Wow! What a summer! We have had a very busy and wonderful summer! As I came through the summer, it became increasingly difficult to carve out time to write on my blog and know that it would be coherent! It was a wonderful summer, but now we are settling back into the school routine, so I will try to be more regular. Just a word about our activities of the summer: We had a camping trip to South Carolina for almost two weeks in June. In July we took a train trip to Denver for a week. And in August we had our family (13 of us in all now) camping trip to Southern Indiana for part of a week. In between we entertained guests from Minnesota, Ohio and Indiana. So I was planning for activities most of the time except when we were actually doing the activities! It was great and we praise the Lord for the opportunity to spend such a wonderful and satisfying summer!
I am going to go on with my discussion of characteristics we want to train into our children as a result of the admonition in Proverbs 22:6. We often hear or quote that verse, but I wonder how often we sit down to think about what we should actually be training into our children. I have discussed the concept of being sure of their Salvation and making sure they understand their need to “fear the Lord”. We also discussed how to teach your children how to have some Biblical discernment. Today, I would like to encourage you to make sure your children understand the importance of having a regular and meaningful prayer life.
So why should we teach our kids the importance of prayer? Well, there are many verses in the New Testament that tell us of the benefits of praying and Jesus Himself taught us the pattern for prayer in Matthew 6:9-13. So the first and main reason for teaching our children to pray is because it is a Biblical command. Some other reasons include the fact that we are to be thankful and this is done in prayer. We are also to confess our sins which is also accomplished by prayer. Confession is actually included in “The Lord’s Prayer”. We are also to pray for those “who despitefully use you”. We are to pray for the sick. We are to pray for our government leaders. And there are many other specific reasons for praying.
As I look back over my life, it was my grandfather and my parents who were probably the most influential in my life in the area of prayer. Children are not born with an innate understanding of the need for prayer. It is something that needs to be taught, both in words and by actions. I have heard it said that one of the main reasons children walk away from the faith of their parents is the fact that parents teach concepts to their children and then the children don’t see the teaching in action in the lives of their parents.
So how can we as mothers play a role in teaching this concept of prayer to our children? Under most circumstances, we are with the children a higher percentage of the time than anyone else, so we have a large responsibility to teach these concepts to the kids. The obvious thing for us to do is to pray with the children each and every day. Make prayer a part of their daily activities. Teach them everything you know about prayer and then search the Scriptures to find all you can about the reasons for praying. Then pass this on to them. Pray for things as a family and make a big deal when God answers! I truly believe from my experience of raising children that one of the things God does to build the faith of a child is to answer prayers for them regularly! Let the children know that you (and their dad if he prays with you) pray for them regularly and that there is no circumstance that is too small or too big for you to take it to God in prayer! Take them to Prayer Meeting and let them hear other adults pray. Can you remember the older Godly men and women in your life that prayed in Prayer Meeting and sounded like they were speaking face to face with the living God?
Finally, it is important to pray at every meal, before going to bed and any other regular time during the day that is convenient for you and your family, but it is also important to make prayer a living part of every day and include God in every decision and every challenge and every need of every day! This will speak volumes to your children of how important prayer is in your life and this will go a long way in making prayer a very important part of their lives!
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Monday, August 25, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Summary of Deuteronomy 6
I hope you all had a happy Mother’s Day with your mother or with your children! All of my children and grandchildren were home and it was a terrific day! There were 13 of us in church on Mother’s Day morning and we needed TWO rows! That was the fulfillment of one of my prayers and hopes!
I thought I was finished with Deuteronomy 6, but I have one more thought that I would like to insert before I go on to another topic. I was talking with one of my daughters over the past couple of weeks and it gave me a thought concerning something that has been on my mind for a time now. There is a verse in James 4:14 which says, “Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” Now that verse could come across as a bit fatalistic or depressing if we don’t catch the thoughts behind the message. I have been thinking about it for a time and this is what I have come up with from the perspective of family issues. Some of you may have thought this through long ago, but as a math person, it takes me time to think through things that are a bit more abstract in nature!
In the discussion of Deuteronomy 6, I discussed the importance of putting reminders around your home that would remind your children of their heritage, both their family heritage and their ‘spiritual’ heritage. After thinking about James 4:14 and the concept of the “vapor”, I have come to the conclusion that in reality all we have is this present moment! Everything else we have in our minds to think about is either a memory or an anticipation of some future event. We can hold something in our hand that is with us for this one moment, but the future or past for that item is only in our minds as a memory or an anticipation! So how does this relate to Deut. 6? I think it means that it is more important than ever that we make sure that our children grow up with LOTS of memories and it is even more important that we make those memories meaningful! If a huge percentage of their mind is full of memories, wouldn’t we want those memories to be good and wholesome and something they can grow with? Hence we see the idea that we as parents are responsible to see to it that there are things around our homes and also events that will bring good memories to their minds! God forbid that when they think about growing up they would remember the television, or the computer or the video games more than they remember Mom or Dad reading them some stories or playing games with them or having family devotions at a scheduled time. God forbid that they would remember everyone scurrying around getting ready to go off in all different directions every morning more than they would remember family outings or “family devotions” or “family game night”!
So what do we do to make sure that the memories that our children remember are the right memories? Some of that was discussed in a previous entry, but you should start right now and determine each and every day that you will do one thing that you would like your children to remember and that would give them some warm memories of their growing up years. Do one thing that would help them remember the spiritual emphasis you displayed in your home. It takes a lifetime to live a life, so don’t assume anything is too late! Start where you are and take little steps and you will be surprised how things will grow and become what you would like them to be.
Trust this makes sense to you. It has been mulling around in my mind and I trust God has enabled me to give you the gist of what I am trying to share! We are all on this journey called life and just as I like it when someone gives me clues as to where the best campgrounds are and best places to eat when we go on vacation, I trust we are that desirous to know some of the road signs on this journey called “parenting”!
I thought I was finished with Deuteronomy 6, but I have one more thought that I would like to insert before I go on to another topic. I was talking with one of my daughters over the past couple of weeks and it gave me a thought concerning something that has been on my mind for a time now. There is a verse in James 4:14 which says, “Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” Now that verse could come across as a bit fatalistic or depressing if we don’t catch the thoughts behind the message. I have been thinking about it for a time and this is what I have come up with from the perspective of family issues. Some of you may have thought this through long ago, but as a math person, it takes me time to think through things that are a bit more abstract in nature!
In the discussion of Deuteronomy 6, I discussed the importance of putting reminders around your home that would remind your children of their heritage, both their family heritage and their ‘spiritual’ heritage. After thinking about James 4:14 and the concept of the “vapor”, I have come to the conclusion that in reality all we have is this present moment! Everything else we have in our minds to think about is either a memory or an anticipation of some future event. We can hold something in our hand that is with us for this one moment, but the future or past for that item is only in our minds as a memory or an anticipation! So how does this relate to Deut. 6? I think it means that it is more important than ever that we make sure that our children grow up with LOTS of memories and it is even more important that we make those memories meaningful! If a huge percentage of their mind is full of memories, wouldn’t we want those memories to be good and wholesome and something they can grow with? Hence we see the idea that we as parents are responsible to see to it that there are things around our homes and also events that will bring good memories to their minds! God forbid that when they think about growing up they would remember the television, or the computer or the video games more than they remember Mom or Dad reading them some stories or playing games with them or having family devotions at a scheduled time. God forbid that they would remember everyone scurrying around getting ready to go off in all different directions every morning more than they would remember family outings or “family devotions” or “family game night”!
So what do we do to make sure that the memories that our children remember are the right memories? Some of that was discussed in a previous entry, but you should start right now and determine each and every day that you will do one thing that you would like your children to remember and that would give them some warm memories of their growing up years. Do one thing that would help them remember the spiritual emphasis you displayed in your home. It takes a lifetime to live a life, so don’t assume anything is too late! Start where you are and take little steps and you will be surprised how things will grow and become what you would like them to be.
Trust this makes sense to you. It has been mulling around in my mind and I trust God has enabled me to give you the gist of what I am trying to share! We are all on this journey called life and just as I like it when someone gives me clues as to where the best campgrounds are and best places to eat when we go on vacation, I trust we are that desirous to know some of the road signs on this journey called “parenting”!
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Thou Shalt Fear the Lord Thy God
Deuteronomy 6:13 a.) “Thou shalt fear the Lord Thy God…”
There is one more concept in Deuteronomy 6 that I would like to cover as it pertains to teaching your children. The concept to which I am referring is the one above from
verse 13. I truly believe that the idea that we should have a healthy fear of God has been lost in our culture. I know there were times in the past when there was a very serious fear of God to the point that people almost lost the fact that God loves us, but I think now we have come too far the other way and talked about God’s love to the exclusion of the need to fear Him.
Proverbs 9:10 states that, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom…” I am not a language scholar of any kind, but I am going to deduce from this verse that it is very hard for one to be wise without fearing the Lord! Now a person could possibly be very smart and be very logical, but to be wise requires “the fear of the Lord”.
Now, let me use an example from my home where I grew up to show you how I think this plays out. My dad was the disciplinarian in our home and I knew it and had a very healthy fear of him, especially if I had made decisions that I knew he wouldn’t consider to be very “wise”. He had very large hands and besides that, he had a leather strap that he left hanging behind his bedroom door. Now my dad and mom had generally taught us how they thought things should be done, and we learned that if we veered from their desires for how things should be done without good reason or without consulting them, we would reap the results either by hand or with the strap. This cultivated a certain amount of fear in our hearts for my dad!
God has given us an instruction book and it is called the Bible. In that book, He tells us how we should conduct ourselves and how we should live our lives. Now, one difference with God is that His discipline isn’t always immediate, so we can get lulled into thinking that maybe we got away with something. However, God’s Word does promise consequences of sin and they will come! Galatians 6:7 says that, “Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap”. I heard one preacher say that “We reap what we sow, later than we sow, and more than we sow.” In this present culture, children have learned that most often they can get by with sin because they are often not called to account for their actions! How often do you hear a child being told to do something and threatened if he doesn’t comply and he just ignores his parent and continues on his own way? He gets another “warning” and continues to ignore and maybe another “warning” and finally the parent gives up and forgets the request and the consequence. When that sort of thing happens, that child learns that if he ignores his parent long enough, his parent will sooner or later just drop the whole thing and he, the child, is off the hook. In school, children are taught that they can have a number of chances to get something right and still receive the reward that was promised to the one who completed the assignment correctly the first time. In other words, children are taught that they never really have to give account and they will soon transfer all of this kind of thinking over into their view of God. The reason God said that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom is so that it would be a deterrent for us as we make decisions in our lives about things we should or should not do. Just as the strap behind my dad’s door was a reminder to me that I needed to obey my dad, God’s Word is our reminder that God has set the standards and we need to follow them! And it is not OUR choice! When we disobey, that is sin! (James 4:17) We desperately need to teach this concept to our kids in our homes as they WILL NOT learn it from the culture! And a healthy fear of God will give them great wisdom as they make the decisions that will come for them throughout their lives!
Have a great weekend and next week I will move on to some other material.
There is one more concept in Deuteronomy 6 that I would like to cover as it pertains to teaching your children. The concept to which I am referring is the one above from
verse 13. I truly believe that the idea that we should have a healthy fear of God has been lost in our culture. I know there were times in the past when there was a very serious fear of God to the point that people almost lost the fact that God loves us, but I think now we have come too far the other way and talked about God’s love to the exclusion of the need to fear Him.
Proverbs 9:10 states that, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom…” I am not a language scholar of any kind, but I am going to deduce from this verse that it is very hard for one to be wise without fearing the Lord! Now a person could possibly be very smart and be very logical, but to be wise requires “the fear of the Lord”.
Now, let me use an example from my home where I grew up to show you how I think this plays out. My dad was the disciplinarian in our home and I knew it and had a very healthy fear of him, especially if I had made decisions that I knew he wouldn’t consider to be very “wise”. He had very large hands and besides that, he had a leather strap that he left hanging behind his bedroom door. Now my dad and mom had generally taught us how they thought things should be done, and we learned that if we veered from their desires for how things should be done without good reason or without consulting them, we would reap the results either by hand or with the strap. This cultivated a certain amount of fear in our hearts for my dad!
