The World Would Not Consider This Wise

Heather Payne, one of the founding members of the highly successful Christian group Point of Grace has recently decided to retire from the group. You can read the whole letter to the fans here, but here is an important excerpt...

I told the girls that I would give it my all to keep up the pace. Well, I have given it my all and in the process I have realized that I can’t do it all. As much as I have tried to be super-wife, super-mommy and super-singer, my efforts came up empty. I now know that I haven’t been excellent at any of it. The girls have sacrificed and I have sacrificed, but mostly my family has sacrificed, and to continue like this is not God’s will. We all desire to be great at everything we do, however, in this world where there are so many things to do, we end up being average at those things instead of being excellent at the most important things. Right after I had Ella, I memorized Deuteronomy 6:4-9. This passage has been a constant reminder of the mandate that we have to raise our children in a way that they can watch us living out every day and therefore desire to emulate us as they grow older. It says:

"And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates" (vv. 6-9).

As we prayed about what to do, this passage in Deuteronomy kept coming to mind. Every time I got to the part about teaching our children "diligently" and at all times, I started feeling uncomfortable. I haven’t been diligently teaching my children, I have been getting by.

What a truly courageous and biblical decision that Heather has made. She should be commended no matter how unwise the world would say this decision is. Moms and dads: be excellent at the most important things.

Coupled with the above passage from Deuteronomy 6, this passage in Psalm 145 represent the most important things that dads and moms should be focusing on as parents.

One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts. They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty...They will tell of the power of your awesome works...They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness. (Psalm 145:4-7)