Keeping Jesus Central at Christmas

Only 26 sleeps until Christmas!  Is the anticipation already building in your home? Are the stockings hung by the chimney with care? Are the halls all decked? Kids tend to have a lot of extra "energy" this time of year, don't they?  :-) "Anticipation" is a word easily associated with Christmas! As we anticipate the arrival of December 25, it's wonderful to have reminders around us that focus on anticipating celebrating the arrival of Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us...the TRUE reason we celebrate in such a large way during this season!  

As you may have realized by now, Ann Voskamp is one of my favorite authors and blog writers. And I want to share a recent post from her with a link to a wonderful (and free!) resource that may very well become a tradition in your family. It's called a "Jesse Tree", and it's a wonderfully symbolic way of focusing on the true meaning of Christmas on a daily basis. Check out this blog post to find a free downloadable booklet that contains daily devotions for your family along with ornaments that can be printed out (in color or black and white so your kids can color them), mounted, and hung on your tree. (Some families even make a special tree just for their Jesse Tree ornaments.)

This is another great opportunity to live out God's command in Deuteronomy 6: "Impress them [God's commandments] 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. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."

Gift Giving

We have just celebrated Thanksgiving, a special day set aside to especially be thankful for all that God has given us, to count our blessings, to recognize afresh the many ways that we are blessed each and every day. And then there was Black Friday...the day that many seem to have forgotten about the blessings they were so thankful for just a few hours ago as they push and claw to get the best deal on "stuff". A cashier at our local department store commented that Black Friday in their store was actually "nasty" a few times when they were first opening.

So what's my point? How do we teach our children that Thanksgiving is a lifestyle? How do we teach them not to get caught up in the trappings of this culture that says we're entitled to what we want, when we want it?  I think the best and most effective answer is to make sure that WE are modeling that behavior ourselves. The old saying goes, "More is caught than taught."  As the Christmas holiday approaches, how do you help bring balance in your family between gift giving and gift receiving? How do you teach your children that it's important to think of others during a season that encourages kids to think mostly of themselves and their own desires? 

Give the gift of a warm blanket!

If you're interested in making some changes this Christmas, consider checking out the Samaritan's Purse website. They give you loads of options of ways that you and your family can give gifts to people in impoverished countries. For example, there is currently an urgent need for blankets to keep people warm. For $6, your family can help make that happen. For $70, you can provide a family with a dairy animal. There are also many opportunities locally...the Salvation Army "bell ringers", Angel Trees, Adopt-A-Block, church ministries, etc. 

I'd love your feedback to some of the questions I've posed above! What does this time of year look like in your home? 

With or without God?

Today, I received information from a friend about a website "out there" called "Kids without God". It's tagline is, "Welcome to Kids Without God, a site for the millions of young people around the world who have embraced science, rejected superstition, and are dedicated to being Good Without A God!"  Does that frighten you in the least? How are you arming your children to survive in a world that would love to rip their faith to shreds? How are you arming YOURSELF so you can arm your children?

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 contains some answers:

“Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart.  Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

God's words need to be a part of our daily comings and goings. Our relationship with Him needs to be authentic, and our kids need to witness that. What we have needs to be impressed upon them, repeated to them. Then, when they are faced with the humanist philosophies of this world (like the ones found on the Kids without God site), they will be better equipped to stand firm in their faith.

Living the Thanksgiving

It's Thanksgiving week! The time of year we are especially mindful of all the many reasons we have to be thankful. I was challenged in church this morning to consider what I'm thankful for that doesn't fall into the "stuff" category...think "spiritual blessings". Those should be my first and foremost reasons for giving thanks, but they don't tend to be my default thanksgiving mode. I want to change that...I want to Jesus to be my portion, my all in all, the main reason for my thanks.

I've recently been struck by Paul's words in Colossians 4:2, "Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving." Did you catch that word "vigilant"? Vigilant means watchful, alert, awake. My prayers should be alert with thanksgiving, watchful for where my thanks can be turned to God...neat picture isn't it? 

A couple of years ago, I read Ann Voskamp's book 1,000 Gifts, and it changed the way I look at giving thanks. As a result of her book, I started my own "1,000 Gifts" thanksgiving journal...carrying it with me and jotting down "gifts" that I noticed from God throughout my day. I started living the thanksgiving, and it was GOOD! My eyes were less focused on ME and more focused on HIM...I decreased, and He increased. I am purposing to get back into that routine again, because it was truly transformational for me.

So why do I tell you all this? As parents, care givers, anyone with an influence in the lives of young people, seek opportunities to help them turn their eyes to the Lord and off of themselves. We are in a culture saturated with slogans, media, and music that encourages and practically celebrates narcissism...look at me! We need to continually train ourselves to look at the Lord.

