Impressing God's Word on our Children

This morning at church our worship leader led us all in "There is Power in the Blood".  Remember that song?  I hadn't heard it in a long time.  It brought me back to praise and worship as a kid, standing next to my mom with her hands held up in thanks and my dad's hands beating that bass rhythm on the pew back in front of him.  If my dad noticed me watching, he'd give my shoulders a little love-squeeze as he sang and then his focus would turn quickly back to the front.  A simple memory but a good one.

I digress. Back to the song. 

Would you be free from the burden of sin?
There’s pow’r in the blood, pow’r in the blood;
Would you o’er evil a victory win?
There’s wonderful pow’r in the blood.

There is pow’r, pow’r, wonder-working pow’r
In the blood of the Lamb;
There is pow’r, pow’r, wonder-working pow’r
In the precious blood of the Lamb....

The melody and rhythm hold firm to the label "church song". It's easy to miss the remarkable truth of the words while you're busy clapping or bobbing your head along with the simple 4/4 ryhthm.  Maybe it was just my immaturity as a kid, but those lyrics never really hit me.  I was clapping and singing, maybe even nodding my head in agreement but that's about it.

I leaned over to my husband this morning and said something along those lines, "Wow, we sing this song in a way that it's easy to miss the truth to it. Those are powerful words."  He looked at me a little surprised and said, "This song was always powerful to me.  I remember my mom singing it over me when I was sick."  Later he told me, "I just always knew those words were true. Afterall, from a kids perspective, I always got better!"

Wow.  Same song.  Same old-time churchy rhythm.  But the words took on meaning for him at an early age because of how it was presented to him.  His mom showed him what the words meant by singing them at a time when they would apply and uplift.  So simple yet so lasting.

There's another song Pen always sings over our boys when they're sick.

 I Am the God that Healeth Thee 

...You are the God
That healeth me
You are the Lord my Healer
You sent Your Word
and You healed my disease
You are the Lord my Healer

I love hearing him sing this over the boys.  It has become a small tradition in our home.  Over time, I started singing it too.  Now our oldest has come to expect it when he is sick.  Before bed, during the middle of the night, whenever it's needed, one of us is singing. Sometimes when Caleb is especially struggling and uncomfortable, singing this song brings calm.  The song's become both a prayer and a message. It's a prayer to the One that will heal our sons. It's a message to our sons, that HE is the One we look to for healing and that HE is able to heal.   

I realized today that Pen learned this simple tradition from his mom.  I imagine she never realized the impact her songs were making on him.  She was just singing a prayer, singing a declaration over her child in need.  But she was teaching him too.  And the lesson was so powerfully presented that it's now just natural for him to follow in her footsteps and sing God's Truth over his kids. 

What a wonderful tradition to continue! And what a great example of teaching our children, "when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up" (Deuteronomy 6:7 and 11:19), making God's Truth evident through what we do each and every day.  God says that's the way we "impress" His words on our children.