What are the lies you believe as a Christian mom? We're pretty sure this one is one you fight daily... because we do too. We'll look to God's Word together to learn what is from Him and what is a counterfeit we may need to break free from.

Scripture Passage: Genesis 3-4

Cross-references: Luke 4

Resources Mentioned:

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Entrusted with a Child's Heart: The Study We're Most Known For

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Welcome back to the Dwelling

Place Bible Plan for Busy Moms.

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Today we're going to put to rest

what I think is the most common

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lie in all of Christian parenting.

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I'm Stephanie Hickox on behalf of

Entrusted Ministries, and today

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I believe you'll be renewed and

set free by the word of God.

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And I dedicate this episode to my mom's

dear friend, Robin, I know you're enjoying

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your dwelling place with your savior.

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There is so much to focus on in

the opening chapters of scripture

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that we decided to bring you two

episodes, but I could have done

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an entire episode on Genesis three

and a whole nother on Genesis four.

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I encourage you to get your

own eyes on these chapters of

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scriptures if you can fit it in.

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In the earlier episode, we saw

God set a clear boundary and

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distinguished that every tree in

the garden was good for eating.

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Except for the tree of the

knowledge of good and evil.

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Still in chapter three, the serpent

comes to tempt to Adam and Eve.

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I.

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Verse one begins now, the serpent was

more crafty than any other beast of

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the field that the Lord God had made.

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He said to the woman, did God

actually say you shall not

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eat of any tree in the garden?

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And the woman said to the serpent, we

may eat of the fruit of the trees in

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the garden, but God said, you shall

not eat of the fruit of the tree

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that is in the midst of the garden.

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Neither shall you touch it lest you die.

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But the serpent said to the

woman, you will not surely die.

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For God knows that when you eat of it,

your eyes will be opened and you will

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be like God, knowing good and evil.

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So when the woman saw that the tree was

good for food and that it was a delight

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to the eyes and that the tree was to be

desired to make one wise, she took of its

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fruit and ate, and she also gave some to

her husband who was with her and he ate.

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Then the eyes of both were opened

and they knew that they were naked

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and they sewed fig leaves together

and made themselves loin claws.

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And they heard the sound of the Lord

God walking in the garden in the cool

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of the day, and the man and his wife

hid themselves from the presence of the

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Lord God among the trees of the garden.

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But the Lord God called to the

man and said to him, where are you?

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And he said, I heard the sound of

you in the garden, and I was afraid

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because I was naked and I hid myself.

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He said, who told you you were naked?

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Have you eaten of the tree of

which I commanded you not to eat?

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The man said, the woman whom

you gave to be with me, she gave

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me fruit of the tree and I ate.

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Then the Lord God said to the woman,

what is this that you have done?

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The woman said, the serpent

deceived me and I ate the Lord.

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God said to the serpent, because

you have done this curse it.

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Are you above all livestock and

above all beasts of the field on

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your belly, you shall go and dust you

shall eat all the days of your life.

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I will put enmity between you and the

woman, and between your offspring and

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her offspring, he shall bruise your

head and you shall bruise his heel.

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To the woman, he said, I will

surely multiply your pain

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and childbearing in pain.

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You shall bring forth children.

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Your desire shall be for your

husband, and he shall rule over you.

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Sadly, if I had to guess, I

don't think Adam and Eve were

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in the garden for very long.

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The reason why is that their bodies

would've been in perfect working order,

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and Eve didn't get pregnant in the garden.

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She gets pregnant after she's cast

out, that's why I don't think

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they were there long, and you and I

probably wouldn't have been either.

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But God's plans were not

thwarted by their failing.

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God knew before the creation of the world.

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That he would need to send his

son Jesus Christ to save us.

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Even though we can be grieved by the

devastating effects of sin, we can rejoice

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that already in Genesis three we have the

proto Evangelian in which God promises

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that Jesus Christ is going to come.

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to deliver a lethal blow to

Satan, and though he will need

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to die on the cross for our sins,

he will rise again victorious.

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our souls can be rescued by being covered

by the blood of Jesus, but we need our

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bodies to perish so that we can eventually

receive glorified bodies and return

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to a perfect state with God in heaven.

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It was God's grace to cast us out

of the garden, preventing us from

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eating from the tree of life.

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Have you had times where you doubt

God's goodness to you and wondered

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if he's withholding something from

you, just like Adam and Eve did here.

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They were in a perfect location

with everything they could possibly

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need, and they had the perfect

parent, but they still chose to sin.

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And this is what I think is the biggest

lie in all of Christian parenting.

