“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” –Prov 22:6 (NKJV)
We arrived at our destination, and without hesitation- my daughter walked right up to the other parties, confessed her wrong doing, and said she was sorry. There was no need for me to discuss anything any further with her (of course the TV grounding is still in effect), she had fulfilled all that I asked of her.
As I now look back, this was a huge growing moment for BOTH she and I. I can see how God has worked in me by the way I handled everything. It makes me think of when we screw up, how loving and forgiving our Father truly is. He loves us no matter what- that’s always a given. He does not beat guilt or condemnation into us, but rather- teaches us through confession, humility, and love. Yes, we may be punished, but only out of love and for us to learn from our mistakes. Best of all, God not only forgives us- but the Bible says that removes our transgressions from us as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). He NEVER brings it up again!
I am very grateful for what happened. I got to teach my daughter a valuable life lesson, but I also drew closer to Jesus as well. Best of all, as we closed out in prayer on Thursday night, my daughter repeated what she had done, and promised God she would never do it again- this time without me reminding her to pray that. Case closed, lesson learned- to God be the glory!
Monday, February 27, 2012
Train "Em Up! -Part 1
“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” –Prov 22:6 (NKJV)
I had an incident occur last week with my daughter that really caught me off guard. Now, for respect of her privacy, I won’t say exactly what she did. I can tell you it was very uncharacteristic of her and I was quite disappointed. Please keep in mind that she is also only 5 years old, so there’s a lot of growing and life lessons to still be learned. I found out about the situation
as I was heading back to drop her off to her mom, so I didn’t really have much time to absorb and discuss the whole thing with her. What I DID have time to do was pray, and boy did God come through on this one! Here’s how everything unfolded:
1. I affirmed her with love. Based on all of the reading and studying I’ve done over circumstances like this, as well as personal experience, I have learned that our kids need to know first and foremost that they are loved. Yes, there may be punishment involved, but flying off the handle with yelling first is not the way to handle it. I explained to her that I loved her very much, but that I was also very disappointed in her.
2. I gave her an acceptable punishment- one that fit the crime. Basically, she is grounded from TV for 2 weeks and she must apologize to the other people involved.
3. We prayed at the end of the night as usual, but I asked her to throw in a request for forgiveness from God as well for what she had done- to which she complied.
This all occurred on a Tuesday night, I would have to wait until Thursday to finish the
lesson. When Thursday did roll around, the only time I brought it back up was to tell her that we were on our way back for her to make her apology and then it would be done from there.
I had an incident occur last week with my daughter that really caught me off guard. Now, for respect of her privacy, I won’t say exactly what she did. I can tell you it was very uncharacteristic of her and I was quite disappointed. Please keep in mind that she is also only 5 years old, so there’s a lot of growing and life lessons to still be learned. I found out about the situation
as I was heading back to drop her off to her mom, so I didn’t really have much time to absorb and discuss the whole thing with her. What I DID have time to do was pray, and boy did God come through on this one! Here’s how everything unfolded:
1. I affirmed her with love. Based on all of the reading and studying I’ve done over circumstances like this, as well as personal experience, I have learned that our kids need to know first and foremost that they are loved. Yes, there may be punishment involved, but flying off the handle with yelling first is not the way to handle it. I explained to her that I loved her very much, but that I was also very disappointed in her.
2. I gave her an acceptable punishment- one that fit the crime. Basically, she is grounded from TV for 2 weeks and she must apologize to the other people involved.
3. We prayed at the end of the night as usual, but I asked her to throw in a request for forgiveness from God as well for what she had done- to which she complied.
This all occurred on a Tuesday night, I would have to wait until Thursday to finish the
lesson. When Thursday did roll around, the only time I brought it back up was to tell her that we were on our way back for her to make her apology and then it would be done from there.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
How Rich is Your Family?
"A truly rich man is one whose children run into his arms when his hands are empty." -Unknown
"But you don't have any money," my daughter replied to me the other day when I told her a brake job on my car is gonna cost some bucks. She's very correct in her statement, as my bank account at the time is less than desirable. Do I sweat it? Not really, because not only has God provided all of our needs (and then some ) lately, but I'm also seeing amazing spiritual growth in my daughter these past few months. Let me back this up. Things have been tight for a while now- but these past few months the financial cushion has been all but eliminated. Somehow through it all though, we've made it. It's not necessarily the money factor that has me seeking Him like never before, it's what God is doing in both myself and my daughter.
