Week 8!

Challenge:
I read an article this week about "backwards planning" - the concept is that we should think about our end goals and then plan backwards to figure out how to reach those goals. I certainly understand this concept and have seen it played out from redecorating our house to mastering spiritual disciplines, but I got to thinking about that in regards to parenting. I don't know about you, but sometimes I get so caught up in who I want my children to be that I forget to celebrate who they are now. I was convicted that my end goal for them might be hampering my ability to receive the gifts that the present brings. Do you do this? I don't think is limited to people with small children as we might always envision and dream about the character of our children in future years: college, first job, marriage, as parents of their own, etc.

My challenge this week is to pay attention to my life as it is given to me right now. I will focus on the precious present. I want to partner with God in what He is doing in my children's lives at this very simple stage rather than imagining how He will move mightily in their lives years for now. I can pray for their future, absolutely, but I want to relish in the right now.

Dear God, thank You for the Holy Spirit's conviction and Your amazing grace. Sometimes I struggle, strive, and analyze every conversation with my children in hopes that they will come to know You, but Lord, help me not focus so much on the then that I miss what You are doing now. Help me find the balance of praying for their future and yet focusing on today. May I put into practice Your advice of letting tomorrow worry about itself (Matthew 6:34). Grant me the wisdom to know where You are at work in my children's lives this very day so that I might join You in it. In Jesus name. Amen. 

Prayer:
Precious Lord, thank You for my children. Thank you for their lives which are no accident... in fact, You knew about them and loved them before they were concieved (Jeremiah 1:5). I pray that, like Jesus, my children would grow in wisdom and stature, in favor with God and men (Luke 2:52). May they be men and women who are full of grace and truth (John 1:14). Help them grow in the saving grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ and I pray that they would bring You glory all the days of their lives (2 Peter 3:18). Please help my children welcome Your Gospel message with joy and become a model to all believers (1 Thessalonians 1:6-7). I love You, Lord, and ask these things in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Week 7!

Challenge/For the Love of my Children:

"The one concern of the devil is to keep the saints from prayer. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless works, prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray."  - Jonathan Edwards

When I read that quote earlier this week I was struck with the truth of it. I can often think about how much time and effort I have put into ministering to my children (and to others), but sadly, those actions are not always accompanied with prayer, thus making them self-driven rather than Spirit-driven. I get so preoccupied with the doing that I neglect the praying! This week's challenge will go hand-in-hand with the prayer for our children! My prayer is that I will be a parent of prayer and that my children would be people of prayer. My challenge is to put that prayer into practice. I'll pray more than I will talk. I will brainstorm for creative ideas in how to incorporate prayer for my children so that I'm not only praying for them, but I'm praying with them (as I side note I would love to hear any creative ideas you do in your family!).

Father God, You tell us in Scripture that Your will for us is to pray continually (1 Thessalonians 5:17) and I am sorry for the times when I fall so short from that standard. Please infuse me with Your Spirit and help me become a parent of prayer.  Help me be more diligent about fasting from food and, like Jesus, willing to miss sleep in order to spend more time with You (Luke 6:12). As I read the Gospels I notice that Jesus never taught His disciples how to preach, but instead, He taught them how to pray. May I follow His lead in teaching my children. May I always be quick to encourage them to always pray and not give up (Luke 18:1). Give me the boldness to pray with my children no matter what the subject matter and help praying together become natural,comfortable, genuine, and a daily activity my children.
Lord, I also pray that my children would be people of prayer. May they look to You and continually seek Your face (1 Chronicles 16:11). May they devote themselves to prayer and always be eager to lift their souls up to You (Colossians 4:2, Psalm 25:1). I ask that You would help them develop such a thriving prayer life that prayer is their first response in everything instead of a last resort. Teach them to pray in the Spirit on all occasions (Ephesians 6:18) knowing that they can always approach Your throne of grace with confidence (Hebrews 4:16). Thank You for hearing our prayers and desiring fellowship with us. I love you, Lord, and pray for all of this in Your Son's Name. Amen.

Week 6!

Challenge:  

Lately I have seen how my young children are cleverly deceptive. My three year old was in my room and as she was walking out I asked her what was in her hand because I suspected she had my phone (which isn't allowed). She puts one hand behind her back and held up her other hand and told me which toy she was holding. Not thinking much of it, I let her go only later realized she had taken my phone. Havana hid it behind her back when I asked her what she was in her hand. Cleverly deceptive. Then, my 19 month old was playing in the dog's water bowl with his favorite toy  ("buddy"). When I scolded him he looked at me, held up his toy and exclaimed, "Buddy water." He was trying to tell me that he wasn't playing in the dog's water bowl, but only his buddy was. Cleverly deceptive. These occurrences have gotten me thinking about my own life. Am I ever cleverly deceptive towards my children?

