A couple of years ago, while speaking at a ladies’ Christmas event, something unexpected happened. I had planned to read portions of the Christmas story from Matthew 2 and Luke 2. But as I began to read from my open Bible, I discovered I did not need it.

The words flowed from memory—KJV style.

Here’s the truly amazing part: I’ve never worked to memorize those sections of Scripture. The passages were imbedded in my heart simply because my father read them to our family every Christmas Eve. My dad desired to keep our hearts and minds on the real meaning of Christmas. And God honored his commitment to impress God’s truth on his children (Deuteronomy 6:4-7).

Although my husband and I intentionally worked to have a positive spiritual influence on our children, I know we also missed many opportunities to impact them with the truth. Often, the demands of daily life derailed good intentions. Sometimes, we allowed the urgent to overshadow the more important.