I prayed a few weeks ago for God to "stretch" me. For those of you who have requested such things, you know to be ready when you ask God for something like that! My prayer request has been granted in multiple areas of my life since then. I'm being tested in all sorts of areas, yet through the storms I stand strong on the Rock of Christ and withstand. Not only am I growing myself, but in it all I have intensified my commitment to my daughter and her livelihood. She prays regularly for others, even got what I am calling her first conversion the other day. She basically told me she "made" a little boy believe in God by drawing a picture and some words. (Keep in mind she's still 5 years old!) Hey...that's a great start. I see her interacting with kids in a natural-born leader type of way, and she doesn't seem to have a care in the world. When I do have her, I've really been trying to commit to leaving the cell phone in the car or on silent while she and I are playing. We do homework together; we pray; and our favorite- playing board games.
Here's where I'm going with all of this: when we dads are involved in our kid's lives, they flourish. Here is one great statistic that sums it all up: "Children
with involved Fathers are more confident, better able to deal with frustration,
better able to gain independence and their own identity, more likely to mature
into compassionate adults, more likely to have a high self esteem, more
sociable, more secure as infants, less likely to show signs of depression, less
likely to commit suicide, more empathetic, boys have been shown to be less
aggressive and adolescent girls are less likely to engage in sex." These are the reasons we do what we do- not for our benefit, but for theirs. Jesus said in John 15:13, "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." (NASB) Where does it start any better than laying down our lives than for our children?
Dad, I'm not writing this to convict anyone in any way. I'm doing this to encourage those of you who are involved to keep it up; and for those of us (we all do) who have fallen asleep on the job when it comes to our sons and daughters- to use this as a spiritual alarm clock and get going! Money is a necessity, that is very true. However, it is by no means THE necessity. A friend of mine once said, "When it's all said and done, it's not the trips to Disney World and stuff like that we remember about our parents- it's all of the little things." I may or may not ever climb out of the financial pit I'm in, but I pray that one day my daughter will look back and say, "I always had clothes, food, and a warm bed to sleep in at night. My dad still found a way to get me some great toys and stuff, but most of all- he was always there. He made the most with what God had given him, and he invested in me." My prayer is that because of these sacrificial investments, she will grow and excel as a godly, strong, and confident woman- with a foundation built on Jesus Christ. My prayer is the exact same for your sons and daughters as well.
"But you don't have any money," my daughter replied to me the other day when I told her a brake job on my car is gonna cost some bucks. She's very correct in her statement, as my bank account at the time is less than desirable. Do I sweat it? Not really, because not only has God provided all of our needs (and then some ) lately, but I'm also seeing amazing spiritual growth in my daughter these past few months. Let me back this up. Things have been tight for a while now- but these past few months the financial cushion has been all but eliminated. Somehow through it all though, we've made it. It's not necessarily the money factor that has me seeking Him like never before, it's what God is doing in both myself and my daughter.
I prayed a few weeks ago for God to "stretch" me. For those of you who have requested such things, you know to be ready when you ask God for something like that! My prayer request has been granted in multiple areas of my life since then. I'm being tested in all sorts of areas, yet through the storms I stand strong on the Rock of Christ and withstand. Not only am I growing myself, but in it all I have intensified my commitment to my daughter and her livelihood. She prays regularly for others, even got what I am calling her first conversion the other day. She basically told me she "made" a little boy believe in God by drawing a picture and some words. (Keep in mind she's still 5 years old!) Hey...that's a great start. I see her interacting with kids in a natural-born leader type of way, and she doesn't seem to have a care in the world. When I do have her, I've really been trying to commit to leaving the cell phone in the car or on silent while she and I are playing. We do homework together; we pray; and our favorite- playing board games.
Here's where I'm going with all of this: when we dads are involved in our kid's lives, they flourish. Here is one great statistic that sums it all up: "Children
with involved Fathers are more confident, better able to deal with frustration,
better able to gain independence and their own identity, more likely to mature
into compassionate adults, more likely to have a high self esteem, more
sociable, more secure as infants, less likely to show signs of depression, less
likely to commit suicide, more empathetic, boys have been shown to be less
aggressive and adolescent girls are less likely to engage in sex." These are the reasons we do what we do- not for our benefit, but for theirs. Jesus said in John 15:13, "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." (NASB) Where does it start any better than laying down our lives than for our children?