One way we're doing that is through our Sunday school classes. Each month, we will be helping support the orphan girls who will be housed in Strong Tower Orphanage in Caracol, Haiti. It's a privilege and joy to partner to build this orphanage and now to have the opportunity to provide basic living necessities for the girls who will call it their home. A great way to weekly turn our kids' attention to others and to remind them that the world is bigger than what they see in the mirror!

Information Overload

We live in a time unlike any other experienced in all of history. In mere seconds, news can travel from one corner of the world to the other via any variety of social media. We literally have the ability to contact people at our fingertips...any time of the day or night. Take a look at this statistic...as of March 2012, there were 644,275,754 active websites on the Internet, and that was an increase of over 30 million from the previous month. (Netcraft) Ironically, if you do a Google search for "information overload" there are over 8.5 million results to peruse! There is absolutely no shortage of information.  However, there IS a shortage of discernment when it comes to dealing with all of this information.

Some wisdom from Ecclesiastes 12:12--"But beyond these, my son, be warned: there is no end to the making of many books, and much study wearies the body." Would it be safe to say, in our current century that "there is no end to the making of many websites, and information overload wearies the body"?  I used to teach 7th grade, and part of our year included writing a research paper. As the years passed and the Internet was a larger tool in the classroom, my students didn't have a lack of information to use for their papers, and they were very savvy at searching it out online. I realized that my role was shifting more into teaching them how to find GOOD information, teaching them that just because it's on the Internet does not mean that it's true. The Amplified version of Ecclesiastes 12:12 amused me--"...Of making many books there is no end [so do not believe everything you read]..."

So what's a parent or a grandparent or a teacher or a youth worker to do? First, make sure you're having regular conversations with the children and students in your life about their media consumption...what are they viewing? What are they listening to? What pages are they "members" of? Secondly, make sure that you are teaching your child to be discerning. Jesus gave the charge in Matthew 10:16 to be wise as serpents but harmless as doves. 

Have you seen posts on places like Facebook that have a ring of propaganda or untruth to them? They usually involve some kind of "scam" that Facebook is supposedly running or something political in nature. And people repost them and repost them and repost them, assuming that they're fact. Quite often, they're not. A website I've used often to check the validity of these sorts of websites is www.Snopes.com. They have almost every urban legend known to man, they give the history of it, and they will let you know whether or not the information presented is fact or fiction.

Bottom line? We can't control the quantity or quality of the information that is "out there", but we CAN control our responses to it.

FIRST GIVEAWAY!

I have a Family Reading Bible that I would love to get into the hands of someone! To enter, simply leave a comment on this post about how you incorporate Bible reading into your daily lives. Giveaway will end on Friday, November 16th, at which time a random winner will be selected from among the comments. (Must  have a US address to qualify.)

Teaching Kids to Pray

This past week, I cleaned out my filing cabinet, and I came across all sorts of goodies that I have accumulated over the years, and one I'd like to share with you looks at teaching kids to pray and go beyond just the rote before-meals grace. Those are great places to begin teaching kids to pray, but the earlier we can teach them that prayer is talking with God about what's going on in our lives, presenting our requests to Him, adoring Him, and listening to Him, the better! Enjoy this article, "Teaching Kids to Pray" by Maurcia Delean Houck.

Practical ways to "bring kids to their knees!"


Prayer habits that last a lifetime are most often formed in childhood. That's why it's so critical to teach young children how to pray. As with most spiritual disciplines, prayer is caught more than it's taught. As teachers model meaningful prayer lives, kids will learn how they, too, can talk to their Creator.

Here are the basics of teaching children how to pray.

Help children talk to God. Everyone--especially children--would find sitting down to prayer easier if we could find a way to forget our notions of "correct prayer methods" and just start talking. To do this, avoid focusing on form in prayer. Rather, model for your children and easy, comfortable way to simply talk to God as you'd talk to a friend. Urge children to talk to God just as they'd talk to anyone else. They can tell God about their day, express their fears, and even be a little mad if they want to.

There's nothing too big-or too small-for God. It's true; God can help us face the hardest moments in our lives. God is also there to share in our smaller moments, too. He wants to know how our day went. He enjoys hearing that the rainbow we saw early in the morning made us smile, and that the bully on the playground scares us.

Anything is okay to talk to God about. Don't discourage a child from including a song from The Little Mermaid in her prayer. Let her thank God for her favorite movie and share what's in her heart.

Making prayers relevant to children's lives enables them to grow in prayer. Because kids have a strong tendency to view the world in terms of me, my, and mine, capitalize on this very normal stage of development by focusing prayer on kids' everyday concerns. For example, many adults make the mistake of asking young children to pray for church missionaries. Chances are kids don't understand what they're actually asking God for. As a result, God becomes more remote.

A better idea would be to focus kids' prayer requests on asking God to heal Damon's chickenpox, giving thanks for Jasmine's new puppy, or asking for help for Alex, who may find it difficult to sit through class quietly.

