My Journal

When I attended church one Sunday one year ago in the Philippines, the lesson that really stayed with me was the message from the books of Proverbs 22:6 which goes:

“Train up a child in the way he should go,

Even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

In this day and age, children are exposed to so many stimulus from toys to television shows, and from fancy foods to toy characters. The onus is really on the parents to provide the ground rules of choosing what experiences they wish their children to engage in. Most ‘normal’ parents wish only for the best. I know I do. So what is best for the child depends greatly on the values parents wish to impart to them.

It is now I realise that had it not for my parents’ consistency in participating the whole family in serving and attending at church masses daily and involving us in extra activities organised by the church and helping the poor of the community, then I wouldn’t have implemented in my actions the things that I now hope would be ingrained in Xavier’s beliefs & values.

 

Ever since I conceived Xavier, I prayed that he will be a God-fearing, God-loving human being. So even while in my stomach, I prayed and I prayed. I consecrated the life that I was bringing into this world to our Creator. Throughout the exciting developments of Xavier‘s growth, God was always listening to my wishes. He kept us safe, blessed and showed us immense love.

When Xavier was born, I gave thanks and praise to Him for a safe delivery and a healthy baby. I also prayed for guidance & wisdom in knowing how to raise him.

Now, Xavier & I would give thanks together every night and bless everyone before going to sleep. At barely 2 ½, the other night while I was driving the car, he started saying his nightly prayer and started blessing the names that he knows (including Kung Fu Panda, which is his current favourite, and the names of his babysitter who is our next door neighbour, and the names of other kids she takes care of including her 3 daughters).

From the moment I took him home from the hospital, I started humming & singing songs I learned from church when I was pacifying him and making him fall asleep. His eyes at 3 months old would light up when I sang in an operatic manner ‘How Great Thou Art” and “Alleluia”.

Now he sings “ ‘luia” in church whenever the choir sings even though that’s not the song being played. He has also learned a few kiddies’ Christian songs which he has managed to sing in a medley in his own terms - songs such as “Jesus Loves Me”, “He’s Got the Whole World”, and “Joy in my Heart” and somewhere in between he would squeeze some Michael Buble songs that my hubby sings.

 

Ever since that unforgettable Sunday message, I became adamant in letting him hear God’s words, apart from the liturgy of Sunday masses, of course. I began to read to him children’s Bible stories. I knew then that he would just be simply amazed by the colourful pages being flipped in front of him being only 1 ½ yrs old. Little did I know the gradual Bible story-telling would bear the sweetest fruits.

Now, these stories are his favourite night time reads. He would prefer them over the other numerous books he has. He can even recognise a few Bible characters just by the picture and symbols included.

When I started feeding him solids, I intentionally did the Sign of the Cross and said Grace even though I knew back then he would not have understood what we were doing.

Now, he is the one who finishes off the phrases of the very same prayer before meals but his Sign of the Cross is still a work in progress.

During our night time prayers, I also make sure we pray for the ‘poor and the sick children’ before we ask to bless him. I am hoping that in doing this, he will learn to pray for others & put their needs before him.

When we face the Crucifix, I have been telling him that when he’s a naughty boy, Jesus will be sad and is ‘yayay‘ or hurt.

Just yesterday, he said, “ Jesus happy, baby XED good boy”. So I smiled!

I am glad that the discipline I had in implementing the actions that speak of my values and faith is bearing fruit. I will continue practising the proverbial message because this wisdom has stood the tests of time. In doing this, I am certain that Xavier will be armoured with what he needs when he grows up as a man. And I hope he will do the same to his children.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 11th, 2008 at 8:06 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.