Dad, I'm not writing this to convict anyone in any way. I'm doing this to encourage those of you who are involved to keep it up; and for those of us (we all do) who have fallen asleep on the job when it comes to our sons and daughters- to use this as a spiritual alarm clock and get going! Money is a necessity, that is very true. However, it is by no means THE necessity. A friend of mine once said, "When it's all said and done, it's not the trips to Disney World and stuff like that we remember about our parents- it's all of the little things." I may or may not ever climb out of the financial pit I'm in, but I pray that one day my daughter will look back and say, "I always had clothes, food, and a warm bed to sleep in at night. My dad still found a way to get me some great toys and stuff, but most of all- he was always there. He made the most with what God had given him, and he invested in me." My prayer is that because of these sacrificial investments, she will grow and excel as a godly, strong, and confident woman- with a foundation built on Jesus Christ. My prayer is the exact same for your sons and daughters as well.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Are You Rowing?
" This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me." -1Cor 4:1-4 (NIV)
I had a friend of mine explain this verse to me in such a way: On the old Roman ships, there were three different levels. The top level was for the elite and free- sort of like on the Titanic. The middle level was for the servants, basically slaves with some privileges. The very bottom was for the slaves- the rowers of the boat. They had one purpose in life and that was to row. As an "under rower" as they were called, you had virtually zero rights. You rowed when told, ate, and slept in the same manner. You didn't even have the right to consider yourself to be a good rower! You were the bottom of the bottom. However, should you do good and receive acknowledgement from someone in high standing- you were allowed to move up a deck. Ultimately, you may even get to the top level to say hi to the elite once in a while- but only if given the privilege.
In today's passage Paul compares himself to an under rower. He explains that none of the Corinthians has the right to judge him (even for the better); Paul says he doesn't even have the right to judge himself! The only One who can judge, elevate, and exalt us is God. Paul's mentality of being a bond servant of Christ, a slave to righteousness, is his way of telling us that none of us should move until God says so. We are also to do this with an attitude of gratitude, not complaining (Phil 2:14). We were created with one purpose: to worship and praise our Lord. When we walk in good standing with Him, He will then elevate us- thus bringing us honor and reward. Just as it is in Jesus' parable in Luke 14, those who exalt themselves will be humbled; but those who humble themselves will be exalted (Luke 14:7-11). So the question today is: Are you rowing? Keep those oars in the water and do not consider yourself to be any higher than an under rower. When you stay faithful, God will bring you up a deck. Eventually, we will even be dancing on the top floor with the King!
I had a friend of mine explain this verse to me in such a way: On the old Roman ships, there were three different levels. The top level was for the elite and free- sort of like on the Titanic. The middle level was for the servants, basically slaves with some privileges. The very bottom was for the slaves- the rowers of the boat. They had one purpose in life and that was to row. As an "under rower" as they were called, you had virtually zero rights. You rowed when told, ate, and slept in the same manner. You didn't even have the right to consider yourself to be a good rower! You were the bottom of the bottom. However, should you do good and receive acknowledgement from someone in high standing- you were allowed to move up a deck. Ultimately, you may even get to the top level to say hi to the elite once in a while- but only if given the privilege.
In today's passage Paul compares himself to an under rower. He explains that none of the Corinthians has the right to judge him (even for the better); Paul says he doesn't even have the right to judge himself! The only One who can judge, elevate, and exalt us is God. Paul's mentality of being a bond servant of Christ, a slave to righteousness, is his way of telling us that none of us should move until God says so. We are also to do this with an attitude of gratitude, not complaining (Phil 2:14). We were created with one purpose: to worship and praise our Lord. When we walk in good standing with Him, He will then elevate us- thus bringing us honor and reward. Just as it is in Jesus' parable in Luke 14, those who exalt themselves will be humbled; but those who humble themselves will be exalted (Luke 14:7-11). So the question today is: Are you rowing? Keep those oars in the water and do not consider yourself to be any higher than an under rower. When you stay faithful, God will bring you up a deck. Eventually, we will even be dancing on the top floor with the King!
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