Putty In My Hands

Random musings on Marriage, Motherhood and Ministry.





"Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6

It's interesting that what I am reading in two different books came together to speak to me in "stereo" today. First in my 6 year old's story from Gramma's Attic, a tale of a dear (senile) old Grampa who came to stay with the story's protagonists. The poor old gaffer's sense of time and memory came and went leaving the pour children in a state of utter confusion. Interestingly enough (true story) when little Mabel forgets her dictation assignment at school, (a recital of Shakespeare) the old Grampa is able to dictate the lengthy and eloquent passage in question with great vibrato. He made a comment about how he wasn't likely to ever forget that, since he had put it to memory at a very young age.

Then in "Little Children, Big Joy" Maria Theresa de Giustina writes about her interaction with the elderly; "They might not be capable of remembering their present street address but can recite perfectly a poem or passage they put to memory in their early years."

Children's minds are so impressionable! Their little consciences are like soft putty in our hands. What a joy and responsibility to make the most of every opportunity to mold these little minds into the image of God by leading them daily into His Printing Press and watching His words be written on their hearts.

I know from personal experience that exposure to God's love and truth from a young age can shape a child's entire future, even if that child grows up in a non-christian, disfunctional home. I can't wait to meet and hug (in heaven) the lady who came to collect me as a young child to take me to sunday school whenever she had the chance, and to bring me bags of goodwill clothing and sit on the step and talk to me and tell me God loved me. I don't know her name, I can't picture her face anymore, but I know that she probably remembers me and mine, and I know she prayed for me. I very well may not have become who I am today, or arrived where I have today, if not for her. She was not a relative, not a friend of the family even really, just a "neighbour" (not even in the literal sense, I know she drove quite a way to pick me up) but she shaped me just by sharing God's love and truth with me.

Can you recall special people who impacted your life from early on? Pray a prayer of thanksgiving and blessing upon them for the impact they had on you and think about how you can "pay it forward" and be a blessing in the lives of children around you this week.