Kids Happenings October 2018
Hello church family,
My article is a culmination of words taken from a book that I have been reading called Nothing Less, written by Jana Magruder. I hope you enjoy these words as much as I have.
Have you ever heard the expression, “Begin with the end in mind”? In some ways, we maybe parenting with today and tomorrow in plain sight, striving to raise great kids. The problem is that the goal is too small and the vision too narrow. If we are really hard-pressed, we must admit that we don’t want to raise great kids. We want to raise great adults who love and cherish God’s Word. What if we all parented our children with the end in mind? What if we made decisions based on what was best for their long-term spiritual development and not their immediate compliance or happiness? What if we focused less on 10 minutes from now and 10 days from now and really zeroed in on the type of adults we wanted to call our grown children 10 years from now? That’s parenting with the end, not the moment, in mind.
Parents love getting their children involved with extracurricular activities. We immerse our kids in lessons and practices, encouraging them to set goals and achieve their best, on a playing field or in a swimming pool in a concert hall or in the classroom. Our kids’ abilities and their talents are important, right? But are we plugging the same degree of importance in our kids’ spiritual lives? As our children develop, they will be searching for deeper and deeper meanings. If we cannot remind ourselves of the truth, how then can we hope to steer our children in the right direction?
The ultimate ability to create new growth lies with our omnipotent Gardener, but we bear the responsibility of planting and watering the seeds in the lives of our children. “Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up” (Deuteronomy 11:19) We must remind ourselves over and over again that the work we do to fulfill our call as godly parents won’t be nearly enough. Consider all the types of cake you're tried. Ratios and flavors can vary greatly, but basic ingredients are about the same: flour, sugar, eggs, etc. Just as those basic ingredients are building blocks to make any type of cake, these 10 spiritual building blocks provide a solid foundation for intentional parenting and creating a purpose-filled partnership between church and home.
1) Child regularly reads their Bible. 2) Child regularly spends time in prayer. 3) Child regularly serves in church. 4) Child listens primarily to Christian music. 5) Child participates in church mission trips or projects. 6) Child has an interest level in church. 7) Child’s best friend has an influence to follow Christ and adults at church intentionally invest in them. 8) Parents ask forgiveness when they mess up and point out biblical principles in everyday life. 9) Siblings have an influence to follow Christ. 10) Family attends church regularly.
There is no perfect recipe. There are no solid guarantees. Helping our kids mature into young adults who know and follow Jesus is the aim. Applying these 10 spiritual influencers in your family can help. And ultimately, we’ll learn that trusting God for the end result we desire is really the only way to go.
Thank you for allowing me to love on your little ones!
God Bless,