God made a decree many years ago that we set up memorials to help our children know about the things that happened in the past:

Joshua 4:6-7
We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future, your children will ask, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ Then you can tell them, ‘They remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the Lord’s covenant went across.’ These stones will stand as a permanent memorial among the people of Israel.”

During this Memorial Day weekend be sure to talk to your children about the reason for the celebration. Help them know it is more than just grilling out or going to the beach.

Memorial Day originally began in 1868 as a day to decorate the graves of soldiers who died in the Civil War. In more recent years our government passed a resolution that Memorial Day be observed on the last Monday of May as an occasion to remember and honor the men and women who died in all wars.

Rizpah means ‘a glowing ember’. Tenacious means ‘persistent in adhering to, or seeking something desired; not easily pulled apart from.’   She was a mother that was glowing with a passionate desire from which she could not be pulled away.

2 Samuel 21:9-10

And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the Lord: and they fell all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest.

And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.

We can learn much about parenting from this obscure, but very powerful story in the Old Testament!!! We need to stand guard over our children’s souls with the same sacrifice and tenacity that Rizpah guarded her children’s bodies!!

Please listen to her amazing story Who’s Kidding Who (part 4) by Dr. Billy Daws

We need to be a Rizpah!!!!

Wow, Father, how can we ever thank you enough for calling us to the greatest profession in the world!! Forgive us when we get busy and distracted from this most awesome privilege of molding a little life for you.

Help us when we get weary from the unending tasks, to rest in the promise that in persevering we will see results from all our efforts:
Galatians 6:9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

Help us not to compare ourselves with other moms, but to enjoy being the mom You made us to be:
Galatians 6:4 Be sure to do what you should, for then you will enjoy the personal satisfaction of having done your work well, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else.

Father, like you, we have no greater joy than to hear that our children walk in truth:
3 John 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
As we think of leading them into Truth, help us:
First of all to love You with all our heart:
Deut. 6:5 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.
Second, help us to surround our husbands with our love:
Proverbs 5:18 & 19 So be happy with your wife and find your joy with the girl you married – pretty and graceful as a deer.  Let her charms keep you happy; let her surround you with her love. (Today’s English Version)
Thirdly, help us to be diligent to train our children in the Way they should go and consistently discipline them to be like Christ:
Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go ,And when he is old he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 29:15 To discipline and reprimand a child produces wisdom, but a mother is disgraced by an undisciplined child.
Galatians 4:19 My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you,
And keep us aware that even as grandmothers, our jobs continue:
Deut. 4:9 Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren,
Psalm 71:18 Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare Your strength to this generation,Your power to everyone who is to come.

Help us to radiate with a meek and quiet spirit and with joy from having spent time with you:
1 Peter 3:4 You should be known for the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.
Psalm 34:5 Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy;
And then as we radiate, help us to equip our children to shine as lights in the midst of a wicked world:
Philip. 2:15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,

Thank you, Father, that all these things you have called us to do, You have promised to do through us:
1 Thes. 5:24 God, who calls you, is faithful; he will do this.

Thank you that when we are distraught by all our cares and anxieties, you will console us:
Psalm 94:19 In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul.
1 Peter 5:7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

Thank you, Father, that as we fulfill this sometimes overwhelming responsibility and privilege of motherhood that you are with us, always perfecting that which concerns us, and ever gently leading us along the way!
Isaiah 40:11 And gently lead those who are with young.
Psalm 138:8 The Lord will perfect that which concerns me;
Matthew 28:20  Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

And ultimately, thank you for sacrificing your Son in the place of our sons and daughters so we all can come boldly to your throne to ask these things in Jesus name!!!

Amen

1 Samuel 3:13
I have warned him continually that judgment is coming for his family,
because his sons are blaspheming God
and he hasn’t disciplined them.

Galatians 4:19
My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you,

Two year old defiance looks a lot different than 15 year old defiance.  Two year old defiance is a lot easier to deal with than 15 year old defiance. Disciplining our children takes discipline in our own lives and it is like being in constant labor!  But if we don’t do it, there are consequences!!!

Hear more from Dr. Billy Daws on this subject here.