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This is something that greatly encouraged me and I thought I would share it with all you parents and those desiring to be. Its from one of the Pastors at the church we've been visiting, here in Brentwood.
www.calvarytruth.org

Calvary Update: The Role of Parents

Deut. 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love
the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with
all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to
be upon your hearts. 7 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. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind
them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses
and on your gates.

These words were addressed to God's people as they were taking their
children into a spiritual mine-field: The Land of Canaan. In many
ways it was like the world we now live in. What are some of the
"mines" you are concerned about?"

Child Psychologist John Rosemond points out that "a child watching
television doesn't attend to any one image for longer than a few
seconds. Multiply that over 5,000 hours, and you have a child who has
difficulty paying attention to anything that doesn't flicker — like a
teacher or a book or a page of work."

According to educational psychologist Jane M. Healy, "TV can deny them
time and a deep involvement in the natural activities of childhood.
Kids have less opportunity to learn, think, reflect, play, control
thinking an dbehaior, use imaginations, solve problems, socialize, and
fool around with things" (Endangered Minds: Why Children Don't Think
and What We Can Do About It).

Every Christian parent wants to see their children transformed by the
Spirit of God, not the spirit of this age. We pray that they won't be
unduly influenced by the crowd but instead develop strong character and
courage. We should remember that the Spirit of God uses the Word of God
to transform lives. This includes your children. But how can parents
communicate the Word of God to their children in such a way that the
child experiences a transformation of life. According to the testimony
of Deuteronomy 6 three things are necessary:

A. There must be a valid model (5, 6)

What is required of a parent who desires to become a valid model to
their children? According to this passage it means that the parent must
be…

(1) Loving God (v 5)
(2) Believing God (v 6)

Notice, you are not required to be a "know it all" but a learner; not
grown but growing. The basic characteristic of this kind of parent is
this: When he hears God's voice he responds! This is what you are to
model to your children.

In 2 Corinthians 3:12-18 Paul describes a good model is one who lives
and serves God "without veils", that is without hiding behind an façade
so that your children will see you as you want them to see rather than
as you really are. We are to model change; the process of
transformation. . . not ultimate transformation. That means that our
children need to see the real person who is being transformed. Not a
projected image that attempts to hide all the flaws and weaknesses.

We have an example of this in I Timothy 4:11-15 where Paul instructs
Timothy…

Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech,
conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who
believe… give attention to the reading of Scripture… Take pains with
these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be
evident to all.

Parent, your responsibility as a valid model is responsiveness to Jesus
Christ whether you are 2 months old in the Lord or twenty years old in
the Lord (see 1 Thes 1:6).

2. There must be a Close Relationship (7)

In I Thes 2:7-12 Paul describes how he got so close to these
spiritual children (the Thessalonian believers) that they knew his true
motive in ministering to them. In fact they saw how he was transformed
by the gospel right before their eyes (1 Thes 1:5). They watched him
like children watch their parents and they saw that he was like a
mother and a father in his relationship to them.

In Acts 20:20 Paul reminds the leaders of the Ephesian church about
how he modeled transformation to the Ephesians by being intimately
involved in their lives.

It was Paul's modis operindi to be with the people to whom he was
ministering. They observed him live for God in real life situations .

How much time do you spend with your child? By age 16, the average
child will have watched 16,000 hours of TV, versus 12,000 hours spent
in school. But how many hours will they have spent engaging in the most
important human relationship they have… the relationship they have with
the primary models God has placed in their life, their parents.

C. There must be Communication in Real Life Situations (7-9)

In order to carry this out you must share life experiences with your
child. Problem: without quantity you can't have quality.

You have heard the statistics many times but they are still startling.
In the average middle class american home:

• The average father of young children under 1 year old estimates the
amount of time he spends daily with his child under to be 20 minutes.
The actual time is only 37.7 seconds.

• The average time spent by fathers of 1-6 graders is 7 minutes!

This is not enough time to encourage, exhort and implore or model
transformation.
They've got to be with you in shared life experiences.

So what is a Christian parent to do if he/she wants to see their
children transformed by the Spirit of God? Start with obeying the
commands God gave to parents in Deuteronomy 6:

(1) Get your heart right—you must be loving God and believing God.
(2) Enrich your relationship with your child. Don't wait till they
lose respect for you. That's what peer pressure will do.
(3) Be communicating God's Word during shared life experiences.

— Frank Griffith