God has given us an instruction book and it is called the Bible. In that book, He tells us how we should conduct ourselves and how we should live our lives. Now, one difference with God is that His discipline isn’t always immediate, so we can get lulled into thinking that maybe we got away with something. However, God’s Word does promise consequences of sin and they will come! Galatians 6:7 says that, “Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap”. I heard one preacher say that “We reap what we sow, later than we sow, and more than we sow.” In this present culture, children have learned that most often they can get by with sin because they are often not called to account for their actions! How often do you hear a child being told to do something and threatened if he doesn’t comply and he just ignores his parent and continues on his own way? He gets another “warning” and continues to ignore and maybe another “warning” and finally the parent gives up and forgets the request and the consequence. When that sort of thing happens, that child learns that if he ignores his parent long enough, his parent will sooner or later just drop the whole thing and he, the child, is off the hook. In school, children are taught that they can have a number of chances to get something right and still receive the reward that was promised to the one who completed the assignment correctly the first time. In other words, children are taught that they never really have to give account and they will soon transfer all of this kind of thinking over into their view of God. The reason God said that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom is so that it would be a deterrent for us as we make decisions in our lives about things we should or should not do. Just as the strap behind my dad’s door was a reminder to me that I needed to obey my dad, God’s Word is our reminder that God has set the standards and we need to follow them! And it is not OUR choice! When we disobey, that is sin! (James 4:17) We desperately need to teach this concept to our kids in our homes as they WILL NOT learn it from the culture! And a healthy fear of God will give them great wisdom as they make the decisions that will come for them throughout their lives!
Have a great weekend and next week I will move on to some other material.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Help Your Children Remember
Deuteronomy 6:8&9 “And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.”
(I once again need to apologize for a lapse here, but my husband was on spring break and we took a few days away to be together and to see our family that lives in the Dayton area. We had a great time, but it is always good to get home.)
Last time I posted, it was concerning the mandates in the verses in Deuteronomy that precede these two verses. Now, I am not qualified to exposit about these passages, but I am just trying to share some of the principles concerning child-rearing that I have gleaned from this passage over the years of my experience in raising three children.
I see in these verses the command to the Israelites to post something in three different places. In order to accomplish that task, it is necessary to know what it is they were to post! If you look back to verse 6 of this chapter, you will see that it is “these words” which we talked about in the last entry. And if you look ahead one more verse, you will see that they have to do with our love for the Lord. So it is that they were told to bind these words for a sign on their hands, put them between their eyes and write them on the posts of their house and gates. That command was specific to those people, but I think that the principle applies to us today!
I don’t think that we need to figure out how to place anything between our eyes or on our hands, but I do think that we can place appropriate things around our homes that will remind our children and others that this is a place where God is remembered and honored. If you look around your home, will your children be reminded to “Love the Lord their God” or will they be encouraged to love the world and its system? Do they see reminders of God and His plan and expectations for them, or do they see all the “stuff” that reminds them of the saying, “He who dies with the most toys wins”?
What then are some ways of displaying a God-loving and God-honoring attitude in your home? Is there a place in your home where your family meets daily for the purpose of family devotions and prayer? I am wondering if there is a Bible or a devotional book on your breakfast table that reminds your children that this is where God’s Word is read each morning before your family leaves the house for the day in order to give everyone encouragement as they head out to face the things that come along as we face the world each and every morning. Is there a Bible story book that reminds them that this is how we end each day before we all head off to bed after a busy day? Are there books on your bookshelf that encourage your family to study the deeper truths of God’s Word? Is there good music available for your family from good Christian children’s music to quiet devotional music for the family? These are just some of the ways of “posting these words” on the door posts of your home. We will all have different ways of accomplishing this mandate, but the important thing is that you DO IT! Start small, but start with a plan. Decide today that you will do one thing to make your home a place where God is remembered and honored. Pick one of these ideas or think of one of your own, but get started today! If you think, “Sometime I will have to do that” it won’t happen! And remember, your children are growing every day and they will some day leave home and then it will be too late! You only get one chance to raise your children. You can’t get to the end and decide, “I guess I blew it that time! Let’s try this again!” So get started on some of these things and let’s raise children that remember and have as their goal to “Love the Lord ‘their’ God with all ‘their’ heart, and with all ‘their’ soul and with all ‘their’ might!”
(I once again need to apologize for a lapse here, but my husband was on spring break and we took a few days away to be together and to see our family that lives in the Dayton area. We had a great time, but it is always good to get home.)
Last time I posted, it was concerning the mandates in the verses in Deuteronomy that precede these two verses. Now, I am not qualified to exposit about these passages, but I am just trying to share some of the principles concerning child-rearing that I have gleaned from this passage over the years of my experience in raising three children.
I see in these verses the command to the Israelites to post something in three different places. In order to accomplish that task, it is necessary to know what it is they were to post! If you look back to verse 6 of this chapter, you will see that it is “these words” which we talked about in the last entry. And if you look ahead one more verse, you will see that they have to do with our love for the Lord. So it is that they were told to bind these words for a sign on their hands, put them between their eyes and write them on the posts of their house and gates. That command was specific to those people, but I think that the principle applies to us today!
I don’t think that we need to figure out how to place anything between our eyes or on our hands, but I do think that we can place appropriate things around our homes that will remind our children and others that this is a place where God is remembered and honored. If you look around your home, will your children be reminded to “Love the Lord their God” or will they be encouraged to love the world and its system? Do they see reminders of God and His plan and expectations for them, or do they see all the “stuff” that reminds them of the saying, “He who dies with the most toys wins”?
What then are some ways of displaying a God-loving and God-honoring attitude in your home? Is there a place in your home where your family meets daily for the purpose of family devotions and prayer? I am wondering if there is a Bible or a devotional book on your breakfast table that reminds your children that this is where God’s Word is read each morning before your family leaves the house for the day in order to give everyone encouragement as they head out to face the things that come along as we face the world each and every morning. Is there a Bible story book that reminds them that this is how we end each day before we all head off to bed after a busy day? Are there books on your bookshelf that encourage your family to study the deeper truths of God’s Word? Is there good music available for your family from good Christian children’s music to quiet devotional music for the family? These are just some of the ways of “posting these words” on the door posts of your home. We will all have different ways of accomplishing this mandate, but the important thing is that you DO IT! Start small, but start with a plan. Decide today that you will do one thing to make your home a place where God is remembered and honored. Pick one of these ideas or think of one of your own, but get started today! If you think, “Sometime I will have to do that” it won’t happen! And remember, your children are growing every day and they will some day leave home and then it will be too late! You only get one chance to raise your children. You can’t get to the end and decide, “I guess I blew it that time! Let’s try this again!” So get started on some of these things and let’s raise children that remember and have as their goal to “Love the Lord ‘their’ God with all ‘their’ heart, and with all ‘their’ soul and with all ‘their’ might!”
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Teach Your Children Diligently
Deuteronomy 6:5-7 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. YOU SHALL TEACH THEM DILIGENTLY TO YOUR CHILDREN, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up.”
There is a lot in these few short verses! I will not be going into the first verse about loving God with all of our heart, soul and strength! That is a major challenge in itself! That command is pretty clear and pretty much covers the manner in which we should live our lives! You know at least some of what you need to do in order to flesh that out, but I want to go on into what it means to teach our children diligently. What should we teach them and what are some specific things we can do to make sure this commandment gets followed in our homes? The thoughts in Deuteronomy 6 will be covered in two or three postings, so I will just be covering some thoughts about what needs to be taught and some practical ways to accomplish it.
According to Webster’s dictionary, the word ‘diligent’ means “to persevere with careful steady work”. This implies that teaching diligently isn’t something that can be accomplished in a very short time. It is my understanding that “teaching diligently” would take a lifetime. Now over the lifetime of our children from babyhood to adulthood, the style and content of the teaching would change, but it looks to me like it is an ongoing effort. There is no implication that there is a starting and an ending time.
So, what is it that we are to teach? Verse 6 says that we are to teach “these words which I command you today”. Then we look one verse ahead of that and we see in verse 5 the command to “love the Lord your God with all your heart…soul and ...strength.” So from this, I understand that we are to teach our children that God is to have first place in their lives! Well, as I have been thinking about this, I am not really sure that any of us really knows what that would look like, but I do know that most of us are not there and it is something that we need to work on VERY ‘diligently’!
So what are some practical and specific ways that we can accomplish this teaching? Verse7 tells us to “talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up.” This pretty much encompasses the whole 24 hours in the day! I think this means that our Christian faith is pretty much a way of life and not something we put on and take off as we walk through our life! It means that when we are sitting in our homes, there should be reference to God and our Lord Jesus as if He were there in person. At first it may take effort to try to work conversation about God into your everyday household conversation, and you should take that effort to do it! For instance, when you are enjoying a fresh homemade cookie, talk about how thankful you are that God has provided us with stoves for baking good cookies. Talk about how wonderful it is that God made things grow so you could have the chocolate chips that are in the cookies! And of course, there is the usual prayer at the meals, but it needs to be more than that. When you are out walking (and you should be making time to be out walking with your children), talk about all the beauty and things that God has created. Probably one of the easiest things is to approach this idea by repeating all of the things for which you can be thankful. When you lie down is a good time to rehearse all of the wonders of the day and if the day wasn’t so wonderful, you can remember that God was there and gave strength for the day and how He has good plans for tomorrow. And of course, when you get up is a good time to pray and ask for God’s help and guidance for a new day! One big condition about all of this is that you need to be there in order to accomplish this. This will take time and it will take planning at first, but the rewards are eternal and well worth the effort!
Just one short thought to finish off for today is to remember that one of the main ways to accomplish this whole task is to live a good example of Godliness and thankfulness. As your children go from small children to being adults, it probably becomes more important than ever to live a Godly and thankful example. Adult children need you to show them how to live in the culture that is constantly changing. It is typical for your example to become more important while the words you speak become fewer.
Next time, I will continue this thought and cover some more in Deuteronomy 6. Trust you will have a great week and now I am off to make sure that I accomplish these things as I live my life before my adult children and my young grandchildren!
There is a lot in these few short verses! I will not be going into the first verse about loving God with all of our heart, soul and strength! That is a major challenge in itself! That command is pretty clear and pretty much covers the manner in which we should live our lives! You know at least some of what you need to do in order to flesh that out, but I want to go on into what it means to teach our children diligently. What should we teach them and what are some specific things we can do to make sure this commandment gets followed in our homes? The thoughts in Deuteronomy 6 will be covered in two or three postings, so I will just be covering some thoughts about what needs to be taught and some practical ways to accomplish it.
According to Webster’s dictionary, the word ‘diligent’ means “to persevere with careful steady work”. This implies that teaching diligently isn’t something that can be accomplished in a very short time. It is my understanding that “teaching diligently” would take a lifetime. Now over the lifetime of our children from babyhood to adulthood, the style and content of the teaching would change, but it looks to me like it is an ongoing effort. There is no implication that there is a starting and an ending time.
So, what is it that we are to teach? Verse 6 says that we are to teach “these words which I command you today”. Then we look one verse ahead of that and we see in verse 5 the command to “love the Lord your God with all your heart…soul and ...strength.” So from this, I understand that we are to teach our children that God is to have first place in their lives! Well, as I have been thinking about this, I am not really sure that any of us really knows what that would look like, but I do know that most of us are not there and it is something that we need to work on VERY ‘diligently’!
So what are some practical and specific ways that we can accomplish this teaching? Verse7 tells us to “talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up.” This pretty much encompasses the whole 24 hours in the day! I think this means that our Christian faith is pretty much a way of life and not something we put on and take off as we walk through our life! It means that when we are sitting in our homes, there should be reference to God and our Lord Jesus as if He were there in person. At first it may take effort to try to work conversation about God into your everyday household conversation, and you should take that effort to do it! For instance, when you are enjoying a fresh homemade cookie, talk about how thankful you are that God has provided us with stoves for baking good cookies. Talk about how wonderful it is that God made things grow so you could have the chocolate chips that are in the cookies! And of course, there is the usual prayer at the meals, but it needs to be more than that. When you are out walking (and you should be making time to be out walking with your children), talk about all the beauty and things that God has created. Probably one of the easiest things is to approach this idea by repeating all of the things for which you can be thankful. When you lie down is a good time to rehearse all of the wonders of the day and if the day wasn’t so wonderful, you can remember that God was there and gave strength for the day and how He has good plans for tomorrow. And of course, when you get up is a good time to pray and ask for God’s help and guidance for a new day! One big condition about all of this is that you need to be there in order to accomplish this. This will take time and it will take planning at first, but the rewards are eternal and well worth the effort!
Just one short thought to finish off for today is to remember that one of the main ways to accomplish this whole task is to live a good example of Godliness and thankfulness. As your children go from small children to being adults, it probably becomes more important than ever to live a Godly and thankful example. Adult children need you to show them how to live in the culture that is constantly changing. It is typical for your example to become more important while the words you speak become fewer.
Next time, I will continue this thought and cover some more in Deuteronomy 6. Trust you will have a great week and now I am off to make sure that I accomplish these things as I live my life before my adult children and my young grandchildren!
