Parenting is hard work isn't it?
You are constantly doing something, checking on progress, teaching, praying for and with, building relationships, tying heartstrings, putting out fires, and growing yourself as well.
We have had to come back to ground zero if you will over some building of attitudes that are not very nice.
I hade each of my girls write a mission statement that started like this "My mission from God, in being a part of this family is, ..." they had to fill it in. I was actually impressed with what they said, they soak in so much!
Then, we concentrated on Matthew 7:16-29 in 2 parts. First 16-20 then 21-29.
16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?
17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
We talked about being known by your fruits, choosing who you will serve, and following through with that choice. I tried to get through to them when you make a choice
not to choose this day who you will serve, you are still making a choice and you would not want to be known by the fruit that will bring.
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’
23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:
25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:
27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
28 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching,
29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
We talked about how important a foundation is and why they have to do things a certain way. It is not because we are legalistic parents who love having strict sets of rules. It is for the setting of firm foundations so they know for themselves why things are the way they are.
We (Mr. Brown and I) are so strict on certain things, but let other things go. We have lost friends who see us a too lenient, but have gotten flak from others who think we are too strict. We really do try to let things go that are not a salvation issue, but we want them to understand and develop a strong faith and love for the Lord. We don't want our children to be "religious", we want our children to Love and Serve the Lord with all they do.
It is funny too, because as we were watching Todd Friel last night (excellent show on theology by the way - Todd works with Kirk Cameron on the way of the master radio show and then has a tv show called Wretched - as in who saved a Wretch like me from Amazing Grace)
Anyway, he showed a clip from a pastor who said if we are going to talk about debt being a bad thing, and I have the drama team make a skit about debt being bad, and I have the worship team make a song about debt being bad, and we sing when you only have $4 and you spend $7, that is bad, and I talk about not spending more than you make, and we sing the song again so you can remember, when times get bad you won't remember. Somewhere in the back of your head you will know spending 7 when you only have 4 was bad, but you won't understand the underlying principle. You won't hold this as your own, it was just some song and skit you saw and you weren't taught a biblical principle.
We saw a correlation between this and what we were trying to do with our kids. Making sure they understand the principle
behind the rules is what it is important here in our household. Making sure they understand they have a choice who they will serve, and trying in LOVE, not legalism or religion, to help them be a good tree, bearing good fruit, whose roots are deep in the rock.
Hopefully, they see us trying to do what we are teaching them to do. Hope that makes sense!
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