a sort of providential osmosis

I am still slowly reading Elisabeth Elliot's "The Shaping of a Christian Family" and still loving it.  And I still have a few more quotes bookmarked to share with y'all eventually.  But since I have a quote bookmarked from almost every chapter, may I suggest that you pick up a copy and read it yourself?  :)

But just in case you don't get your own copy... here's another quote:

"No one can make a child love anything, from spinach to sparrows to Scripture, but the parents' love for things exerts a powerful thrust in that direction (and I for one learned to love all of the above).  It works both ways--a son whose father loves sports is likely to love sports; a son whose father hates work is likely to hate work.  Because we heard the majestic cadences of the Authorized Version of the Bible read to us day after day, year in and year out, at home and in church and Sunday school and the Christian institutions we all attended, we learned, finally, to love the Bible, in spite of all the years when we shrugged and sighed and rolled our eyes and poked each other under the table and generally appeared to ignore what was supposed to be going on.  Much more than what we or our parents knew sank in by a sort of providential osmosis.  Like other children, we learned radio commercials too ('Use Ajax, bump-bum, the foaming cleanser, bump-bum, floats the dirt, bumpa-bum, right down the drain, bumpa-bumpa-bumpa-bum,' and 'I'm Chiquita Banana and I--come to say--bananas have to ripen in a--certain way'), but Scripture occupies by far the larger share of the territory of our minds today."
       -Elisabeth Elliot, The Shaping of a Christian Family, p. 83

I find it encouraging to hear even someone who I consider to be such an amazing, godly woman say that she too was a child who poked her siblings under the table during family devotions!  That gives me hope not only for me, but for children everywhere.

It is encouraging to know that although I can’t make Micah love Scripture, I can cultivate an environment that encourages him in that direction, and pray for “a sort of providential osmosis” to take place.

who is sufficient for these things?

   "The future looms before many a new father in a new light, with the sometimes terrifying realization that this job may very well shut out the fulfillment of cherished ambitions.  How will be climb the professional ladder now with so many other demands on his time and strength?  Worse yet, can he even keep chin above water, manage to bring in enough to house, clothe, and feed these small people who have such big needs?  And what about . . . and what if . . . ?
   "A true man will certainly be brought to his knees in contrition and helplessness as he looks into the face of his newborn child, a human soul for whom he is now to answer to God.  Who is sufficient for these things?  An honest man knows he is not ready.  Everything depends on the attitude with which he receives his burden from God--with resentment and a desire to evade it as much as possible, or with gratitude, accompanied by a frank confession of fear, reluctance, or whatever negative feelings may arise, then prayer for help to do the job right, for grace to do what he cannot do without it.  He has God's promise, 'He who fears the LORD has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge' (Prov. 14:26 NIV)."

               -Elisabeth Elliot in her book The Shaping of a Christian Family, pp. 132-133.