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Where is Our Hope?
This week is what is commonly referred to as Holy Week by the Christian culture. As we come to the celebration of the Resurrection of our Savior which we will be celebrating this Sunday, let’s do so with great hope and joy! This is the very reason we can sing and rejoice in spite of the things going on around us in our world and more specifically, our own United States of America.
I want to take a short time to just remind you of what this week is all about. And I want to remind you to be sure that your children understand the significance of this week to the best of their ability for their age. If they are learning from our culture, they will come to the conclusion that Easter is about bunnies, candy, eggs, clothes, etc. If they go to church, they will probably hear about the Resurrection, but will one hour in church erase all of the distractions that the culture places on this most significant day?
This is an opportunity for you as parents to point them to the Savior and away from the frivolities of the culture! That doesn’t mean that they will not hear the things that the culture would like them to focus on, but you can make a difference in their lives this week by making sure they know what we are celebrating!
One of the things you can do is to separate any celebrations you do related to eggs, candy, bunnies, etc. for this very special week. We can all remember how much fun it is to hide and find eggs and spring is truly something to be celebrated (especially if you live in Michigan where winter seems longer than any other season), but those things can be done prior to this week or after this week. We used to color eggs a week or two ahead of Easter and call them “spring eggs”. And the new clothes were just for spring and not necessarily special for Easter Sunday morning. If children are overwhelmed with eggs and candy and baskets and clothes on Easter Sunday morning, how will they learn that the real reason for the special Easter celebration is the Resurrection of our Savior? It is also helpful, if there is an opportunity, to take them to a Good Friday Service so they can get the whole picture of why Jesus came. It would be very meaningful to your young children to hear of the agony and suffering of the Savior and it will give you opportunities to explain some things at home over the whole Easter weekend!
Let’s be sure that our children are clear on the Resurrection events that mean so much to our faith and let’s make Easter Sunday morning a time of remembering what God has done for us in the death and Resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ.
“…And he (Pilate) said to the Jews, ‘Behold your King!’ But they cried out, ‘Away with Him, Away with Him! Crucify him!’ … And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called ‘the Place of the Skull’, … where they crucified Him, …So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’ And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. … Then they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in strips of linen with the spices (and laid Him in a new tomb). …Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early…and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.” (Excerpts are from John 19 & 20 – NKJV) “He is not here for He is risen as He said. Come see the place where the Lord lay.”
Matthew 28:6.
Here are a couple of recipes I would like to share with you. You may even want to try them as a part of your Easter dinner.
ESCALLOPED PINEAPPLE:
3 eggs
1 stick butter – melted
1 1/3 cup sugar
1 large can crushed pineapple
4 cups cubed day-old French bread
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Put bread cubes in a greased casserole dish. Mix eggs and sugar. Add melted butter and pineapple to egg mixture. Pour over bread and bake for about 45 minutes. Serve right out of the oven.
COCONUT CREAM PIE:
Crust: 1 cup flour
½ cup butter flavored shortening
2 Tablespoons cold water
Mix flour and shortening until it resembles coarse meal.
Add water and mix to form a ball.
Press into a 9-inch pie pan and bake for 9-10 minutes at 425 degrees.
Filling: ¾ cup sugar
¼ cup corn starch
Mix the above in a pan and add the following.
3 cups milk
3 egg yolks
Mix milk and yolks and add slowly to sugar mixture.
Cook this mixture over medium heat until it boils and thickens. Cook for one minute more stirring constantly.
Remove from heat and add: 1/2 cup of coconut
1 ½ tablespoons butter
1 tsp. vanilla
Pour warm filling into pie crust and top with meringue.
Meringue:
3 egg whites
3/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
Beat on high for one minute. Add:
6 tablespoons of sugar beating after each addition
Spread meringue over filling. Sprinkle with ¼ cup coconut.
Bake completed pie for 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees.
Cool before serving.
Have a very blessed Easter and next week we will get back to our focus on prayer and my plan to “stand in the gap” for our election.
I want to take a short time to just remind you of what this week is all about. And I want to remind you to be sure that your children understand the significance of this week to the best of their ability for their age. If they are learning from our culture, they will come to the conclusion that Easter is about bunnies, candy, eggs, clothes, etc. If they go to church, they will probably hear about the Resurrection, but will one hour in church erase all of the distractions that the culture places on this most significant day?
This is an opportunity for you as parents to point them to the Savior and away from the frivolities of the culture! That doesn’t mean that they will not hear the things that the culture would like them to focus on, but you can make a difference in their lives this week by making sure they know what we are celebrating!
One of the things you can do is to separate any celebrations you do related to eggs, candy, bunnies, etc. for this very special week. We can all remember how much fun it is to hide and find eggs and spring is truly something to be celebrated (especially if you live in Michigan where winter seems longer than any other season), but those things can be done prior to this week or after this week. We used to color eggs a week or two ahead of Easter and call them “spring eggs”. And the new clothes were just for spring and not necessarily special for Easter Sunday morning. If children are overwhelmed with eggs and candy and baskets and clothes on Easter Sunday morning, how will they learn that the real reason for the special Easter celebration is the Resurrection of our Savior? It is also helpful, if there is an opportunity, to take them to a Good Friday Service so they can get the whole picture of why Jesus came. It would be very meaningful to your young children to hear of the agony and suffering of the Savior and it will give you opportunities to explain some things at home over the whole Easter weekend!
Let’s be sure that our children are clear on the Resurrection events that mean so much to our faith and let’s make Easter Sunday morning a time of remembering what God has done for us in the death and Resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ.
“…And he (Pilate) said to the Jews, ‘Behold your King!’ But they cried out, ‘Away with Him, Away with Him! Crucify him!’ … And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called ‘the Place of the Skull’, … where they crucified Him, …So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’ And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. … Then they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in strips of linen with the spices (and laid Him in a new tomb). …Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early…and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.” (Excerpts are from John 19 & 20 – NKJV) “He is not here for He is risen as He said. Come see the place where the Lord lay.”
Matthew 28:6.
Here are a couple of recipes I would like to share with you. You may even want to try them as a part of your Easter dinner.
ESCALLOPED PINEAPPLE:
3 eggs
1 stick butter – melted
1 1/3 cup sugar
1 large can crushed pineapple
4 cups cubed day-old French bread
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Put bread cubes in a greased casserole dish. Mix eggs and sugar. Add melted butter and pineapple to egg mixture. Pour over bread and bake for about 45 minutes. Serve right out of the oven.
COCONUT CREAM PIE:
Crust: 1 cup flour
½ cup butter flavored shortening
2 Tablespoons cold water
Mix flour and shortening until it resembles coarse meal.
Add water and mix to form a ball.
Press into a 9-inch pie pan and bake for 9-10 minutes at 425 degrees.
Filling: ¾ cup sugar
¼ cup corn starch
Mix the above in a pan and add the following.
3 cups milk
3 egg yolks
Mix milk and yolks and add slowly to sugar mixture.
Cook this mixture over medium heat until it boils and thickens. Cook for one minute more stirring constantly.
Remove from heat and add: 1/2 cup of coconut
1 ½ tablespoons butter
1 tsp. vanilla
Pour warm filling into pie crust and top with meringue.
Meringue:
3 egg whites
3/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
Beat on high for one minute. Add:
6 tablespoons of sugar beating after each addition
Spread meringue over filling. Sprinkle with ¼ cup coconut.
Bake completed pie for 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees.
Cool before serving.
Have a very blessed Easter and next week we will get back to our focus on prayer and my plan to “stand in the gap” for our election.
Friday, March 14, 2008
It's A Girl
Well, March 5 was the day and we have a new grand daughter! What a joy to see her precious little face and know that more than anyone else in the whole world, God loves her so much that He gave His Son to die for her and we will celebrate that event next week!
As I stated in the last entry, it is my hope that I can help us all live above some of the events that are shaping our political scene today! I am a realist by nature and have a very defined “grid”; so as I look around, I find it very easy to become pessimistic and discouraged with the direction that things are taking! I add to that thoughts of my little grandkids growing up in this world and I could become very apprehensive about it all! But I KNOW that it is not God’s plan for us to live our lives in the state of discouragement or hopelessness, so I am working through some thoughts and practicing some exercises to make sure that I don’t spend time thinking about things that are not “true, just, lovely, of good report, etc.” (Philippians 4:8)
First of all, we need to remind ourselves daily of where our hope lies. I shared in the last entry the Scripture found in Psalm 146. We could all stand to read that Scripture each and every day and remind ourselves of God’s credentials, His abilities and his faithfulness and power!
After we are thoroughly convinced of God’s faithfulness and promises, we need to pray! If there has ever been a time that we need to pray, it is today! Prayer is very hard work and we don’t always understand how it affects our daily lives, but God has asked us to pray (well really, He commanded us to pray – I Thessalonians. 5:17, for example). So let’s get on our knees every day on behalf of our country and the coming election and let’s PRAY! And, let’s be careful not to tell God what to do, but let’s seek His best plan for us and our country.
And finally, we need to be a light of hope and joy and peace in the midst of the chaos going on in the culture. We need to live above the evil, the discouragement, the hopelessness, the pessimism and all the other attitudes that we are experiencing as we see what goes on. And we do not need to be ignorant of the situation in order to accomplish that. On the contrary, we are to be “salt” and “light” in the midst of it all and we are to lift up the name Jesus and give hope to the world. Let them know that there is a better way of life and live your life as an example of that! Let them see the “fruit of the Spirit” manifesting itself in your life! (Galatians 5:22)
I feel compelled to do whatever I can do to help us focus on prayer through this very crucial time in our nation’s history. In order to act upon that burden that I have, I will be using this blog to send out reminders from time to time concerning things that I feel that we need to pray for related to the election. I am convinced that God uses the prayers of His people to accomplish great things for Him, so in obedience, I will be encouraging all of you to pray regularly for the upcoming events in our country. (James 5:16 b.) “The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”
Back to the baby – I am quite sure I will not be here when my grandkids are grandparents. I am VERY committed to having an influence on their lives both now and for the remainder of their lives! I know many of you are grandparents and some of you are parents, but we all have a responsibility to pass the baton on to the next generations. For this reason, we need to cover these things in prayer now as once we are gone we won’t be able to do that. Let’s not only pray for them, but let’s leave them a legacy of praying parents and grandparents and let them know just how important we believe prayer to be! I know that even more than the answers to prayer that we receive will be the memory in the hearts of our children of parents and grandparents on their knees praying for them and for the things that affect them! Let’s make an eternal difference for them!
As I stated in the last entry, it is my hope that I can help us all live above some of the events that are shaping our political scene today! I am a realist by nature and have a very defined “grid”; so as I look around, I find it very easy to become pessimistic and discouraged with the direction that things are taking! I add to that thoughts of my little grandkids growing up in this world and I could become very apprehensive about it all! But I KNOW that it is not God’s plan for us to live our lives in the state of discouragement or hopelessness, so I am working through some thoughts and practicing some exercises to make sure that I don’t spend time thinking about things that are not “true, just, lovely, of good report, etc.” (Philippians 4:8)
First of all, we need to remind ourselves daily of where our hope lies. I shared in the last entry the Scripture found in Psalm 146. We could all stand to read that Scripture each and every day and remind ourselves of God’s credentials, His abilities and his faithfulness and power!
After we are thoroughly convinced of God’s faithfulness and promises, we need to pray! If there has ever been a time that we need to pray, it is today! Prayer is very hard work and we don’t always understand how it affects our daily lives, but God has asked us to pray (well really, He commanded us to pray – I Thessalonians. 5:17, for example). So let’s get on our knees every day on behalf of our country and the coming election and let’s PRAY! And, let’s be careful not to tell God what to do, but let’s seek His best plan for us and our country.
And finally, we need to be a light of hope and joy and peace in the midst of the chaos going on in the culture. We need to live above the evil, the discouragement, the hopelessness, the pessimism and all the other attitudes that we are experiencing as we see what goes on. And we do not need to be ignorant of the situation in order to accomplish that. On the contrary, we are to be “salt” and “light” in the midst of it all and we are to lift up the name Jesus and give hope to the world. Let them know that there is a better way of life and live your life as an example of that! Let them see the “fruit of the Spirit” manifesting itself in your life! (Galatians 5:22)
I feel compelled to do whatever I can do to help us focus on prayer through this very crucial time in our nation’s history. In order to act upon that burden that I have, I will be using this blog to send out reminders from time to time concerning things that I feel that we need to pray for related to the election. I am convinced that God uses the prayers of His people to accomplish great things for Him, so in obedience, I will be encouraging all of you to pray regularly for the upcoming events in our country. (James 5:16 b.) “The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”
Back to the baby – I am quite sure I will not be here when my grandkids are grandparents. I am VERY committed to having an influence on their lives both now and for the remainder of their lives! I know many of you are grandparents and some of you are parents, but we all have a responsibility to pass the baton on to the next generations. For this reason, we need to cover these things in prayer now as once we are gone we won’t be able to do that. Let’s not only pray for them, but let’s leave them a legacy of praying parents and grandparents and let them know just how important we believe prayer to be! I know that even more than the answers to prayer that we receive will be the memory in the hearts of our children of parents and grandparents on their knees praying for them and for the things that affect them! Let’s make an eternal difference for them!
