"I'm So Glad I'm Your Child"

"I'm so glad I'm your child..." These words were spoken to me just a few days ago by Elyse, my six year old.  Of course they made my heart flutter with love and maternal satisfaction, but I immediately wondered "what in the world did I do today to make her say that?" Why are we hard wired like that?  In my last post I talked about some world religions we were talking about in Children's Church last Sunday.  Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam...they are all religions that depend on works.  People spend their entire life trying to do enough good deeds to fall into good graces with their gods.  It makes me wonder how many of us are really trying to earn our way into the heart of God. Even though we "know" what His Word says about not needing to do it, we have the tendency to try and earn spiritual brownie points.  

So, why is Elyse glad she's my child?  Probably because I nurture her, I wash her clothes, I feed her meals, I kiss her owies...the list goes on and on.  But I bet the main reason why she's glad she's my child is because I am her Mommy.  I love her; not because she is hilarious, not because she is selfless, not because she's beautiful, and most certainly not because she tries hard to please me by doing the things she feels would make me happy.  I love her because she is mine. And she knows that's all the reason I need to love her.

I'm reminded tonight that every day I should wake and remind Jesus that I'm so glad I'm His child, and I'm sure that He is satisfied with that thought, even before I tackle my to do list for the day.

Missions Minded Kids

Today I'm putting the  finishing touches on KidzRoc for Sunday Morning where we'll be doing a BGMC emphasis.   As I'm preparing an object lesson on different World Religions and looking through pictures of not only adults practicing these religions (Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam...) I'm seeing pictures of children.  It's difficult to look through picture after picture of children who have been taught these things from birth, and will most likely live out these things until death.  My immediate first thought is, 'what in the world can I do to help reach these?'  A couple of things...pray of course, but maybe also support a missionary or even go on missions trips myself.  The second question and in my mind, the more important question, is what am I going to do to teach not only my kids, but the kids at church about the need?  How can I instill that passion in their hearts to be consumed with compassion for the lost?  

The answer is probably that I can't teach it.  I can pray for it.  In the mean time, I'm going to show them some of the pictures that have brought me to tears this week as I prepare.  I'm going to do an Object Lesson that hopefully will have them thinking well after they leave the service Sunday morning.  I will collect their Buddy Barrels and send the money to BGMC.  And I'm going to pray.  Pray hard that some of these kids will catch a passion to reach the lost.

Raising More Joseph's

Recently I read a book entitled "Raising a Modern-Day Joseph" by Larry Fowler.  Amazing book. It uses Joseph as a model for a person full of good character.  Isn't that what we are aiming for in our own children?  I know I am.  Reading that book has me interested in the life of Joseph, so I have been reading through those chapters in Genesis the past few days.  So far, two things strike me most in these chapters. 

1.  Joseph was incredibly trustworthy.  When Jason and I were in Youth Ministry we defined the word character to the kids as "the person that you are when no one is looking."  I want to raise my kids to be trustworthy and honest no matter what situation they are in; whether they have someone looking in on them or not.  

2.  Joseph had an amazing amount of compassion.  In Chapter 42 it is telling us how Joseph's brothers have come to Egypt in search of food to buy during the famine, and they come before Joseph to ask him.  He is dealing with his brothers, the very men who betrayed them and in verse 24 it says "He turned away from them and began to weep, but then turned back and spoke to them again...."  Joseph felt intense emotion towards his brothers, perhaps dealing with anger, resentment, etc. but at the end of the day, he provides for his brothers and does not seek vindication against them.

Just two of many lessons to be learned from Joseph, but I'm thinking they are two things worth intentionally instilling in our kids, and it's ever to early to start.  Let's raise some trustworthy, compassionate kids!

Stormy Culture

Last night at Mega Sports Camp we introduced a couple of Key Points to the kids.  One of them was that God is bigger than storms in life.  As I was preparing this last week to present this to the kids, I thought a lot about "storms." I've been challenged lately through a book and blogs to really try and investigate and become a student of the culture of kids today.  I've been hitting the Nickelodeon website, watching a little Sponge Bob & Hannah Montana.  I pay attention when we're at the mall to what kids are talking about what they are wearing.  These cultural influences make a big difference in how our kids handle the junk that comes up in their lives.  Just on Sunday alone, I was blown away by a couple of things that I was hearing from kids; stuff they are concerned about and asking prayer for.

It's so important that we are teaching our kids how to navigate through storms.  If we don't, we're leaving it up to their peers, to the internet, even to Hannah Montana to show them how to react to tough situations.  So how do we do that? 

 1. Model prayer as a number one action to tough times.  By the time our kids are teenagers, their first reaction to a bad situation will be to Google the answer.  Let's teach our kids how to pray. 

