In our study of responsible parenting we have considered the importance of providing security by cultivating a healthy marriage. Ideally both parents will model the life they would like their children to emulate. If your marriage is not healthy, or you happen to be a single parent, then it is important to realize that you have the responsibility to model what you would want your children to become. For this to happen we have emphasized the importance of prayer. With all of this being done you then must look for the teachable moment and buy it up. Sometimes you can cultivate such a moment through a structured process such as regular family devotional times. At other times it will happen best in a spontaneous way. God directed the Israelites in how this is to happen in Deuteronomy 6:6-9: “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” Your life as a parent should be an open book for your children to read 24/7. As opportunity presents itself make the most of it by buying up the teachable moment. Paul said in Ephesians 6:3, “Fathers, do not exasperate your children, instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” In our next visit we will look at how this happened in the life of Timothy.