Saturday, March 1, 2008
A New Baby
Today as I sit here at home and wait for a call that I need to go to the hospital to welcome a new grandbaby, I am reflecting on the culture we live in and the world in which that precious little baby will grow up! We do not know if this baby is a boy or a girl, but no matter the gender, the intelligence or any other characteristic of this little baby, he/she will face many challenges that his parents, his grandparents, his extended family and every Christian he knows will need to help him through!
I haven’t written for a while for various reasons, but I have become very burdened by what is going on in our political climate and wondering how I can help young parents face the challenges that are rampant today! I am going to try over the next few weeks to react and to respond to some of the things that I am hearing and hope that it may be of help to you.
One of the words that is often being used today is the word “hope”. As I listen, (and I am quite interested in the political scene) I hear that word just batted around as if just the ability to have “hope” is all that matters. I haven’t heard anyone yet tell us what reason we have for having “hope”! I am here to tell you that “hope” in “hope” will get you nothing! “Hope” in some intangible idea or thing will also accomplish nothing. We need to have our “hope” IN something.
My challenge to you moms and parents is to give your children something IN which to hope. And the best thing that I know of to be the object of that “hope” is God. God, in His Word, not only tells us to have “hope”, He tells us where to place our hope and why. In Psalm 146:5-10 a.) (NKJV) it says: “Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for His help, whose ‘hope’ is in the Lord his God, Who made Heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them; Who keeps truth forever, Who executes justice for the oppressed, Who gives food to the hungry. The Lord gives freedom to the prisoners. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind; the Lord raises those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the strangers; He relieves the fatherless and the widow; but the way of the wicked He turns upside down. The Lord shall reign forever--”
That list not only covers many of the needs that we face in America today, but God has great credentials, don’t you think?! And talk about experience…! I pray that as we all face the coming days and months and all that is transpiring in our great country, we will remember that, as the song says, “Our ‘hope’ is in the Lord” and not in anything that any of the politicians tell us about what they are going to do! Our job is to pray and seek God’s will and best plan for us and for our families. This is the reason that I can be excited and thrilled as I wait for the new life that God is placing in our family today or some day soon! On my own and with the things I see and hear with my own eyes and ears, I would be very apprehensive and pessimistic, but when I read Psalm 146, I see GREAT HOPE in the God Who created the Heaven and the earth and will reign forever! With that “hope”, I can hold that precious new grandbaby and know that with God’s help, I can make a difference for him and for all the other grandchildren God has and will bless me with!
With that in mind, may I keep my eyes on God and keep focused on my mission so that I can be that help and support that all who are living in this world are looking for. Praise the Lord for the ‘hope’ we have in Him!!!
I haven’t written for a while for various reasons, but I have become very burdened by what is going on in our political climate and wondering how I can help young parents face the challenges that are rampant today! I am going to try over the next few weeks to react and to respond to some of the things that I am hearing and hope that it may be of help to you.
One of the words that is often being used today is the word “hope”. As I listen, (and I am quite interested in the political scene) I hear that word just batted around as if just the ability to have “hope” is all that matters. I haven’t heard anyone yet tell us what reason we have for having “hope”! I am here to tell you that “hope” in “hope” will get you nothing! “Hope” in some intangible idea or thing will also accomplish nothing. We need to have our “hope” IN something.
My challenge to you moms and parents is to give your children something IN which to hope. And the best thing that I know of to be the object of that “hope” is God. God, in His Word, not only tells us to have “hope”, He tells us where to place our hope and why. In Psalm 146:5-10 a.) (NKJV) it says: “Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for His help, whose ‘hope’ is in the Lord his God, Who made Heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them; Who keeps truth forever, Who executes justice for the oppressed, Who gives food to the hungry. The Lord gives freedom to the prisoners. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind; the Lord raises those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the strangers; He relieves the fatherless and the widow; but the way of the wicked He turns upside down. The Lord shall reign forever--”
That list not only covers many of the needs that we face in America today, but God has great credentials, don’t you think?! And talk about experience…! I pray that as we all face the coming days and months and all that is transpiring in our great country, we will remember that, as the song says, “Our ‘hope’ is in the Lord” and not in anything that any of the politicians tell us about what they are going to do! Our job is to pray and seek God’s will and best plan for us and for our families. This is the reason that I can be excited and thrilled as I wait for the new life that God is placing in our family today or some day soon! On my own and with the things I see and hear with my own eyes and ears, I would be very apprehensive and pessimistic, but when I read Psalm 146, I see GREAT HOPE in the God Who created the Heaven and the earth and will reign forever! With that “hope”, I can hold that precious new grandbaby and know that with God’s help, I can make a difference for him and for all the other grandchildren God has and will bless me with!
With that in mind, may I keep my eyes on God and keep focused on my mission so that I can be that help and support that all who are living in this world are looking for. Praise the Lord for the ‘hope’ we have in Him!!!
Friday, October 19, 2007
Contented Children - Part II
Wow! I have been terribly busy for almost three weeks now, and I haven’t been able to find time to think about or write on my blog! I am hoping things will settle down now, so I am returning and will try to get back on track. We have had company, entertained grandchildren, visited our son in Dayton, been to the Dr. and dentist, etc.!
We started the topic of contentment last time and I would like to continue on that line today. Another important principle of teaching contentment to your children is to keep your home “low key”. Teach your children to enjoy the simple things of life. Make a big deal about things that you want them to enjoy like going for walks and picking flowers. Let them plant things in the garden and watch them grow. I learned very early on that my children would reflect me, so if I was happy, they were happy. If I was frustrated, they could soon be frustrated. The kids would enjoy the things that I enjoyed. Sometimes we underestimate how much we influence our children from a very early age. So, it is important for us as mothers to have responses that we desire our kids to have.
Since we are in the fall time of the year, we will soon be faced with several very different options of how to celebrate the “holidays” that are on the calendar. As I have come through the past several years of my life, it has become more and more important to me to celebrate Thanksgiving in a bigger way! Without getting into the moral or spiritual aspects of Halloween, may I just say that Halloween at best teaches those who participate in it a very selfish attitude about “getting”. There is a lot of greed involved in going around and asking for candy from everyone we can think of! Why not skip Halloween and move from fall to Thanksgiving. I mentioned in my last entry that teaching your children to be thankful is one good way to ward off discontent. So this will give you a very good way to teach this in a tangible way! After Labor Day is over we give it a couple of weeks and then we get out the Thanksgiving things and put out things that remind us of the blessings of God and how much we have for which to be thankful. I have noticed to my dismay that most stores skip right over Thanksgiving, so if you are taking your cues from them, you will miss Thanksgiving too. Thanksgiving doesn’t offer much in the way of revenue, so it is not on the calendar except as a “comma” between Halloween and Christmas which are the real money-makers.
Speaking of teaching your kids to be content, one thing you can do to encourage this is to teach them to serve others. It is good for them to see others who are in need so they realize they have some responsibility to minister to and share with them. Every fall in early October, I have my grandkids over to help me make cookies to distribute to some of the elderly and shut-ins that we know. So on October 2, I picked them up and they came over. I had cut out the cookies (maybe as they get a bit older, I will let them “help” me cut them out as well) in the shape of apples. Then as I frost them with red frosting and green leaves, the kids are responsible to put on some red sprinkles and red cinnamon candies. Then we pack plates and deliver them around town. This year we delivered ten plates in all. Of course there is the joy of the older people that delight in hugging the children or giving them a treat and when we get home, everyone can have a cookie with milk. It is a very special time for all of us and I just pray that this will be the beginning of teaching them to minister and give to people who are in need.
Children are not born being content. They are born with all kinds of needs and desires and the culture adds to that and soon we have children who are very self-centered and selfish. And there is no one thing you can teach them that will solve this problem. It takes a life time of teaching by example and helping them arrange their priorities. I have so many thoughts on this topic, but I pray that you can see the way to plant some seeds and I pray that you will see growth and fruit in your children and grandchildren.
We started the topic of contentment last time and I would like to continue on that line today. Another important principle of teaching contentment to your children is to keep your home “low key”. Teach your children to enjoy the simple things of life. Make a big deal about things that you want them to enjoy like going for walks and picking flowers. Let them plant things in the garden and watch them grow. I learned very early on that my children would reflect me, so if I was happy, they were happy. If I was frustrated, they could soon be frustrated. The kids would enjoy the things that I enjoyed. Sometimes we underestimate how much we influence our children from a very early age. So, it is important for us as mothers to have responses that we desire our kids to have.
Since we are in the fall time of the year, we will soon be faced with several very different options of how to celebrate the “holidays” that are on the calendar. As I have come through the past several years of my life, it has become more and more important to me to celebrate Thanksgiving in a bigger way! Without getting into the moral or spiritual aspects of Halloween, may I just say that Halloween at best teaches those who participate in it a very selfish attitude about “getting”. There is a lot of greed involved in going around and asking for candy from everyone we can think of! Why not skip Halloween and move from fall to Thanksgiving. I mentioned in my last entry that teaching your children to be thankful is one good way to ward off discontent. So this will give you a very good way to teach this in a tangible way! After Labor Day is over we give it a couple of weeks and then we get out the Thanksgiving things and put out things that remind us of the blessings of God and how much we have for which to be thankful. I have noticed to my dismay that most stores skip right over Thanksgiving, so if you are taking your cues from them, you will miss Thanksgiving too. Thanksgiving doesn’t offer much in the way of revenue, so it is not on the calendar except as a “comma” between Halloween and Christmas which are the real money-makers.
Speaking of teaching your kids to be content, one thing you can do to encourage this is to teach them to serve others. It is good for them to see others who are in need so they realize they have some responsibility to minister to and share with them. Every fall in early October, I have my grandkids over to help me make cookies to distribute to some of the elderly and shut-ins that we know. So on October 2, I picked them up and they came over. I had cut out the cookies (maybe as they get a bit older, I will let them “help” me cut them out as well) in the shape of apples. Then as I frost them with red frosting and green leaves, the kids are responsible to put on some red sprinkles and red cinnamon candies. Then we pack plates and deliver them around town. This year we delivered ten plates in all. Of course there is the joy of the older people that delight in hugging the children or giving them a treat and when we get home, everyone can have a cookie with milk. It is a very special time for all of us and I just pray that this will be the beginning of teaching them to minister and give to people who are in need.
Children are not born being content. They are born with all kinds of needs and desires and the culture adds to that and soon we have children who are very self-centered and selfish. And there is no one thing you can teach them that will solve this problem. It takes a life time of teaching by example and helping them arrange their priorities. I have so many thoughts on this topic, but I pray that you can see the way to plant some seeds and I pray that you will see growth and fruit in your children and grandchildren.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Let's Raise Contented Children
Today is a new month and I am going to start a new topic! I have been dealing with some topics related to modesty and I am going to turn a corner today and share some thoughts about how to raise contented children. Just to justify the importance of this topic, you need to look up I Timothy 6:6: “Godliness with contentment is great gain.”
Contentment is a rare quality today, but it is one that can really make a difference in our whole life! In a culture where there are way too many choices for all of us, especially children, contentment is something we must learn or it won’t happen!
My daughter recently observed a party for children and she was very struck by the fact that the children were so outspoken about their likes and dislikes related to the food and other activities at the event. We need to remember that children learn by example and by teaching and when neither one is occurring properly, children will not pick up the qualities that they need in order to set them for a life characterized by contentment.
So how do we teach contentment? First of all, we need to model contentment for our children. If we are always trying to get and get and get more, then they will learn that is what life is all about. When we feel free to share openly about our likes and dislikes related to food or other basics of life, they will learn to share all the things they don’t like as well. I remember when our kids were young, we believed it was bad manners for children to come to the table, ours or anyone else’s, and talk about the food being or containing something they “don’t like”. In fact, we made a rule in our home that if someone complained about the food or asked what was in it so as to ascertain whether they would want to eat it, they would then have a slice of bread and a glass of water for that meal while the rest of us ate the meal along with the dessert. I think we only had to enforce that rule one time and it never happened again! It is also not wise for a mother to plan a meal that allows for each person to eat something different so that no one must eat anything that he doesn’t like. Food is only one small aspect of contentment, but it is an area where children think they can take control if they are allowed to get away with sharing their opinions.