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We so often think that if we provide the

perfect environment for our kids and the

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perfect books and limit screen time and

give them adventure and the right vitamins

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and feed them well, and introduce them to

great friends and pick the right schooling

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atmosphere, and we might not say perfect,

but if we can just be good enough mothers,

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then we can prevent our kids from sinning.

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It's an absolute lie.

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Adam and Eve had everything they

needed and were with a perfect

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father, and they were still tempted.

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Now, this fact may bring you

freedom, or perhaps it makes you

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afraid that you actually have

less control than you realized.

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But what you're doing right now by soaking

in the word of God and praying for your

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kids is exactly what you need to be doing.

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They will each need to make

choices in their lives.

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And they'll get to decide if

they surrender their hearts

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to Jesus Christ or not.

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But we can be wise, we

can set good boundaries.

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We certainly can pray for them, and

we can warn them when we see them

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tempted just as the Lord did with Cain.

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Let's look at Genesis four to see more

of how God interacted with his creation.

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Genesis four, verse one now, Adam

knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived

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and bore Cain saying, I have gotten

a man with the help of the Lord.

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And again, she bore his brother Abel.

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Now, Abel was a keeper of the sheep

and Cain a worker of the ground.

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In the course of time, Cain

brought to the Lord an offering

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of the fruit of the ground.

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And Abel also brought of the firstborn

of his flock and of their fat portions.

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And the Lord had regard

for Abel in his offering.

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But for Cain and his

offering, he had no regard.

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So Cain was very angry and his face fell.

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The Lord said to Cain, why are you

angry and why has your face fallen?

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If you do well, will you not be accepted?

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And if you do not do well,

sin is crouching at the door.

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Its desire is contrary to you,

but you must rule over it.

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Cain spoke to Abel, his brother, and

when they were in the field, Cain rose up

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against his brother Abel and killed him.

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Then the Lord said to Cain,

where is Abel, your brother?

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He said, I do not know

am I my brother's keeper?

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And the Lord said, what have you done?

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The voice of your brother's blood

is crying to me from the ground.

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Here is another passage that recently

as I looked back and I understood

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the original Hebrew, it absolutely

opened my eyes to the heartbreak

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that Eve must have experienced.

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We know in from chapter three

that Eve helped usher sin into

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this world with her husband Adam.

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She disobeyed God, and for that they

were cast out of the garden eve has

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already experienced dire consequences

for her decision, but when she

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delivers cane, she says, I have gotten

a man with the help of the Lord.

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In the Hebrew, it is best translated

and in the oldest manuscripts

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it is translated the following.

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I have gotten a man, the Lord, she

really believed that this would be the

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promise rescuer that she heard about.

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When the Lord said to the serpent, I

will put enmity between you and the

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woman, between your offspring and

Hersa offspring, he shall bruise your

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head and you shall bruise his heel.

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Eve believed that this son was

the one that was going to restore

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them to their edenic state.

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Think for a moment about her

watching her son grow, having such

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hope, but realizing through the

years, maybe this isn't a redeemer.

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Maybe he isn't going to fix what

I've broken and I cannot imagine

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the pain that she experienced when

her son actually killed his brother.

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Can you imagine as a mother

knowing that your sin ushered

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in the murder of your child?

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I bet there are moms listening today, and

whether it's a simple mistake you've made.

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Or maybe it's a moral decision you

made before they were even born

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and you're seeing the consequences.

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Jesus can rescue us from the shame

of our sin, but he also wants us to

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cast those cares upon him and walk in

freedom knowing that we can't fix it.

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Only God can, and god has a plan

for all the ways that we fall short

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and we will in our children's lives.

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We must adjust our expectations

of ourselves and know that

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we serve a perfect savior.

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If you're holding onto any shame for

mistakes you've made before parenting

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or in parenting, take a moment

to release those before the Lord.

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Lord, we come before you knowing

we are sinners as mothers.

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That we make mistakes and we have made

mistakes, and we just ask that you

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would redeem those for your glory.

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Help us to recognize our need for

you and to cast our cares upon you.

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We pray that just as you warned Cain,

that when we or our children are

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struggling with temptation, that we

would look to you as the way out,

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just as Jesus modeled on this earth.

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And move to bring each of our

children into complete and total

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surrender to you, Jesus Christ.

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May we know and may our children know

that you are the only source of true joy.

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In the winsome name of

Jesus Christ we pray.

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Amen.

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Multiple times already.

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We've seen God set a boundary.

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Warn his creation not to sin,

and then ask questions to get

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to their hearts after they do.

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If you've taken and trusted with the

child's heart, you're probably thinking,

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this sounds like the full circle.

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And if you haven't, this is a truly

biblical model for walking with your

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kids to help them humble their hearts.

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in printable we'll see you tomorrow.