God listens to ALL prayers. God is always there, willing and eager to listen to what we have to say. But kids aren't always so sure; sometimes they need proof. So give it to them. The best way to help children realize that God truly listens is to point out answered prayers. Did you ask for the quick recovery of Andi's cold? When she's feeling better, thank God for answering your prayers.

Help children understand that God may answer prayers in several ways. God may answer exactly as children requested. Bug God may also answer in a different way, wait to answer, or say no. Help children see these as answers to prayer also.

The right place is any place. The Bible describes a variety of ways to pray: kneeling, standing, lifting hands, and even lying on a bed. Encourage children to pray whenever-and wherever-they want to. Even if it means a quick "Please make Janie all right" on the playground when a friend is hit with a ball.

Prayer is never inappropriate. Especially when it comes straight from the heart. In the end, that's all you really need to teach children to help them communicate with our God who's always listening.

Proverbs for Parents

Recently, I was inspired to look through the book of Proverbs at instances where it appears that a parent is speaking to his child, and I discovered some really great advice! God's design for parents to be the primary "faith trainer" in their child's life is quite evident in these passages. Enjoy this brief journey through Proverbs with me.

Proverbs 1:8-10--"Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. They are a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck. My son, if sinful men entice you, do not give in to them."

Proverbs 4:1-6, 10-15, 20-27--"Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction; pay attention and gain understanding. I give you sound learning, so do not forsake my teaching. For I too was a son to my father, still tender, and cherished by my mother. Then he taught me, and he said to me, 'Take hold of my words with all your heart; keep my commands, and you will live. Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or turn away from them. Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you.'"

"Listen, my son, accept what I say,  and the years of your life will be many. I instruct you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble. Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life. Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evildoers. Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn from it and go on your way."

"My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body. Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead;  fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil."

Proverbs 19:27--"Stop listening to instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge."

Proverbs 23:19-28--"Listen, my son, and be wise, and set your heart on the right path: Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags."

"Listen to your father, who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old. Buy the truth and do not sell it—wisdom, instruction and insight as well. The father of a righteous child has great joy; a man who fathers a wise son rejoices in him. May your father and mother rejoice; may she who gave you birth be joyful!"

 

"My son, give me your heart and let your eyes delight in my ways, for an adulterous woman is a deep pit, and a wayward wife is a narrow well. Like a bandit she lies in wait and multiplies the unfaithful among men."

 

Pray, Pray, PRAY!

I am extremely impressed by the brilliance of a blog post that Beth Moore posted this past Monday, the day before the election. She challenged everyone to write a prayer for our future (at that point, unknown) President. The prayers that people responded with were beautiful, heart-felt, and scripture-filled. I encourage you to take a few minutes to read Beth's post and the prayers that follow it in the comments. And then I encourage you to pray those same kinds of prayers...for our President, for all of the leaders who were recently elected, and for our nation.

Click on the link below to go to the blog post:

Say It Today, Pray It Tomorrow

Also consider how you might incorporate this into the prayers you pray as a family. Are you teaching your child from an early age to pray prayers that aren't always focused on "self" but point to "others"? I am more convinced than I ever have been before that prayer is foundational to anything we as Christ-followers hope to achieve in this life. So, Pray, Pray, PRAY!

Adolescents to Adults

In our church, we have adopted the Legacy Milestone Model, introduced to me first by Brian Haynes at the D6 Conference in 2009. The premise of this model is to provide an intentional way of celebrating milestones in the life of a child from birth through the final milestone, "Life in Christ." (You can explore lots more great things about the Legacy Milestone Model by clicking on this link.) One of the milestones, about midway through this process is called "Rite of Passage", similar to the Jewish bar/bat mitzvah, which celebrates the transition from childhood to adulthood at the age of 13. 

This year at the D6 Conference, I was blessed to hear Tim Elmore speak on how their family has celebrated this milestone in their daughter's life. When she turned 13, she got to choose six women she looked up to (and who her parents approved of) to be "one-day mentors" sometime during the next year. These women arranged a full day away with Tim's daughter (some took her along to their work place, others arranged things like shopping, spa days, etc.), and during that day they were asked to share one life message that their daughter would benefit from knowing. Tim said that this year-long process had a profound effect on their daughter. At the end of the year, the daughter and all six of the mentors gathered for a nice dinner with the family, and each one came with a letter of blessing that they read to the daughter. To wrap up their time, they gathered around the daughter and each one prayed for her.

Is that not an amazing experience for an adolescent to be launched into the things of adulthood? What a great way to surround your child with strong Christian influences and to model for them what an adult Christ-follower looks like. God has placed us all on this journey together, and it is certainly a privilege to be able to mentor the next generation and challenge them to be all that God has intended for them to be!

Tell me...how does YOUR family celebrate milestones?