I doubt any parents sets out to lie to their children, but along the way it is easier to simply dismiss the truth and cover it up with a "white lie." Examples of this in my own life have been answering my child's "what's that?" question with "oh nothing."  Cleverly deceptive. I've also seen it played out with extended family when I tell Havana that we can't watch a show at her grandmother's house and yet her grandma comes along and says "because my DVD player isn't working" to help ease her disappointment. Cleverly deceptive. Jason and I have always said that we never wanted to lie to our children, but in the day to day living it is sometimes easy to answer "I don't know", "Oh nothing", "we don't have fruit snacks right now", or something similar in order to avoid the entire truth for whatever reason (lack of time to explain, trying to avoid a meltdown, etc). So, my challenge this week is to never be cleverly deceptive towards my children. This will require me to think before i speak and to be mindful of my answers which, all too often, are answered while I'm on auto-pilot. I will also prayerfully ask the Lord other areas of my life this might be applicable that I'm not even aware of yet. 

Last week's devotion was on not asking our children to do something we are unwilling to do ourselves and just a few week ago we prayed for our children to be truth tellers. So this week, I want to pray for myself exactly what I prayed for them!

Father God, I know that lying is Satan's native tongue (John 8:44) and I pray that I will live a life that is the complete opposite of his influence. May I always tell the whole truth - even when it is difficult. I pray that I would not give into white lies or partial truths. Instead, enable me to understand that You always want me to be truthful (Exodus 20:16). May I rely on You to give me the strength to continually speak the truth (Ephesians 4:25). Weave the power of being truthful into my soul so that I will be faithful in keeping my tongue from evil and their lips from speaking lies (Psalm 34:13). I pray in the name of Jesus that I will be an honest parent who give You glory in all I say. Amen.

For the Love of My Children: 

Precious Jesus, thank You for friendships. Thank you for those certain people in our lives who love us at all times (Proverbs 17:17). I pray that my children would be blessed with a great support system of God-fearing friends. Please help my child desire deep fellowship with Bible believers... friends who will keep them accountable and help them grow deeper in their faith (Proverbs 27:17). Help my children be intentional about walking with those who are wise in spiritual matters (Proverbs 13:20). While I do pray that my children will be witnesses to their unsaved friends; may they never desire the company of wicked men (Proverbs 24:1) or surround themselves with only those people who turn away from You, the living God (Hebrews 3:12). Please give my children the courage to be Godly friends to those around them.  Grant my children at least one faithful friend whose friendship will be similar to the friendship of David and Jonathan (1 Samuel 20:17).  Lastly, I pray, that my children would know You are the one and only friend who will stick closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24) and that they would love You and have faith in You so to be called a friend of God (James 2:23). Amen.

Week 5!

Challenge:

This past week as I was praying for my children to crave the Bible - I fell in love with Acts 17:11 which reads, "... they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true."  As I was praying for my children to do exactly that... I had to ask myself, "is that me?" -- yes, it is what I want for my children, but is that me? Do I examine the Scriptures daily? Do I take lessons I'm learning in church, in Bible study, and in conversations with friends and compare them to the Word to make sure what I'm being taught is truth? Sadly, not always. Which leads me to my challenge for this week. I can't realistically ask/expect/pray for my children to do things that I don't do or am unwilling to do. In this example, it is studying the Scriptures daily, but this is true in other areas as well. Examples of this is spiritual areas might be: being faithful in my daily quiet time, demonstrating self control (even when I'm tired), not gossiping, etc. Another example in my life, that is not spiritually related, is in regards to what I eat. I don't like vegetables and so rarely eat them, but I do make my children eat them with their dinner. So, from now on I'll make myself eat my veggies before grabbing a cookie in order to keep the the mentality that I wouldn't ask my children to do something that I am unwilling to do myself. In what ways does this apply to you? Spiritually and in other areas? This is a very broad challenge and one that we can keep working at in several different areas, but oh how our children will be blessed to have us walking along side them as we slowly become more like the people we want them to be!

Father God, thank You for using my children to draw me into a deeper relationship with You. I ask that as my children study Your Word and learn to be obedient in all areas - may I, likewise, do the same. As I'm guiding them, help me live an authentic life where the things I am teaching are lived out in my own life. I love You Lord and it is in Your Son's name that I pray.  Amen.

For the Love of My Children:
Oh Jesus, thank You for the promise that You have summoned each  of us by name (Isaiah 43:1).  I pray that my children would have ears to hear You (Matthew 11:15).  Lord, You repeatedly called for Samuel (1 Samuel 3) and  I pray that, likewise, You would actively pursue my children until they recognize and respond to Your voice. But my prayer doesn't stop there, Lord. I beg that even after my children accept You as their Savior - they would continue to listen intently for Your voice. May they will live such quiet lives that Your voice does not compete with anything...  may it never be lost, muted, interrupted, or forgotten. As Your Spirit guides them, grant them the desire and discipline to always respond quickly to You with "Here I am, Lord, speak for Your servant is listening." (Isaiah 6:8, 1 Samuel 3:10). I ask all these things in Your name. Amen.

