our hearts. If it's not, I pray that we would have a big red flag that it's not meant to be.

Jeremiah 33:2-3 "'This is what the Lord says, He who made the earth, the Lord who formed it and established it - the Lord is His name: "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."'"

Please pray for wisdom for our family - for Shawn's job, for the many decisions we'll have to make this year, for our kids and their futures and for a peace for us. May everything fall into place the way that it should!

Psalm 25:4-5 "Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in Your truths and teach me, for You are God my Savior, and my hope is in You all day long."