Children can learn to try to control early if they are allowed to cry for things in the grocery store and see their desires met if they cry loud enough. If they know you are not going to spank or otherwise discipline them when you are out, they will learn very quickly that they can have anything they want in a grocery store. So how do you stop that in a climate where we don’t dare spank our kids in public? Well, as soon as the child tries that crying routine in the store, you very calmly explain to him that if he doesn’t stop that immediately, he will be punished when he arrives home. And then when he arrives home, you need to remember that promise you gave him and you need to carry through with something that he will NOT forget! (Spankings work well and I believe that is God’s punishment of choice.) You see, if a child receives an item in a store because he cries, he will learn by experience that he can get new toys, treats, etc. every time he goes to the store and you will begin to plant the seed of discontent in his heart because he can always have more if he can manipulate you by crying.
So the bottom line of the discussion today is that we as adults need to display the quality of contentment before our children if we expect them to learn how to be that way. We need to be thankful for the provisions of God and always be careful how we approach our meals at home and other places. There are some other principles that are important related to contentment, and we will continue on this topic in the next entry. As is often the case, I think that the basic approach to becoming content is to learn to be thankful!
Contentment is a rare quality today, but it is one that can really make a difference in our whole life! In a culture where there are way too many choices for all of us, especially children, contentment is something we must learn or it won’t happen!
My daughter recently observed a party for children and she was very struck by the fact that the children were so outspoken about their likes and dislikes related to the food and other activities at the event. We need to remember that children learn by example and by teaching and when neither one is occurring properly, children will not pick up the qualities that they need in order to set them for a life characterized by contentment.
So how do we teach contentment? First of all, we need to model contentment for our children. If we are always trying to get and get and get more, then they will learn that is what life is all about. When we feel free to share openly about our likes and dislikes related to food or other basics of life, they will learn to share all the things they don’t like as well. I remember when our kids were young, we believed it was bad manners for children to come to the table, ours or anyone else’s, and talk about the food being or containing something they “don’t like”. In fact, we made a rule in our home that if someone complained about the food or asked what was in it so as to ascertain whether they would want to eat it, they would then have a slice of bread and a glass of water for that meal while the rest of us ate the meal along with the dessert. I think we only had to enforce that rule one time and it never happened again! It is also not wise for a mother to plan a meal that allows for each person to eat something different so that no one must eat anything that he doesn’t like. Food is only one small aspect of contentment, but it is an area where children think they can take control if they are allowed to get away with sharing their opinions.
Children can learn to try to control early if they are allowed to cry for things in the grocery store and see their desires met if they cry loud enough. If they know you are not going to spank or otherwise discipline them when you are out, they will learn very quickly that they can have anything they want in a grocery store. So how do you stop that in a climate where we don’t dare spank our kids in public? Well, as soon as the child tries that crying routine in the store, you very calmly explain to him that if he doesn’t stop that immediately, he will be punished when he arrives home. And then when he arrives home, you need to remember that promise you gave him and you need to carry through with something that he will NOT forget! (Spankings work well and I believe that is God’s punishment of choice.) You see, if a child receives an item in a store because he cries, he will learn by experience that he can get new toys, treats, etc. every time he goes to the store and you will begin to plant the seed of discontent in his heart because he can always have more if he can manipulate you by crying.
So the bottom line of the discussion today is that we as adults need to display the quality of contentment before our children if we expect them to learn how to be that way. We need to be thankful for the provisions of God and always be careful how we approach our meals at home and other places. There are some other principles that are important related to contentment, and we will continue on this topic in the next entry. As is often the case, I think that the basic approach to becoming content is to learn to be thankful!
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Training Your Children - Part 2
Wow!!! We have been on a whirlwind summer! It has been wonderful and fun, but so very busy!!! Last weekend we were able to have our annual family camping trip in Southern Indiana. Our whole family met there at the Mounds State Recreation Area and we camped for three wonderful days! On Friday we took our whole family to the new “Answers in Genesis” Museum and it was a wonderful experience! Even the little ones, age 3 and 5, enjoyed it and it kept their interest! It is well worth the trip to go and see it! If you have any questions about it, feel free to write to me and ask. It was a real encouragement to see the whole picture of Creation to the Cross and on to the coming events and see how everything fits! Take it in if you can!
Now I will continue the discussion on training your children. Last time I covered the topics of teaching and training your children. Some of what I go over today will give direction to those endeavors. The first topic I want to cover relates to correcting and disciplining them. Proverbs has many verses concerning correcting your children, but the first verse I want to mention is Proverbs 22:15 where it says, “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of correction will drive it far from him.” (There is NO room for any kind of child abuse here and there is NO suggestion that there be any kind of permanent damage done.) The idea behind this verse is that God knows that spanking is sometimes needful and usually a very effective form of discipline and He even created a place on the body of your children where He intends for that to take place! (Other verses for you to look up are Proverbs 13:24; 19:18; 23:13; 29:17) Punishment should never take place just because your children embarrassed or frustrated you, but because of an offense to God! Childishness should not be punished unless it is a result of disobedience or some other offense to God or if it is something that could bring harm to themselves or others. And children should always know why they are being punished! And of course, all punishment should be given lovingly and consistently.
The next responsibility I will discuss is for you to cherish your children. I believe this has somewhat of a different connotation than loving your children. In I John 2, I was noticing that several times, John used the endearing term, “My little children”. That sounded like a term that meant he really cared for and cherished them! Your children need to know that they are VERY loved and taken care of! However you communicate to them, there should be times when you speak lovingly and just very tenderly to them of your love and their value to you. Following close behind that idea as the fact that one way you can demonstrate how much you cherish them is to listen and pay close attention when they speak to you! (Proverbs 27:23 and 29:15) And you need to know each child well enough to know when and where is their favorite place of communicating with you. You need to look at them when they are talking with you so that they can feel the security of knowing that they have your full attention. Don’t let the phone or anything else disrupt that time. You need to set aside all other things at some point each and every day to listen to your children. And if at all possible, be there when your children come home from school or other major activities in their lives. If they do their “talking” with the baby sitter, you may never hear what is going on in their lives and find out the things that are important to them. It is such a heartache when I hear parents say something of this nature; “My child was on drugs while he was living in my home and I didn’t know it!” That shouldn’t happen if you are accomplishing Biblical parenting.
Next week I will continue on this thought and suggest some thoughts concerning getting to know and understand and shepherding your child’s heart. Have a great week and I think I am home for the duration now, so there shouldn’t be as many interruptions.
Now I will continue the discussion on training your children. Last time I covered the topics of teaching and training your children. Some of what I go over today will give direction to those endeavors. The first topic I want to cover relates to correcting and disciplining them. Proverbs has many verses concerning correcting your children, but the first verse I want to mention is Proverbs 22:15 where it says, “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of correction will drive it far from him.” (There is NO room for any kind of child abuse here and there is NO suggestion that there be any kind of permanent damage done.) The idea behind this verse is that God knows that spanking is sometimes needful and usually a very effective form of discipline and He even created a place on the body of your children where He intends for that to take place! (Other verses for you to look up are Proverbs 13:24; 19:18; 23:13; 29:17) Punishment should never take place just because your children embarrassed or frustrated you, but because of an offense to God! Childishness should not be punished unless it is a result of disobedience or some other offense to God or if it is something that could bring harm to themselves or others. And children should always know why they are being punished! And of course, all punishment should be given lovingly and consistently.
The next responsibility I will discuss is for you to cherish your children. I believe this has somewhat of a different connotation than loving your children. In I John 2, I was noticing that several times, John used the endearing term, “My little children”. That sounded like a term that meant he really cared for and cherished them! Your children need to know that they are VERY loved and taken care of! However you communicate to them, there should be times when you speak lovingly and just very tenderly to them of your love and their value to you. Following close behind that idea as the fact that one way you can demonstrate how much you cherish them is to listen and pay close attention when they speak to you! (Proverbs 27:23 and 29:15) And you need to know each child well enough to know when and where is their favorite place of communicating with you. You need to look at them when they are talking with you so that they can feel the security of knowing that they have your full attention. Don’t let the phone or anything else disrupt that time. You need to set aside all other things at some point each and every day to listen to your children. And if at all possible, be there when your children come home from school or other major activities in their lives. If they do their “talking” with the baby sitter, you may never hear what is going on in their lives and find out the things that are important to them. It is such a heartache when I hear parents say something of this nature; “My child was on drugs while he was living in my home and I didn’t know it!” That shouldn’t happen if you are accomplishing Biblical parenting.
Next week I will continue on this thought and suggest some thoughts concerning getting to know and understand and shepherding your child’s heart. Have a great week and I think I am home for the duration now, so there shouldn’t be as many interruptions.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Happy Fourth of July
I trust that everyone is enjoying the celebration of the birthday of our country! I keep having to remind myself that for all of its issues, the Good Old U S of A is the best place on this planet and I praise the Lord for the gift of living in America!
I mentioned in my last entry that July 4 has a special place in my heart and the reason is that on July 4th of 1955, my Grandma Wakemen went to Heaven very suddenly at the age of 62!! She was way too young and I didn’t really know her very well, but she was my grandma, so I had a very special place in my heart for her and for this day ever after. My parents had been missionaries in Nigeria until the summer of 1954, so we hadn’t been in the US very long at the time she died. All of us were together there with my mother’s sisters and all of our cousins and I think that is almost the last time we were all together.
Anyway, I just want to remind us all that the way to really have an impact on our country for the Lord is to pray for it! Our tendency is to complain and talk about all that is wrong, but God has told us that we need to pray for those that are in authority over us and He has worked in history in spite of and even through some pretty awful kings! So there is precedence for some victory among us in spite of the leadership. REMEMBER: II Chronicles 7:14 “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from Heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land!”
Here are a couple of July 4th recipes.
Patriotic Layers
1 small box of strawberry jello
1 small box of blue jello
1 cup blueberries
1 cup sliced strawberries
1 8 oz. container Cool Whip
Stir one cup of boiling water into each package of dry
jello in separate bowls.
Stir until jello is completely dissolved.
Add ½ cup cold water to each and stir.
Place blue jello in refrigerator to thicken and leave red
jello at room temp. After about 1 ½ hours, add blueberries to blue jello and place it in a clear glass bowl to get firm. Now place red jello in refrigerator to thicken for about 1 ½ hours. Refrigerate blue jello for about 30 minutes and then carefully spread Cool Whip over blue jello. Now add strawberries to thickened red jello and spoon over cream layer. Refrigerate for about three hours until firm. Top with more topping to decorate if desired.
Jamaican Lemon Pepper Chicken
3 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 ½ Tblsp. Black pepper ( May want to cut this back a bit)
¾ cup lemon juice
5 Tblsp. Olive oil
1 teasp. Salt
1 teasp. Garlic powder
½ teasp. Oregano
1 Tblsp. Pickapeppa ( you may have to ask for this at your larger grocery stores)
1 Tblsp. Thyme
Place all of the above in a plastic bowl with a lid and let it marinade for 24 hours. Grill and serve.
Happy 231st Birthday, America!!!
I mentioned in my last entry that July 4 has a special place in my heart and the reason is that on July 4th of 1955, my Grandma Wakemen went to Heaven very suddenly at the age of 62!! She was way too young and I didn’t really know her very well, but she was my grandma, so I had a very special place in my heart for her and for this day ever after. My parents had been missionaries in Nigeria until the summer of 1954, so we hadn’t been in the US very long at the time she died. All of us were together there with my mother’s sisters and all of our cousins and I think that is almost the last time we were all together.
Anyway, I just want to remind us all that the way to really have an impact on our country for the Lord is to pray for it! Our tendency is to complain and talk about all that is wrong, but God has told us that we need to pray for those that are in authority over us and He has worked in history in spite of and even through some pretty awful kings! So there is precedence for some victory among us in spite of the leadership. REMEMBER: II Chronicles 7:14 “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from Heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land!”
Here are a couple of July 4th recipes.
Patriotic Layers
1 small box of strawberry jello
1 small box of blue jello
1 cup blueberries
1 cup sliced strawberries
1 8 oz. container Cool Whip
Stir one cup of boiling water into each package of dry
jello in separate bowls.
Stir until jello is completely dissolved.
Add ½ cup cold water to each and stir.
Place blue jello in refrigerator to thicken and leave red
jello at room temp. After about 1 ½ hours, add blueberries to blue jello and place it in a clear glass bowl to get firm. Now place red jello in refrigerator to thicken for about 1 ½ hours. Refrigerate blue jello for about 30 minutes and then carefully spread Cool Whip over blue jello. Now add strawberries to thickened red jello and spoon over cream layer. Refrigerate for about three hours until firm. Top with more topping to decorate if desired.
