Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Observant Children and Joint Checking Accounts


Today I heard the song "Watching You" by Rodney Adkins. In the song, the father talks about how his little boy watches him and does what he does.

The dad cusses under his breath, and then later the son does, too. The father asks his son where he learned to talk like that, and the son says, "I've been watching you, Dad."

Then the dad goes to the barn to pray and ask God to give him direction in raising his son. So that night, as he's tucking his son into bed, the boy gets down on his knees and prays. The dad asks his son where he learned to pray like that, and again, his son answers, "I've been watching you, Dad."

It made me think a lot about how hard it must be to be a parent! To have young children watching everything you do and taking note of everything you say. Children are very affected by what their parents do.

What a responsibility!

It must be so hard to not say words like "stupid" if you don't want your children saying stuff like that. You have to continually examine yourself and your actions and speech as a parent.

But what an opportunity it is!

If you are living your life for Christ, your child will pick up on that.

Your child could see you spending time in the Word and praying, and realize that your relationship with God is important (and should be your biggest priority!). If you say or do something you shouldn't, they can see you apologize for your actions/words and explain to them why it was wrong. They can watch (and help) you serve others within the church or the community, sharing God's love and grace with them. They can also watch how you interact with your husband/wife and hopefully see the the love that Christ has for the Church. How wonderful is that!?

You can set an example by what you wear (I'm talking about modesty here), how you react in stressful situations, what you do when you're angry, how you use any free time you may have (ha), how you spend your money, your views and attitudes towards the Church, the music you listen to... etc. The list continues!

Obviously I do not have kids, so I am not experienced in this area at all. I was just thinking about these things, and those were some of my thoughts.

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Does anyone else think it will be weird to have a joint checking account with someone else (when you get married)? I thought about that today and was a little weirded out. I know that some people don't have joint checking accounts when they get married, and to be honest, I think that's wrong. God's plan was for the two to becoming one, and I don't think He meant that just physically.

Mark 10:7-8 says:

'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one.

The first part of those verses is referring to Genesis 2:24, and it is what God says after He creates Eve for Adam. In a different translation of the Bible, the words "and cleave to his wife" are used instead of "be united to his wife". Literally, this means 'to glue to' or 'to adhere'. And the word "one" at the end of verse eight literally means 'one human being'.

Husband and wife are to act as one human being.

Which is why I think it makes sense to have a joint checking account. The husband shares everything he has with his wife, and the wife shares everything she has with her husband.

Thinking about this concept in terms of the Church is beautiful!

I think we are so consumed with the idea that, "What I earn for myself, I deserve and it should be mine and mine alone." We are all about being private and independent.

Maybe that's why a lot of married couples think they should only be spending what they themselves earn.

If I had that mindset, and if I end up being a mom for a living, I am going to be one broke lady!

And I know I'm kind of stuck on this whole "joint checking account" idea, but the 'becoming one human being' concept doesn't end there.

Husbands and wives must agree on all levels when they decide how to manage their home.

They have to agree on how they will discipline their children.

Remember when you would ask Mom if you could do something because Dad said no?

Somehow, I don't think that's supposed to happen. First of all, if Mom and Dad are disagreeing on allowing their children to do something, that's messed up right there. Secondly, if Dad says no, his word should go. He's the head of the home.

Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
1 Corinthians 11:3

For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.
Ephesians 5:23

God is clear that in a family, the order of authority goes: Christ, Husband, Wife.

So if Dad says something is final, then it's final. I think that if a family is functioning the way God intended it to function, then problems won't arise because Dad and Mom agree on everything, and the children respect the father's authority as the head of the family.

Just some thoughts.

So if you're getting married anytime soon, get a joint checking account. :)


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Anyways, I'm going to go take a bath and get ready for bed. I know it's early, but I have a busy day tomorrow, including a trip to the water treatment plant!

-Katie

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