So now, imposing the words, "Most deeply impressed of..." into fear, are my children at least a little most deeply impressed of their parents?
Maybe I have this all wrong and if I do, I suppose the Holy Spirit will clarify for me, but maybe Mom and Dad are not just here to train up their children...Maybe we are here for practice.
Not wanting to take God's Word out of context here but if our children are proven trustworthy in the little things (and John and I are so little in comparison of our God...so teeny, tiny and nothing) then they will be trusted with the big things. I suppose I am saying that as our children have practiced respecting, being deeply impressed of the rules of our home, maybe that translates into respecting, being most deeply impressed of the rules set forth in God's Word.
I was recently explaining to one of the kids that the precepts of God are an awful lot like a fenced in yard...it is a huge yard and with in the confines of that property, you are free. Beyond the fence though there are zombies...walking dead that are there to devour you until you are as dead and walking as the zombies themselves. You may slip in and out of that fence now and again, thinking there is something you really need out there but the truth is everything you need is in the boundaries that were set up for you. Of course the risk you take going beyond that border is walking dead....There is incredible freedom in side that fence...and only death beyond it. Unlike some cable shows that can scare the crayons out of you, the fenced yard is not a prison...it is just the dirt side of Paradise!
I am so using the cultural relevance of the times here folks...don't judge!
Parenting is hard work...parenting aliens (teenagers) is unreal, hard work. I have questioned our parenting here on more than one occasion and am in a season of big, huge, what-am-I-going-to-do, questioning at the moment...maybe that will give my children a better mom and give them a better shot at knowing the Truth. There is no more flawed a mama on the planet than I...for sure. Proof again that my children may not always know how desperately they need a savior...but I do know how much I need Him and because I do, I know they will survive me.
We just passed the eight year mark that my own dad is gone. In addition to teaching me that things can fall off the back of a truck very easily, Ed taught me that there is nothing I could ever do, ever, that would make it so I was not welcome back home...That is the lesson I have carried on: There is always redemption, there is always forgiveness, there is always reconciliation on this side of the fence....always. Because of The Cross there is no "too far" from our hearts. Given the number of times that I danced with zombies, how could I ever offer anything less...
Practice precious children on us. "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you." Exodus 20:12 
