Heredi-TEA---a "hand-me-down" cuppa

But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” 
(Joshua 24:15, NIV)

I, in no way, am the Bible teacher my seminary-trained son, Buddy is.....so God often uses him to "help" me along.....and I am so grateful....especially as I struggle to teach a passage with more theological depth than I have. 

However, as I was prepping to teach "Preach the Word" from 2 Timothy 4:1-8, at our Heart to Heart Bible Study, I came across a picture that warms my heart. It will mean nothing to anyone but me----but to me it speaks volumes. Something I do that I had no idea he does too....until I saw his teaching Bible open on a recent Texas visit. 

Ever camera ready for a possible Kodak "tea" moment, I "snapped" away and then filed away.....until.... God showed it to me as I was feeling a little "less than" scholarly yesterday morning, prior to my teaching time. And.....it doesn't even have to do with Bible knowledge. It has to do with connection. May I sense that connection again tonight as I seek to be "refreshed"as I repeat my lesson for the "night" group!

Maybe, as a household chooses to serve the LORD and chooses to write scripture on “door frames” or in their Bibles  (as we are told to do in Deuteronomy)----maybe imprinting them on hearts requires teaching them to others. Maybe at our house it needs to be LARGE PRINT----so we can see it as we teach---for me , it's a safety net in case I can't remember or lose my place as I'm reading them. For  me, increasing the font and cutting & attaching the passage inside the teaching Bible, eases my reading! We both do it---for me, there's comfort in that.

A cuppa heredi-TEA for sipping when we need to be able to "read" the passage we're teaching from as we stand behind our lectern.

Propensi-TEA : a Heredi-TEA additive

Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, ......... And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things. (2 Peter 1:12-15, ESV)

One's inclinations or propensities are often passed down to his/her children and grandchildren. Not necessarily intentionally. At our house we use the idiom "by osmosis" when the kids have learned something by watching or listening. Maybe that's how are own leanings and proclivities have been passed down. More "caught" than "taught."

Owen's comment at the zoo today seemed to support such thinking.
"Shug, I'm good at maps like you---I'm really good at maps."

Are map skills inherited? 

What about a fascination with birds? "Pop-Pop and I are good at feeding birds." 

Pop-Pop feeds the blue parakeet and Owen feeds the green one.

The way we live, what we believe and care about are all apart of the heritage we leave. "If we don't intentionally pass on a legacy consistent with our beliefs, our culture will pass along its own." (Focus on the Family, notes)
Love of the Lord, love of maps and love of birds are just part of the legacy passed down from this house.

Heredi-TEA: a shared cuppa blended with propensi-TEA, procivit-TEA and spirituali-TEA provided by family.

"heredi-TEA" : an individual cuppa

We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the LORD, about his power and his mighty wonders. (Psalm 78:4, NLT)

In the Christian faith, one is not born a Christian. Everyone comes to the Lord on his own. Acceptance of faith is not hereditary. Heredi-TEA in the Lord doesn't come through the bloodline of the parents, but through an individual's acceptance of the atoning blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. One claims faith for himself; it's not ascribed by birth.

However, God's word instructs us in several ways to guide one's children to that end: to share the goodness of the Lord; to tell of His deeds and power in one's own life; Recalling all the ways God has shown His hand.  

Legacy in the spiritual realm is a lifestyle as you can only leave what you live.

As DTS former professor, Howard Hendricks, said, "You cannot impart what you do not possess."

You teach what you know, but you reproduce what you are.
Our older son brings each of his sons to Memphis the summer prior to his kindergarten year for a “heritage trip.”  A trip to Daddy’s hometown to see us, the paternal grandparents, along with Daddy’s former homes, schools and favorite places, and a side trip to Pickwick---where his daddy spent his growing up years.

A time of one-on-one events, coupled with lots of BBQ.

May each Liles generation "set its hope anew on God,..." (Psalm 78:7)

Building relationships is key to sharing a faith that "sticks"......"so the next 

generation might know them, even the children not yet born and they in turn 

will teach their own children." (Psalm 78:6)

"Heredi-TEA" : an individual cuppa of faith served singly (one by one) by the Lord Himself.