Hey girls!!
Something is brewing in my heart and I feel like God is speaking to me deeply about a certain "thing." So, I thought I'd ask you precious friends for some help and advice.
I am on staff at my church and absolutely love what I do. I am the Director of Children's Ministry. I feel called to not only be the person that is over the children's ministry, but also their parents. I mean...the two go together don't they??!!
I also have a heart for women and leading Bible study. So, if you could split me down the middle, 1/2 of me is all about growing our kids toward a love for Jesus, and the other 1/2 of me is all about growing a momma's heart toward a deep love for Jesus.
Deuteronomy 6:7 says, "Impress (commandments) them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."
So, give me some ideas to pass along to other parents, within my church and through Bible study, of ways you do just this.
How do you impress Jesus in everyday life upon the hearts of your children??
Tell me all the creative things you do in your home or if you don't have children yet tell me what your parents did with you when you were a child.
I cannot wait to hear what you have to say!! And...believe me...I'll be passing it along!! Thank you in advance and may Jesus be the center and the pulse of your home!!
Blessings and hugs~
Fran
17 comments:
Great post from a sweet heart,
Fran. I'm between kids and grandkids, with children out of the house now, but if there is one thing I wished I had done, it would have been to realize how much of a war we face with society itself. Everything society tells them is counter to our beliefs as Christians. We can't shelter them, but we can warn them about the dangers of what society "preaches" and believe me, they get more of that than they do of your time with them at home, if your kids go to public school or watch tv or do half of the things most kids do today. Just love them more and give them as much of your time as you can, and talk, talk, talk about everything! Nothing is too far fetched to bring up. They will face it, sooner or later, so it is in their best interest to be rooted strongly in the ways of Christ. Prayers and love to each of you at this stage of your lives, Annette
Great Post, I don't even remember how I got here, but I see ya'll have a min schnauzer too, so cute! We have one as well! Love the Blog!
Fran,
Man we are SO much alike. I am struggling with leading Women's studies and volunteering in the baby nursery. I want to work in the baby nursery EVERY Sunday -(hehe) but I know God wants me to attend church service and be more active with the Women's ministry also - LOL
Ok I am not an expert but we talk about God in everything we do.
He is our life and in our home.
We say things like "did you see the amazing sunrise God made for us this morning?" "What was your favorite color in the sunrise that He painted for you?"
When we have a conflict we ask "Would that have made God happy? How would He have wanted you to react?" We have scripture that we apply it to as well.
There is a great book and mommy guide that we have used to help us in this area as well
It is by Ginger Plowman and the book is called "Don't make me count to three!" and the guide is called Wise Words for Moms
I have both and recommend them. I hope that helps!
Love you my friend!
Kim
Hey my sweet friend, I do not have any children. But, here is just my little ole opinion, lol The best thing you can do as parents for your children is to love one another. Let them daily see the love you and your spouse share for one another, and for the Lord. Show them love in action. I love you my friend.
Hey. I'm breaking my blogging fast and checking out my dear ones...
I loved this post! What a great question. Children are not my thing...wait, that didn't sound right since I have three of them (lol). You know what I mean...I don't work in Children's ministry and there is a reason for that I'm sure! But around our house, we started 'em young with talking about Jesus. Every night we would gather around one of their beds at bedtime and do our prayers. I grew up with the "if I should die before I wake" bedtime prayer which always bothered me. So we did something different with our prayers. We started with the Lord's Prayer. Oh, the joy (and how I hate we didn't tape them) of hearing them "say" the Lord's Prayer when they were little. And the questions..."whose Art and why is he the only one in heaven we pray for"...But I'll never forget the look on our Interim Pastor's face when he was talking to the kids about the Lord's Prayer and started to recite it and our youngest...4 or 5 at the time, chimed in with him and said it all the way through perfectly. It made this momma's heart sing. And then we would all do "free prayers"...things we were thankful for (there was a really looooong spell of hot dog praise from said youngest), people we loved who needed to know Jesus. And of course praying for our pets, including "the flushables"...our fish.
Also, at every opportunity, we have tired to 1) point out qualities in our children that were similar to those of Jesus...our daughter is very compassionate, for example. And we would talk about how Jesus had compassion on the unlovely...the beggars, the hurting, etc. and 2) we tried to get them to see that if a friend was mean or said/did hurtful things, that there is probably something going on in their lives that caused them to react/act that way and wouldn't it be the right to do to respond as Jesus would.
Wow...just read through this and I am NO WHERE NEAR trying to be or thinking I am the high and mighty one...(see previous note about why I don't work with children!). But this is what worked for us and our family. And, at 17, 16 & 12...Jesus is spoken about in our home on a daily basis, thought about, prayed to, read about. I can't imagine NOT doing it! I can't imagine going through this life with children (i.e., TEENAGERS) without Him.
Whew. Glad I got that out!
Love you, sweet Fran!
Well, I'm excited to read the comments here because I am still trying to figure this out. We do some of the things mentioned above, but I'm looking for ways to make God more a part of our daily lives as a family especially since our boys are really getting to the age of understanding. I'll be checking back.
I feel like this is a question I ask myself everyday!
Here are a few of the things we do around the house that have made a difference in our family.
As we fold laundry, we pray for the person that will wear the piece of clothing we are folding. If we are all folding together, it's a sentence prayer, if I'm folding alone, I pray a little longer! :)
We talk about the sunrise, the sunset, the food we're eating, the friends God has given us, whatever we are doing we incorporate God into it.