Week 4!

Challenge:
This past Christmas, some friends and I began brainstorming new traditions we could incorporate during the Advent season to help our children focus on others. As we tossed around ideas, I began to wonder, why don't we do these things during other months? Yes, the Christmas season is special, but we should be doing and serving others all year round and teaching our children to do the same. In light of that revelation, I had the children go with me yesterday when I took a meal to someone I have never met but who I knew was in need. Normally, I would have just run the meal over when Jason was home to stay with the kids, but I wanted them to take part in the serving. I was amazed at how aware and involved my three year old became in the whole thing and still today she was talking about it and wanting to pray for the family we helped.

That leads me to my challenge, I want to become a servant in order to model that lifestyle for my children, but I also want to get them involved no matter what age they are. My family will, of course, be the people I invest in the most, but I also want my children to learn that giving is about more than simply serving your family, your church, and your friends. It is about doing unto "the least of these" (Matthew 25:40). Here are some ideas I was thinking about today: sponsor a child and have your children write to them often, visit a nursing home or serve at a shelter regularly, make at least one meal a week that goes to another family, have your children draw pictures/write notes and mail them to those who might need encouragement, have your child do something for their school and/or teacher, pick up litter at the park, and the list goes on. We must be "others driven" and encourage our children to be the same, but it is crucial that we do these acts of service in the name of Jesus and not simply in the name of goodwill! That will require talking about our service projects with our children, bringing Scripture into it, and praying for those we serve throughout the week. Let's join together, along with our children, and become a generation who gives without expecting anything in return all throughout the year!

Dear Lord, Jesus' life on earth modeled that of a servant. May I be that same type of servant for others and may I encourage my children to be servants as well. Help us never become too prideful, too busy, or too comfortable so that we forget to be Your hands and feet to anyone around us. I pray You would interrupt our days in order to help us notice those in need of a helping hand or a kind word. May we, as a family, never pass up an opportunity to share your love with others. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Prayer:
Father God, thank You for the gift of Your Word which is living and active (Hebrews 4:12). I pray that my children would develop a deep and sincere love for the Bible. May they rejoice in Your Word as one who discovers a great treasure (Psalm 119:162) being confident that Your Word is perfect, trustworthy, joyful, and altogether righteous (Psalm 19:7-9). I pray that my children would have a genuine delight in studying the Scriptures and that they would use Your inspired Word for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness (1 Timothy 3:16). When my children are making decisions or as they seek to know You more intimately, I pray that they would know that Your word provides light and understanding (Psalms 119:130). In the name of Jesus, I ask that my children would crave the Bible and accept all the truth it contains. Amen.

Week 3!

Challenge:
I'm not sure why the Lord laid heavy on my spirit certain conversations I witnessed this past week, but my heart was saddened as I overheard mothers with their children. At the grocery store, the mall, and even at church I heard mothers speak to their children in an aggravated tone over seemingly insignificant things. One mother was upset that her pre-teen daughter had left her coat at school, other mother was upset with her toddler for not wanting to sit in the shopping cart, and at church a mom was scolding her young daughter because she wanted to write on the "wall of Gratitude" to which the mother snapped, "I don't have time for this right now."

I prayed that these mothers would "watch their words" towards their children in light of last week's challenge, but what hurt my heart the most in these examples is that it seemed that the mothers were upset with their child for selfish reasons. One mother was irritated she had to make an extra trip back to the school, another annoyed because of her extremely active tot, and the other simply didn't have time for her daughter to write down what she is thankful for. At the root of each mother's scolding was frustration. Not at the child or what the child had done, but more in regards to how their child had inconvenienced their own plans. 

We are selfish people by nature, myself very much included, and as mothers when our sleep is disrupted, when milk is spilled on the floor, when yogurt is smeared in hair, when that valuable vase is broken, when the science project is forgotten about until the night before, when those new (expensive) jeans get a stain, when a cell phone is misplaced, when they get can't get a ride home and you have to drop what you're doing to pick them up, when a sick day for them means lost vacation time at work for you, when (fill in the blank). The question isn't what are our children going to do that might change our plans or interrupt our day, but instead it is how are we going to respond when their actions reverse, halt, and complicate our plans?