Jamaican Lemon Pepper Chicken
3 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 ½ Tblsp. Black pepper ( May want to cut this back a bit)
¾ cup lemon juice
5 Tblsp. Olive oil
1 teasp. Salt
1 teasp. Garlic powder
½ teasp. Oregano
1 Tblsp. Pickapeppa ( you may have to ask for this at your larger grocery stores)
1 Tblsp. Thyme
Place all of the above in a plastic bowl with a lid and let it marinade for 24 hours. Grill and serve.
Happy 231st Birthday, America!!!
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Teach the Younger Women to ... Be Keepers at Home
Last week I wrote on being “keepers at home” and I included two thoughts about why I think that is an important concept for all of us women to consider. The first idea that I covered was the fact that working in a place with men other than our husbands makes women vulnerable to the possibility of making relationships with men with whom they work which is not a good thing. I also commented on the fact that God has given women many ministries within and outside of the church and many of those aren’t getting done because so many Christian women are in the work place. If your children are grown and you have a job where you are used for the growth of God’s Kingdom, then praise Him and be sure that you are following the guidelines in the Scripture on how you approach your situation.
Today I want to cover two other reasons that I believe God would have young women to be “keepers at home”. The first one today has to do with the care of your children. I believe with all my heart that mothers and dads should raise their own children. I can’t give you a verse and reference for this thought, but I just know that most all of the guidelines in the Scripture given for parenting are given to parents and not to babysitters! And since God has given the dads the main responsibility of earning the living for the family, that leaves moms home to care for the children. I think that one of the main reasons we are where we are as a culture is that moms have given the privilege of raising their children to others! I don’t care how loving the caretaker you find, she is not going to love and teach your child as you do. And if you think that your child just loves to be out with other children and learning to “socialize”, you may very well be mistaken. From my experience, children love the security of being home and being in the same environment during their formative years! And don’t expect your child to necessarily tell you that. A young baby or young child has no way of expressing himself and you are responsible to do the right thing for him from your own Biblical understanding of what he needs.
Remember the verse I talked about in one of the earlier lessons? Deuteronomy 6:6&7: “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them DILIGENTLY (emphasis is mine) unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” In order to accomplish the intent of this verse, I believe it takes more than the short time and diminished amount of energy that is left after a busy day of doing whatever one might do outside the home. There is so much to teach and so much learning that needs to be taught in order to help protect our children from the culture, we must remember that when God gives us children that becomes our full time job; and though the responsibilities change, we never “retire” from the job of being a mother! By the way, when God wrote through Paul that women are to be keepers at home, I don’t believe He just meant not to have a job outside the home. There are many other ways a woman can violate this principle and you know the areas where you might be crossing the line.
My final thought that I would like to cover on this topic of being a “keeper at home” is also VERY important. When we marry, we willingly put ourselves under the umbrella of the man that God has given us to be our husband. When we work outside the home, we are putting ourselves under the authority of another man who, in most cases, is not our husband. That means that conflicts could arise. What if your boss requires something that conflicts with the desires of your husband? Maybe your boss expects you to travel away from home? What if your boss expects long hours that interfere with your responsibility at home to make the evening meal for your husband? How will you resolve that conflict? In reality, your husband’s desires should trump the requirements of the boss. And please don’t buy the “feel good “ lines of the culture that tell us that if we are both bringing in our “share” of the income, then we both take on “our share” of the household work. Now, there are things at home that men do that we just kind of expect them to do. But in general, women are given the responsibility of keeping the home and making it comfortable for our families. The other consideration on this topic (I kind of covered it last time, but I think it bears repeating) has to do with spending that much time with someone that isn’t your husband and how you must dress for your job. My guess is that if you work in an office, you probably dress more professionally and spend more time “looking good” than you would if you were spending the day home cleaning house. That is just the opposite of how it should be. Your husband deserves your best as you have the most invested in that relationship. “Looking good” in the office is also a bit of a danger as we don’t want to attract the attention of men that aren’t our husbands.
I pray that you will all take these blog entries in the spirit in which they are written. Remember, these are things that I would want my own daughters and grand daughters to know for the protection of their own marriages and for the Spiritual well-being of their own children. You are just sitting in on my very personal “chats” with my girls and I pray that they will be a challenge and an encouragement in your lives! And above all, may God use these feeble words for His Glory in the lives of whoever may read them! Next time I will take a break and do something related to July 4 which has and always will have a very special place in my heart!
Today I want to cover two other reasons that I believe God would have young women to be “keepers at home”. The first one today has to do with the care of your children. I believe with all my heart that mothers and dads should raise their own children. I can’t give you a verse and reference for this thought, but I just know that most all of the guidelines in the Scripture given for parenting are given to parents and not to babysitters! And since God has given the dads the main responsibility of earning the living for the family, that leaves moms home to care for the children. I think that one of the main reasons we are where we are as a culture is that moms have given the privilege of raising their children to others! I don’t care how loving the caretaker you find, she is not going to love and teach your child as you do. And if you think that your child just loves to be out with other children and learning to “socialize”, you may very well be mistaken. From my experience, children love the security of being home and being in the same environment during their formative years! And don’t expect your child to necessarily tell you that. A young baby or young child has no way of expressing himself and you are responsible to do the right thing for him from your own Biblical understanding of what he needs.
Remember the verse I talked about in one of the earlier lessons? Deuteronomy 6:6&7: “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them DILIGENTLY (emphasis is mine) unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” In order to accomplish the intent of this verse, I believe it takes more than the short time and diminished amount of energy that is left after a busy day of doing whatever one might do outside the home. There is so much to teach and so much learning that needs to be taught in order to help protect our children from the culture, we must remember that when God gives us children that becomes our full time job; and though the responsibilities change, we never “retire” from the job of being a mother! By the way, when God wrote through Paul that women are to be keepers at home, I don’t believe He just meant not to have a job outside the home. There are many other ways a woman can violate this principle and you know the areas where you might be crossing the line.
My final thought that I would like to cover on this topic of being a “keeper at home” is also VERY important. When we marry, we willingly put ourselves under the umbrella of the man that God has given us to be our husband. When we work outside the home, we are putting ourselves under the authority of another man who, in most cases, is not our husband. That means that conflicts could arise. What if your boss requires something that conflicts with the desires of your husband? Maybe your boss expects you to travel away from home? What if your boss expects long hours that interfere with your responsibility at home to make the evening meal for your husband? How will you resolve that conflict? In reality, your husband’s desires should trump the requirements of the boss. And please don’t buy the “feel good “ lines of the culture that tell us that if we are both bringing in our “share” of the income, then we both take on “our share” of the household work. Now, there are things at home that men do that we just kind of expect them to do. But in general, women are given the responsibility of keeping the home and making it comfortable for our families. The other consideration on this topic (I kind of covered it last time, but I think it bears repeating) has to do with spending that much time with someone that isn’t your husband and how you must dress for your job. My guess is that if you work in an office, you probably dress more professionally and spend more time “looking good” than you would if you were spending the day home cleaning house. That is just the opposite of how it should be. Your husband deserves your best as you have the most invested in that relationship. “Looking good” in the office is also a bit of a danger as we don’t want to attract the attention of men that aren’t our husbands.
I pray that you will all take these blog entries in the spirit in which they are written. Remember, these are things that I would want my own daughters and grand daughters to know for the protection of their own marriages and for the Spiritual well-being of their own children. You are just sitting in on my very personal “chats” with my girls and I pray that they will be a challenge and an encouragement in your lives! And above all, may God use these feeble words for His Glory in the lives of whoever may read them! Next time I will take a break and do something related to July 4 which has and always will have a very special place in my heart!
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Teach Young Women to be Keepers at Home
Part I
Well, we are back home after a wonderful time in Minnesota. Our kids gave my husband and me a little “get away” to Minnesota for our 60th birthdays which are both this year. They planned a B & B for us along with some fun eating, dinner train, riverboat lunch, and even some spending money! We were very touched and thankful for their love and the way they ministered to our hearts!
Now we are back to the subject at hand. The verse is Titus 2:5 which tells the older women to “teach the younger women to be … keepers at home”. I am very passionate about this topic. I was listening to a message by John MacArthur on this topic once and he said, “What does it mean that women are to be keepers at home? It means that women are to be keepers at home!” It is pretty hard to misinterpret this one. I believe that there are several reasons why God encouraged women to be “keepers at home”. I will cover some today and the rest next week.
I do not think that there is a huge problem with women earning money. I do not believe that this is the reason for this teaching. After all, Lydia was a seller of purple and we know other women in Scripture who had opportunities to make money. I do believe, however, that if a woman is going find a way to earn some money, she needs to be very careful where she finds that opportunity.
Now I know that there are extenuating circumstances and different conditions in our culture that require some women to be out in the work force, but I also know that many women are in the work force for many other reasons which do not fall into the category of need! Now let me preface this with a thought that I think is Biblical and that is that I believe this is mainly speaking to younger women who have children growing up in their home. I think it is necessary for obvious reasons for single women to be out working and I think that if an older woman has a job where she can be used openly to promote God’s Kingdom, then these cases fall into a different category. Even in these cases, however, I think this should be approached with a great amount of discernment since we live in a culture where we need to always be on our toes because the prince of this world is always on the prowl for the purpose of destroying homes and families.
For instance, we live in a society where people in the work place think nothing of making relationships with people who are not their spouses and they get fooled into thinking that going out to lunch or having a cup of coffee with another woman’s husband is a very innocent event. Besides the consideration of the children in the home, (which I think I will consider next week as a specific topic) the opportunity for contact with the spouses of other people is one of the other main reasons that I think that God wrote what He did to women. Our eyes should be opened to this danger as we are hearing quite regularly about people who fall into sinful situations with people at work or in other situations where men and women spend a lot of time together. I don’t believe this mandate of women keeping the home only applies to work opportunities. There are many other ways this contact can occur if a woman is out and about too much away from her husband and vice versa. Now do you see why this topic relates to the one about being “chaste”? So, I believe that one good reason God told women to be “Keepers at home” was to preserve our marriages! He knows our sinful natures and He knew what would happen if men and women work 8 hours a day, five days a week in the same office! He knows how easy it is to look to someone else to meet our needs if we perceive that our needs aren’t being met by our spouses! This admonition is for all ladies, even those who are single and those who have raised their children. Be on guard at all times if you are working or otherwise spending time with the husbands of other women.
And if at all possible, don’t be out there at all! Don’t work just so you can have more “stuff” or because you think you are bored at home! This brings up another reason I believe that God told women to “Be keepers at home”. He has given women many ministries within and outside the Church (besides raising children) and many of them are not getting done because so many women have put “things” ahead of people. I have been home for 34 years and I can honestly say that I have never lacked for good things to do. The opportunities for ministry are endless and we just need to respond to God’s guidelines in Scripture and be available to Him and He will keep us busy!
Next week, I will revisit this topic of being a “keeper at home”. There are, of course, issues related to raising children and possibly being under the authority of a man who isn’t your husband. Have a great week and I am keeping you all in prayer.
Sunday, June 3, 2007
"...To Be Discreet..."
“…The older women likewise…that they teach the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet…” Titus 2: 3-5.
As we work our way through Titus 2, we have come to the third quality to be taught by the older women and that is to teach the young women to be discreet. A related word that we use more often would be the word “discretion”. I have looked up the word “discreet” in Websters Dictionary and it says “to be careful about what one says or does”. And since what is in our thoughts usually comes out our mouths, I would add to that to be careful what we think about. There are areas where I think we can all use some reminders as we walk through our lives.
I think one of the first things that would come to our minds would be in the area of gossip. Maybe we are all thinking that we are O.K. in this area as we don’t gossip maliciously. However, gossip is one of those things that can creep in and be very subtle and we are suddenly over the line. First of all, I don’t think that men are told to be “discreet”. I think that is significant as that tells me that God is implying that this is a problem that is more natural to ladies. I have been there, so I know the pitfalls that exist and I still watch my tongue at all times in order to keep ahead of this particular pitfall!
As ladies, we have our ways of gossiping that seem very “spiritual”. One of those ways is in the area of prayer. We can sometimes update everyone on the latest news by giving it in the form of a “prayer request”. Now there is nothing wrong with praying for a personal problem of one of our friends, but I kind of use the measuring stick of, “Would I be praying for this thing if I were all alone or is it more on my mind because I have an audience with whom to share it?”