2.  Be in the Word.  Let your kids see you reading your Bible, and read with them.  In a previous post I talked about the Kid's Devo Bible.  Find something that shows your kids tangibly how to turn to God's Word.

3.  You are your kid's filter for cultural influences.  Don't let the world out there dictate how your child is raised.  Modesty, purity and holiness can still be instilled in your kids, even in this day and age.

4.  Model to them how to seek out Godly council in tough times. Let your children see you going to church and seeking the refuge of the body of Christ in tough times.

The culture that our kid's our being raised in makes it hard to raise Godly children.  Hard, but not impossible. Keep at it, your reward is coming!

Nurturing our Kids

JJ, our 18 month old, is a kick in the pants. Today he prematurely woke up from his nap and was a little cranky, so I got him out and rocked him while he dozed for a little while longer. I know, it's a big no-no in the world of parental schedules, but on a normal day I'm not there when he wakes up, so I decided to indulge him a little (and myself a little too). As I was holding him, I realized how much he as grown in the last 18 months. He doesn't fit so nicely in my arms anymore. JJ had a bit of a rough start, just for a few hours. When he was born, he was born with the cord wrapped several times around his neck, and because of that, they helped me deliver him quickly. But because of the quick delivery, he had fluid in his lungs and had some respiratory troubles. He spent the first few hours of his life the NICU. Not fun for Mom and Dad, but if you know JJ, you know he's fine now! As we've nurtured him, he has grown into this wonderful, hilarious little boy.

Beyond physical nurturing, what else can we do as parents to make sure that our kids are being raised as Christ Followers? Providing them healthy meals is important, so is a warm bed and happy home, but what are we doing for their spiritual health that will help them in the end, choose Christ? I was reminded again today that it's not too early to start nurturing JJ's spiritual growth. He can sit on the bed with us as we read the Bible to the girls. Will he retain or even understand what we are reading? Probably not, but the commitment to do that will become a habit, and a habit will be a meaningful part of his life in a couple of years.  

The commitment we make as parents to be faithful to our own Bible Study, to serving in our Churches, to fellowship with other Christian friends...all of those things nurture our Children's Faith, because they are seeing it lived out in our lives. Simple thought? Yep, but think about how much time you invest into this area in your life. I can definitely invest more of myself into the spiritual nurturing of my kids. How about you?

The Kid's Devotional Bible

Lately, I have been using a kid's study Bible with my girls to get them thinking about the Word, rather than just hearing it.  I found this Devotional Bible put out by Zonderkidz (Zondervan).  It has one year of devos that you can read with your child, along with a corresponding passage of Scripture.  The thing I really like about this Bible is that is takes Scripture that we ordinarily wouldn't think about reading to our kids, and puts great lessons with them.  Last night as we were reading, it took us to the passage in Proverbs 6 about ants, and how they are not lazy, but store up for harvest time without having to be told.  It gave a lesson that drew a parallel for the kids about not having to be told to clean their rooms a hundred times before doing it, or about doing homework without having to be asked over and over.  I saw a light bulb go on in Elyse's head (she's 6) when I read that.  Cleaning up their room is a huge struggle for my kids, but when a biblical analogy was presented to them, they thought a little deeper about it.  Cool, huh?  

I want to challenge you as a parent to not only read the Word to your kids, but find some practical applications that you can put with them so that they can better understand how this huge book is relevant to their lives.  This devo Bible does a great job of that.  It's written in NIrV (New International reader's Version) which is presented as being more readable and understandable for kids.  This Bible will encourage Bible study, and help develop habits in your kids that they'll want to keep!  Do we get it done every night?  Not always, but when we do, it's valuable time with the girls as we get to go a little deeper into the Word.

MEGA

Last night we had our 4th night of MEGA Sports & Ministry Camp.  I love it.  The excitement from the kids is really high, and things are starting to move along like a well oiled machine.  I have so many fantastic volunteers that are giving of their Wednesday nights all summer to hang out with our kids.  I had the opportunity last night to watch some of the sports sessions, and it was really great to see the smiles on the kids faces as they were challenged to learn more about each sport, but were having a ton of fun.  At snack time, I sent the basketball players up to grab their oranges, graham crackers and grapes, and it seemed like by the time I turned around a group of boys were running back down to the basketball area mouths full, chewing, ready to get back to b-ball.

As I walked through the halls, I heard hysterical laughter coming from the Ministry room as they were all totally immersed in the drama exercise they were doing.  Kids are learning what it means to minister with their talents...awesome.

My favorite part though is the opening rallies where we get to sing songs, jump around, give God crazy praise and learn more about how to live an "Undefeated" life.  The excitement has been high, kids are learning not just our key points, but the HUGE Theme Verse as well.

I am thankful for this program, for the kids who are loving it, and for the volunteers that make it possible.  4 weeks down, 9 to go!