I'm finding that the more we do this, the more the girls do this on their own...
The biggest thing has been during our quiet time. For so long, I always felt like I needed to be totatlly alone for my quiet time. Um....wrong. God showed me that if the girls were up when I started to do my Bible study..then let them participate. So now, we all do our Bible study together..They have their own devotion guides and it's not adnormal to see all of us with a cup of coffee (or hot tea if you're under 13) with our Bible study. I wouldn't trade those mornings for the world. It's so precious...
BUT then we have days like today when my 9 year old decided to have a melt down...oh the drama.....
We are working this out and I'm excited to see what kind of response you get!!!!
I'm typing this while I'm watching the finale on Idol...THEY ARE SINGING SHOUT TO THE LORD....they didn't say "My Jesus" they said "My shepherd" but He is that too...I'm loving this!
Love you girl
steph.
Wow, what a great question & I loved reading all the ideas that have been posted so far! I didn't realize what a huge honor & responsibility it was in raising my kids to love Jesus, until I had my own kids. It's huge! He should be in everything & yet so many times I fail. BUT, I'm a work in progress and there are a few things we do right now.
I have 2 Bible verses written out & posted on our frig. If there is an argument or unkind thing said, I make them tell me what our verse says & how that hurts God's heart.
We also are working on learning Bible verses with sign language. Little kids are such sponges and can learn so easily, I'm finding. Plus, it goes into their hearts.
Lastly, growing up I remember making sure that our family ate together every night & we talked about EVERYTHING! My parents made sure that everything was open grounds as long as it was said with respect...but in everything they pointed us back to the cross & to Jesus. Through that family time we saw the love of Christ.
Sorry for the long comment, but I hope it helps. I'll be checking back for more ideas...already got some great ones!
I cannot wait to read everyones comments.
Like everyone else, we talk about the things God has given us and how dont deserve anything. We spend the drive to school praying together and talking about creation.
When I finish my quiet time, I try to think of what I learned that can be applied to my kids and then I share it with them at dinner or breakfast.
We make sure that our kids understand the 10% of everything they get goes back to God who ultimately gave it to them.
After Sunday School and AWANAS I always ask what they learned and what their story was about and then I expound on the story.
At our house, we start from the time they are old enough to understand teaching them that when they sin, they are sinning against God. Whenever they do something wrong, we ask "what did you do that was wrong"? They answer with 'the offense'. Then we say "How do you think Jesusn feels when you ______?" Then we say "What does the Bible about what you did?" They tell us the Bible verse (usually one of the 10 commandments) that corresponds. Then they pray asking forgiveness from God.
If they lie, they have to write or recite (over and over) (depending on age) "Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal truthfully are His delight" - sounds kind of cruel, but they learn the Word and take it to heart.
Another thing we do when talking about obedience is we use the word "OBEY". That way there is no argument because the Bible says "Children OBEY your parents".
I am defnitely no expert in the area of child rearing, so I am glad you asked this question so I can read everyone elses answers and pick up some tips!
What about Idol singing Shout? Wild. (Would have been better if Ben Stiller didnt come after it with the bleep bombs)
Fran are you sure your not me?!!! God has placed such a burden on my heart not only for the kids but the parents as well! Om My goodness! I so desire for parents to take hold of their God given responsibilities of being the "priests" in their homes! Girl we have got to talk more!!! Anyway in our home outside of always using life as faith discussions! We do devotions of all kinds. We usually read a chapter of the bible before bed (have gotten lack in this lately, but am picking it back up). We've read "Little Pilgrims Progress" as a family.
What a great question. I am enjoying the answers and taking notes.
Blessings,
Linda
Growing up I remember we never went to bed with out praying and that stay with me forever.marina
Awesome post! love reading everyone's comments...I always pray in the car each morning for each child...and on the days I don't drive I always pray for each child before they leave..I have Christian music in the car..everything from Twilla Paris to Third Day...(can you tell we spent alot of time "along the way"?!) I have always wanted my children to see me in an active ongoing relationship with Jesus..not just see me read and study about Him, but truly know Him.
love you!
teresa
Braden, TN
Hi! I have a confession. I have been a lurker of yours for quite some time now, but this is my first comment. Love your blog!
I liked this question and all the other comments because I try to find ways to bring God into daily life as well. One awesome book that has helped me do this was "Creative Correction" by Lisa Welchel. I never realized how much scripture I could use while parenting. Very good resource!
I don't have any children of my own..but God has filled my life with them. I also work in Children's ministry and this was a great question...taking notes too.
I remember as a little girl every night we would pile up in Mom and Dad's bed to do our Bible reading before bouncing into our own beds. I couldn't wait until I was old enough to have a turn reading.
This is a great question and I hope to have some time tomorrow to read over everyone's responses...I am always after fresh ideas for this!!
For me, when I catch my boys being compassionate, selfless or kind in a Jesus-kind of way, I will whisper to them "you look like Jesus!"...they love it and are catching a glimpse of what Jesus REALLY looks like in us!
Also, we go on praise walks where we look for neat things God has made...sunsets, unusual flower, interesting bugs...and we will clap for God's glory displayed in that creation. Yes, we literally clap...my boys get very excited as they look to the sky and clap for God. I can almost feel His smile!
Thanks for this post, dear one!!
It took me so long to get to reading this, I'm afraid I could be too late.... if it isn't, or if you just want a fellow CM person to chat with, you can email me...
his girl amber (at) verizon (dot) net
take out the spaces, substitute symbols, and you've got my addy.
blessings!
Post a Comment