I also sometimes share things with my husband under the guise of “I just need to tell someone!” Well, if it isn’t an uplifting piece of news and if it is not something that he needs to know, then I really don’t need to burden him down with it until or unless it comes to the time when he needs to know it. Of course, I never make a promise to hear something and NOT share it with my husband. You always need to be careful of something that is told to you if you are asked to promise not to tell your husband!
So far I have mentioned a couple of areas where we need to practice discretion in our conversation. There are also ways of being indiscreet in our actions.
Ladies, we live in a culture where we are encouraged to be like men! We can take their jobs, we can wear their clothes, we can talk their language and we can shout our views. Let’s remember that “gentle and quiet spirit which is very precious in the sight of God.” (I Peter 3:4) (I will probably take that verse up in more detail at some point.) Much of this kind of thinking comes from the media that we all take into our minds. Let’s be careful of what we allow into our minds. There is VERY little on television that is of any value to us and it definitely affects our thinking and we need to be very careful of how much mindless and Godless information we allow into our minds. We are told to “renew our minds” (Romans 12:2) (That topic will come into full discussion at some point as well.) But suffice it to say that you cannot renew your mind by taking in the information that is funneled into your home without using great discretion. I know! I used to think that if I watched something on television while my kids were napping, it was probably all right as “I was mature” and I knew how to handle things that weren’t good enough for the kids to watch. Well, I was wrong! If it is not “good enough” for the kids, it is off limits to me as well. Again, Psalm 100 says “I will set NO WICKED THING before my eyes.” And Ephesians 5:12 says “It is shameful to speak of those things which are done by them in secret.” So let’s be honest with ourselves and let’s refuse to let the culture dictate what thoughts control our minds! Filth, wickedness, unfaithfulness, adultery, immorality, argumentative spirits, disobedience of children, role reversals, etc. are all things that are off limits to Christians! Let’s think about things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, and good. (Philippians 4:8) This is the Biblical method for renewing your mind and thinking with true discretion!
There will be more later on renewing your mind, but for now, take one bite sized piece and work on it this week. Set one goal related to learning to be more discreet and let God give you strength and help to make one step in the right direction.
As we work our way through Titus 2, we have come to the third quality to be taught by the older women and that is to teach the young women to be discreet. A related word that we use more often would be the word “discretion”. I have looked up the word “discreet” in Websters Dictionary and it says “to be careful about what one says or does”. And since what is in our thoughts usually comes out our mouths, I would add to that to be careful what we think about. There are areas where I think we can all use some reminders as we walk through our lives.
I think one of the first things that would come to our minds would be in the area of gossip. Maybe we are all thinking that we are O.K. in this area as we don’t gossip maliciously. However, gossip is one of those things that can creep in and be very subtle and we are suddenly over the line. First of all, I don’t think that men are told to be “discreet”. I think that is significant as that tells me that God is implying that this is a problem that is more natural to ladies. I have been there, so I know the pitfalls that exist and I still watch my tongue at all times in order to keep ahead of this particular pitfall!
As ladies, we have our ways of gossiping that seem very “spiritual”. One of those ways is in the area of prayer. We can sometimes update everyone on the latest news by giving it in the form of a “prayer request”. Now there is nothing wrong with praying for a personal problem of one of our friends, but I kind of use the measuring stick of, “Would I be praying for this thing if I were all alone or is it more on my mind because I have an audience with whom to share it?”
I also sometimes share things with my husband under the guise of “I just need to tell someone!” Well, if it isn’t an uplifting piece of news and if it is not something that he needs to know, then I really don’t need to burden him down with it until or unless it comes to the time when he needs to know it. Of course, I never make a promise to hear something and NOT share it with my husband. You always need to be careful of something that is told to you if you are asked to promise not to tell your husband!
So far I have mentioned a couple of areas where we need to practice discretion in our conversation. There are also ways of being indiscreet in our actions.
Ladies, we live in a culture where we are encouraged to be like men! We can take their jobs, we can wear their clothes, we can talk their language and we can shout our views. Let’s remember that “gentle and quiet spirit which is very precious in the sight of God.” (I Peter 3:4) (I will probably take that verse up in more detail at some point.) Much of this kind of thinking comes from the media that we all take into our minds. Let’s be careful of what we allow into our minds. There is VERY little on television that is of any value to us and it definitely affects our thinking and we need to be very careful of how much mindless and Godless information we allow into our minds. We are told to “renew our minds” (Romans 12:2) (That topic will come into full discussion at some point as well.) But suffice it to say that you cannot renew your mind by taking in the information that is funneled into your home without using great discretion. I know! I used to think that if I watched something on television while my kids were napping, it was probably all right as “I was mature” and I knew how to handle things that weren’t good enough for the kids to watch. Well, I was wrong! If it is not “good enough” for the kids, it is off limits to me as well. Again, Psalm 100 says “I will set NO WICKED THING before my eyes.” And Ephesians 5:12 says “It is shameful to speak of those things which are done by them in secret.” So let’s be honest with ourselves and let’s refuse to let the culture dictate what thoughts control our minds! Filth, wickedness, unfaithfulness, adultery, immorality, argumentative spirits, disobedience of children, role reversals, etc. are all things that are off limits to Christians! Let’s think about things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, and good. (Philippians 4:8) This is the Biblical method for renewing your mind and thinking with true discretion!
There will be more later on renewing your mind, but for now, take one bite sized piece and work on it this week. Set one goal related to learning to be more discreet and let God give you strength and help to make one step in the right direction.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Our Family -- Memorial Day Traditions
I have been VERY busy for a few weeks, so I am sorry for the delay in postings a couple of times recently. We have been busy trying to get the spring work done. We are also trying to paint our living room and patch up some of the drywall mistakes that we made 35 years ago when we built our home! Anyway, it takes a lot of time and so I haven’t been able to keep posting as regularly as I would like.
I decided that with the Memorial Day holiday this weekend, I would focus on some things related to that. First of all, having grown up in a home of teachers and having been a teacher for a few years and having been married to a teacher for almost 38 years, Memorial Day has always held a special place in our hearts. Aside from the patriotic significance, Memorial Day always marked the “almost end” of the school year and it meant that soon we would all be “free”!!! So we always approached Memorial Day with much joy and anticipation of summer and the outings that would take place along with a trip that was always in the offing!
I will first touch on the patriotic significance and mention that though our country is having a multitude of issues now, we still live in the greatest country on earth and for that we should be VERY thankful!!! Having grown up in a home with a dad who fought in WW II (he was in the Pacific – Iwo Jima and Guam), I am very grateful for the men and women who gave their lives for our freedom! May we never forget the sacrifice of those patriots!
So the first tradition we had in our home when our children were growing up (and we still do it today with our grandchildren!) was to be sure we were up and ready to attend the parade that we always had in our small town. The parade was nothing to write home about, but the Vets always proudly carry the American flag and we wave our flags and clap for their bravery that still gives us chills in our spines even today! Then we walk the ¾ mile up to the cemetery where we stand and listen to the local high school band play the “Star Spangled Banner” and we hear a speaker share of the blessings of living in America before “Taps” is played along with a “21 Gun Salute”! It is all VERY moving and gives goose bumps to those of us who are still sensitive and thankful enough for the many ways that God has blessed our great country! Then the kids get to climb on the official cannon and the stack of 100 shells that was placed overlooking the “soldiers plot” in the cemetery in 1897.
The rest of the traditions that I will be talking about are more related to the fun part of just being together for the holiday and the food that accompanies our picnics on that day. One of the things we usually did that was not the favorite activity of the day for the kids, was planting the garden! We always had to kind of “bribe” the kids with the other fun activities of the day in order to get them to do the work with a happy face! Living here in Michigan necessitates our planting the annual plants on Memorial Day weekend or later in order to avoid losing them to late spring frosts.
After planting the gardens (flower and vegetable) there was always a fun picnic – usually in our own back yard to avoid the crowds that would surely be at Lake Michigan where we loved to go for many of our outings. There were usually some grandparents at our picnics, and if we were especially blessed, there might be some cousins, but there were always favorite foods that we could count on as part of our Memorial Day traditions! I am going to include some of our favorite recipes so that you can share them with us and get a “flavor” of what we enjoyed on Memorial Day!
I want to include three simple recipes that we often use on Memorial Day for our gatherings. One is for shish-ka-bobs, one for fruit pizza and one for refreshing summer punch.
I decided that with the Memorial Day holiday this weekend, I would focus on some things related to that. First of all, having grown up in a home of teachers and having been a teacher for a few years and having been married to a teacher for almost 38 years, Memorial Day has always held a special place in our hearts. Aside from the patriotic significance, Memorial Day always marked the “almost end” of the school year and it meant that soon we would all be “free”!!! So we always approached Memorial Day with much joy and anticipation of summer and the outings that would take place along with a trip that was always in the offing!
I will first touch on the patriotic significance and mention that though our country is having a multitude of issues now, we still live in the greatest country on earth and for that we should be VERY thankful!!! Having grown up in a home with a dad who fought in WW II (he was in the Pacific – Iwo Jima and Guam), I am very grateful for the men and women who gave their lives for our freedom! May we never forget the sacrifice of those patriots!
So the first tradition we had in our home when our children were growing up (and we still do it today with our grandchildren!) was to be sure we were up and ready to attend the parade that we always had in our small town. The parade was nothing to write home about, but the Vets always proudly carry the American flag and we wave our flags and clap for their bravery that still gives us chills in our spines even today! Then we walk the ¾ mile up to the cemetery where we stand and listen to the local high school band play the “Star Spangled Banner” and we hear a speaker share of the blessings of living in America before “Taps” is played along with a “21 Gun Salute”! It is all VERY moving and gives goose bumps to those of us who are still sensitive and thankful enough for the many ways that God has blessed our great country! Then the kids get to climb on the official cannon and the stack of 100 shells that was placed overlooking the “soldiers plot” in the cemetery in 1897.
The rest of the traditions that I will be talking about are more related to the fun part of just being together for the holiday and the food that accompanies our picnics on that day. One of the things we usually did that was not the favorite activity of the day for the kids, was planting the garden! We always had to kind of “bribe” the kids with the other fun activities of the day in order to get them to do the work with a happy face! Living here in Michigan necessitates our planting the annual plants on Memorial Day weekend or later in order to avoid losing them to late spring frosts.
After planting the gardens (flower and vegetable) there was always a fun picnic – usually in our own back yard to avoid the crowds that would surely be at Lake Michigan where we loved to go for many of our outings. There were usually some grandparents at our picnics, and if we were especially blessed, there might be some cousins, but there were always favorite foods that we could count on as part of our Memorial Day traditions! I am going to include some of our favorite recipes so that you can share them with us and get a “flavor” of what we enjoyed on Memorial Day!
I want to include three simple recipes that we often use on Memorial Day for our gatherings. One is for shish-ka-bobs, one for fruit pizza and one for refreshing summer punch.
SHISH-ka-BOBS
- Meat enough for your family – I use chicken, beef and hotdogs
Cut into pieces about one inch square - Vegetables enough for your family – I use green peppers, green onions and mushrooms
- Your favorite marinade – I make my own
- Cut everything and place in a large bowl with a cover. Pour marinade over the meat and let sit all together for at least 24 hours –the longer, the better
- On Memorial Day, place items on skewers and grill over your grill! (Sometimes the veggies cook more quickly than the meat, so it may be helpful to use separate skewers for the meat and the veggies.
FRUIT PIZZA
Make your favorite chocolate chip cookie dough. Flatten it out into 2 large circles on 2 large cookie sheets. Bake at 350 for 12 – 15 minutes. Cool.
Make topping using one pkg cream cheese, 8 oz. Cool whip and ½ cup powdered sugar. Spread over cooled cookie crust. Top with your favorite fruits, cleaned and cut. Cut into wedges and serve.
SUMMER PUNCH
Place one 12 oz. can of frozen orange juice in a large pitcher.
Use two mint tea bags to make about two cups of very strong mint tea.
Mix the above together and pour about two inches in a large glass. Fill glass to the top with Ginger Ale and ice and enjoy.
As I close this post, just let me say that kids LOVE tradition! Be sure you have lots of traditions that your children can carry with them! They love to talk to others and share the things they do “at their house”! Let your traditions be related to holidays or just to life, but have them!!!!
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Loving Your Children - Part VI
Discipline Your Children (continued)
In the last entry, I talked about reaching your child’s heart in your discipline. It is very important in all of your child rearing days that your goal is to reach your child’s heart. Discipline and training that is expressly for the purpose of changing behavior without reaching the heart is pretty ineffective in the big picture of discipline.