While it is important that we teach our kids to be responsible, to think of others above themselves, and to obey first time... we must have grace with our children. We must never get upset that our children make our lives harder. Instead, we need to look at those moments and use them to edify us. I think about Ananias in the Bible whose plans were interrupted when the Lord asked him to go tend to Saul. He didn't want to, he was afraid, and yet instead of being selfish... he obeyed and thus played a significant role in Saul's conversion to Paul (Acts 9). Are we open to having the Lord interrupt the plans we make for ourselves through our children? Can we be so brave as to ask the Lord to change us through them? Let's use those moments when we are running late, when we have to take a sick day, when we have to mop the floor for the 12th time in an hour to make us more Christ like. To give us a servants heart. To ingrain into our souls what it means to put others before ourselves. To truly live as Jesus did. We must cling to the truth that children, from the moment they are placed into our families (through conception or adoption), are blessings - lives that are ordained by the Lord and filled with great purpose. Perhaps one of those purposes is to make us, as parents, more selfless. My challenge, this week, is to view those moments when my day doesn't go as planned as opportunities to thank the Lord for the privilege of being a mother (a role some women would gladly give their right arm for) and then put to death the idols of me time/sleep time/career time/I have the day planned out perfectly time/etc. in order to use each of moment of the day to become less selfish, more flexible, and incredibly grace filled.

Jesus, I pray that You would give me the strength I need to face each trying, frustrating, messy, and unplanned moment with the grace You demonstrated when You lived on this earth. I pray You would use my precious children to help me not look only towards my own interests, but also the interests of others - especially theirs (Philippians 2:4). Help me overcome my flesh and implant in me a selfless heart. Remind me to show my children grace daily just as you show me grace daily. May I delight in the challenges they bring and use those times to become more like You. Amen.

Prayer:
Father God, we know that lying is Satan's native tongue (John 8:44) and so I pray that my children will live lives that are the complete opposite of his influence. May my children always tell the whole truth - even when it is difficult. I pray that they would not give into white lies or partial truths. Instead, enable them to understand that You always want them to be truthful (Exodus 20:16). May they rely on You to give them the strength to continually speak the truth (Ephesians 4:25). Weave the power of being truthful into their souls so that they will be faithful in keeping their tongues from evil and their lips from speaking lies (Psalm 34:13). I pray in the name of Jesus that my children will be honest men and women who give You glory in all they say. Amen.

Week Two!

Challenge: 

This past week has been challenging on multiple levels: my son began throwing temper tantrums and so I had to repeat the phrase, "Jonah, you need to gain self control" at least 1,000 times. My youngest has been screaming all day. She has done this her entire life, but this week she stopped napping which means she screamed for 12 hours a day, every day. Havana, my three year old, is in that phase of asking questions about everything which isn't bad, but can ware you down when also dealing with a boy throwing fits and a screaming baby.  Anyway, it was a tough week and I found myself continually having to bite my tongue.

I don't know about you, but I have been careless with my words in the past. I have said things out of frustration that I knew the minute they were spoken I never should have said. I also have been on the receiving side of those words and have felt the sting they can bring. Because of those memories, I have tried to remain watchful over my words towards my children, but sometimes (like this past week or other overwhelming moments) I have been tempted to say, "you guys are driving me crazy." However, no matter what my circumstances are, I should have such a tight reign on my tongue that I never slip out and say careless words out of frustration or exhaustion. Proverbs 12:18 says, "reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing."

I never want my children to experience piercing  words from anyone, but especially from me! What a mighty task parents have to only use their tongue in ways that bring healing and life. My challenge is to make sure that there are no reckless words coming out of my mouth. Since my children are young, this will be great practice to discipline myself so that when they hit their challenging teenage years I will hopefully know how to only speak wise words. Reading through the book of Proverbs will certainly be part of my challenge since that book of the Bible is filled with instruction on what wise words look like. If, by chance, you have already spoken reckless words to your children - add to your challenge the act of apologizing for those words and share your new goal with your children. Additionally, I will speak with my husband and a friend I visit with often about holding me accountable in this quest.  

Father God, Scripture tells us that words have the power of life and death (Proverbs 18:21)  and I pray that my tongue will only speak life into my children. When I'm stressed, when I'm disciplining, and when I'm disappointed I pray that my words will remain gentle, kind, and self controlled. Enable me to keep a tight reign on my tongue (James 1:26) and help me not to udder a mean or careless word to my children regardless of what behaviors or attitudes they might have. I love you, Lord, help me to speak Your words and truth into my children's lives. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

For the Love of My Children:

Dear Jesus, when You were on this earth you prayed for us, Your spiritual children, to be protected from the evil one (Matthew 16:13, John 17:15) and following in Your example I pray that very same thing for my own children. I pray that You will strengthen and protect them from the Evil One (2 Thessalonians 3:3). I pray that they would resist the Devil so that he will flee from them (James 4:7). May my children be aware that the Evil One doesn't just attack through temptation, but also through half truths, compromises, discouragement, worry, and other schemes. I pray that knowledge will take root in their hearts so that Satan might not outwit them (2 Corinthians 2:11). I pray that You would rescue them from every evil attack and that You will bring them safely into Your kingdom. Amen.