One point that I wanted to add to last week’s discussion, is to dispel the idea that is pervasive in today’s culture and that is the whole idea of “time outs” or what we used to call “grounding”, especially for young children. Now I don’t have any Bible verses that say that this type of discipline is not effective, but from my own personal experience and from seeing what happens in homes where this type of discipline is regularly practiced, I want to say that in general this type of discipline is pretty ineffective. First of all, though Scripture doesn’t say not to use the other, it does definitely come down in favor of physical discipline. Proverbs 13:24 says. “He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him (his son) chasteneth him betimes (promptly NKJV).” This verse pretty much rules out long stretched out forms of discipline. Punishment needs to be swift and the relationship needs to be reinstated. When discipline is administered properly, there is a sense of a broken relationship that the child needs to have repaired as soon as possible. If there is a prolonged form of punishment, then it is that much longer before the relationship can be fully restored. One other principle has to do with the idea that as parents we get tired and we can get distracted in our goal and we can easily back off on following through with a long drawn out punishment. This sends the wrong signal to the children. It is usually better with young children to discipline with something that gets over soon and allows the relationship to resume normally.
Discipline, of course, involves more than physical punishment. Discipline involves teaching and training as well. You need to spend time building Godly habits into the lives of your children as well as punishing them when they do wrong. This refers back to something I said earlier and that is that child rearing takes time! It isn’t something that can be done in between all of the other activities of life. It needs to BE your life for as long as it takes. Your children are among the people that you would like to take to Heaven with you and that makes it worth the time! Mothering is a job, but it is more than a job, it is a way of life. It is never over and there are no vacations. But the rewards are better than time off and vacations!
One more issue that I would like to touch on before we leave this topic is to look out for the tricks (“foolishness”) that is “bound up in the heart of your child”. One of the initial lessons that must be learned by a child is the lesson of who is the boss. I want to keep this short, so I will just tell you that when you tell your child to do something, he needs to do it. He needs to do it now and he needs to do it the way you told him to do it! It is great fun for a child to determine how much of your command he needs to follow. There should be very RARE instances when things are open for negotiation. For instance, if you tell him to sit beside you on a chair, he shouldn’t be allowed to sit beside his friend on another chair without your permission. If you desire that he just sit down and you don’t care where, then don’t tell him to sit beside you. If you desire that he sit beside you and you tell him that, then he needs to be obedient and do just as you said. Children are very good at changing the instruction to fit their desires and to show a little bit of control. Don’t be fooled by that. Biblically, parents have control until it is gradually handed over to the child as he shows himself to be mature enough to handle it. Make sure that your children know that you are in charge and that you will give them authority for their own decisions as you see fit.
Well, I think I have covered the topics on loving your children as thoroughly as I plan to at this time. There are many more topics that could be covered, but I think that next time I will move on to something else. I trust these thoughts have been helpful and encouraging to you as you seek to raise Godly children for Him!
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Loving Your Child -- Part V
Discipline Your Child
Many of these topics that I am covering are topics that could fill many books, but I am trying to give the highlights in a very short form! This topic for today is one of those!
When we mention discipline, we all have differing ideas of what exactly that means. There isn’t a lot of Scripture that speaks directly to this issue, but there are many principles derived from Scripture that are very helpful.
One of the main principles that I have come to kind of understand over my years of raising children, is the principle of reaching the heart of the child. The Bible tells us in Proverbs 4:23 “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” Proverbs 2:10&11b tells us “When wisdom enters your heart, and knowledge is pleasant to your soul, discretion will preserve you…” We also know that “the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked…”, Jeremiah 17:9. So you see, the issue is the heart! We must find out how to reach the hearts of our children!
By shear difference in size and bulk, it is somewhat easy for a parent to force a young child to conform to his desires as parent. But what happens when that is the goal, to make kids do what we want them to do by simple force, there will come a time that all of your human efforts will fail and you will be left frustrated and bewildered.
The goal should be to reach into the child’s heart with teaching and patient understanding and firm discipline and seek God’s Holy Spirit to make changes in the heart that will transform the child for his lifetime. Outward changes that take place in behavior are very fleeting, but the inward changes of the heart brought about by the Holy Spirit will open that heart to God’s leading and influence in the life of that child. This is one of many reasons why secular counseling and rehab programs don’t work. They are focusing on changing life patterns from the outside and they are not working on changing the heart.
So, how do we change the heart of a child? The truth is that we can’t do that. We can only be the instruments God uses to accomplish that. So we need to look into God’s Word and find many verses that give us guidelines for that task and also the hope that it can indeed be done!
The first principle, and the only one that I will discuss today, is found in Proverbs 22:15. “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; the rod of correction will drive it far from him.” To some this may seem like an unloving thing to do. However the Scripture says just the opposite. "He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly," Proverbs 13:25.
When we mention discipline, we all have differing ideas of what exactly that means. There isn’t a lot of Scripture that speaks directly to this issue, but there are many principles derived from Scripture that are very helpful.
One of the main principles that I have come to kind of understand over my years of raising children, is the principle of reaching the heart of the child. The Bible tells us in Proverbs 4:23 “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” Proverbs 2:10&11b tells us “When wisdom enters your heart, and knowledge is pleasant to your soul, discretion will preserve you…” We also know that “the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked…”, Jeremiah 17:9. So you see, the issue is the heart! We must find out how to reach the hearts of our children!
By shear difference in size and bulk, it is somewhat easy for a parent to force a young child to conform to his desires as parent. But what happens when that is the goal, to make kids do what we want them to do by simple force, there will come a time that all of your human efforts will fail and you will be left frustrated and bewildered.
The goal should be to reach into the child’s heart with teaching and patient understanding and firm discipline and seek God’s Holy Spirit to make changes in the heart that will transform the child for his lifetime. Outward changes that take place in behavior are very fleeting, but the inward changes of the heart brought about by the Holy Spirit will open that heart to God’s leading and influence in the life of that child. This is one of many reasons why secular counseling and rehab programs don’t work. They are focusing on changing life patterns from the outside and they are not working on changing the heart.
So, how do we change the heart of a child? The truth is that we can’t do that. We can only be the instruments God uses to accomplish that. So we need to look into God’s Word and find many verses that give us guidelines for that task and also the hope that it can indeed be done!
The first principle, and the only one that I will discuss today, is found in Proverbs 22:15. “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; the rod of correction will drive it far from him.” To some this may seem like an unloving thing to do. However the Scripture says just the opposite. "He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly," Proverbs 13:25.
As we are all quite aware, spanking a child is not acceptable today and indeed could, if done at the wrong place at the wrong time, cause a person to spend some time in jail. However, as I have mentioned in the past, we are not under the laws of man and are ultimately accountable to God. We find the guidelines for our lives in God’s Word and if God tells us to spank our children, there must be good reason for that! Spanking needs to be done wisely and carefully and not indiscriminately. And since our culture is very down on spanking, there is no need to test the system and try spanking in the store! Keep up good communication with your children and let them know ahead of time that if they misbehave at the store, they WILL receive their punishment when they get home and then FOLLOW THROUGH! Children are usually three or four before they will purposely test your authority in the store, so by then they can understand the word “spank” and that should be a deterrent if you have used this method of discipline at home. In this area of spanking, consistency and follow-through are the foundational necessities! If you are not consistent and there is no follow-through, obedience will be very sporadic at best! And one more thing: make the spanking hurt! (This does NOT mean physical damage.) If they come out of the spanking and there are no tears, you probably didn’t accomplish much. And as you begin to reach their hearts effectively, there will be tears of remorse over the broken relationship even if the spanking didn’t hurt all that much.
Next time I will continue this discussion, but this gives you something to think about and a place to start. May God bless your family and may you raise Godly and obedient children for Him!!!
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Loving Your Children -- Part IV
Giving Your Time
Time is something that we can give to our children that doesn’t cost anything in the way of this world’s goods. And yet, it is so very misunderstood. Again, there is no verse in the Bible that commands us to give our time to our children, but the implications are that time is a very important thing we can give to them. I believe the best Scripture that makes this clear is Deuteronomy 6:5-9.
Verse 5 tells us that we must love the Lord with our whole heart, soul and strength. And then in verse 7 we are commanded to teach “these things” to our children diligently! We are to talk about them when we are in our homes, when we are out walking, when we go to bed and when we get up in the morning. This sounds like a lot of time to me! This means that we must be WITH our children in order to accomplish this task.
I do not claim to know all that is included in “these things”, but I believe that one of the things we are to talk about is God’s faithfulness in our lives and in the lives of our family – not just our present family, but to our ancestors and those in our extended family. In that same chapter, verses 20-25, we are told that if “your son” asks you about the meaning of the things he sees and hears they should be telling him of all that the Lord did for them (the Israelites) in delivering them from the Egyptians. And I think it is even wise and helpful for us to put things up around our homes (pictures, mementos, etc.) that will cause them to ask questions and give us opportunities to share things about their heritage. Praise the Lord if they have a Godly heritage, but if they don’t there is something else that you can do! That would be to have a prayer journal and keep track of your prayers and answers so that you can show them to your children frequently so that they can see God’s work in that area of your life and so they can know that you are busy establishing a Godly heritage to pass on to them and their children. The important thing is to let your children see that God is alive and active in our lives and that He works through His people and that He has a plan for them that He is bringing about through prayer and through their family heritage.
There is a lot that could be included here in this topic about time, but I just want to cover one more item at this time and that is in the area of something we all hear in the culture. If I could, I would ask how many of you have heard the idea that it is “not the quantity of the time, but the quality that matters”? I want to go on record right now that that statement is a lie and meant to deceive loving mothers who really desire to do the right thing, but also have other things that they desire to do with their time. That statement can make us feel very good about planning our time so that we fit in a fun time at the amusement park on Saturday or on a weekend trip when we are out the rest of the week doing things we enjoy or making money so that “our kids can have everything that they need to be accepted in this world”. There is no way that we can be obedient to the mandates in Deuteronomy 6 if we are out and about most of the week except for the time we are out having some “quality time” with our kids on the weekend. I am here to tell you that small children and even some older ones may not be able to put it into words, but they would much rather have your time and attention on a daily basis just being there and providing their needs, than to have all the “stuff” or the big “thrills” that the world can provide.
So, Moms, I pray that you will take these admonitions as coming from my heart to yours. If you can apply some of these Biblical principles, your life and the lives of your children will benefit greatly through living life at the pace that God, the Creator intended was best for us! Take a walk with your kids. Plan a picnic with them and look at all the flowers that are out this time of year. Let them “help” you bake some cookies. Just enjoy them and when the time comes that they leave your home, you will not have regrets and you will not be bemoaning the fact that the time was way too short because you were way too busy or way too otherwise occupied. You only have one opportunity to raise your children. Make it count for the Lord!!!
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Loving Your Children -- Part III
Shielding Them
I am writing today on a topic that probably wouldn’t have come up this soon had it not been for the events that occurred on Monday, April, 16, 2007. It is hard to overlook this grave event and go on to any other topic. No, I am not going to write about the terribleness of what happened, but I am going to give my thoughts on how we as mothers and grandmothers can shield our children and grandchildren from the culture in which we live. Just as Jesus longed to gather the children in Jerusalem together “as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings” (Matthew 6:37), we need to gather our children and protect them from the wickedness of our culture!
I am sure that some of you are wondering how I am going to suggest that you shield your children from these things. Well, let me assure you that I am well aware that we cannot lock our kids or ourselves up in a room and throw away the key! I am suggesting, however, that we can do things that will give them the tools to be able to respond to events of this nature that WILL occur during their lifetimes. And if my predictions are correct, as I look back over the 59 years that I have been in this world, it appears to me that these events will occur with more and more frequency as we move along through this century!
First of all, don’t let your children have free reign over the television or computer! They don’t need to see any of the coverage of such events! (As far as that goes, we moms and grandmas don’t need to see all that much of the coverage either. Does it encourage or edify us to see all the details that the media thrusts upon us without warning? Does it cause us to think about things that are pure and honorable and lovely? Philippians 4:8) At this point, you might react with a comment about living in “the real world” and how children need to know what goes on in their world. I will respond with a question: Who determines what the real world is for your children? God’s Word says that “God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7) So if your children have fear, it is not from God. And to let them see any of the coverage of this type of event on the television (or to let them watch programming of any kind that instills fear) cannot be of God! So remember, when your friends or others say something about how maimed your children are going to be socially if they don’t know what is going on in the “real world”, let them know that the “real world” for your children is the one that God has helped you establish in your home through the guidance of His Word. And how do I know so much about this argument? It was used many times on our family as we raised our children and protected them from so many of the pitfalls that were prevalent during the ‘80’s and the ‘90’s.
I guess I won’t get to a second point today as I don’t want anyone to fall asleep reading when I know that many of you must work hard to carve out precious time to check on what is new on the computer. I will try to get back to this topic soon. Have a great week and don’t forget to pray for your children.
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