
The Power of Serving with Your Children

The hard truth: life is not about us.
God calls us to be servants.
If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all. Mark 9:35
Wow, what a challenge for us as humans and parents as we teach and guide our children to live a Godly life while serving those around us. We can all be challenged to serve more, give more, and have less. It is a life lesson… so don’t be discouraged!
Each of you should use whatever gifts you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 1 Peter 4:10
This season I encourage you to help your child serve or bless someone else.
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Parenting in Difficult Times

What kind of legacy are we leaving our children… especially in our nation’s current situation? What we are facing seems to be a difficult, challenging, and very interesting time in our lives right now. How are we reacting, what are we saying, how are we loving, steering, and guiding our children through this time?
God is our refuge and STRENGTH, a very present help in trouble. Psalms 46:1
The most important thing to remember? Stay focused on the information that is TRUE – that being God’s Word. There are so many truths and lessons we can learn from these experiences we are going through… don’t miss them!
In Proverbs 22:6 it says to “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it”
Do we speak truth?
Do we show love no matter what?
Do I point them to Christ?
When my kids look back at this experience, I pray they will remember how we as a family stayed united and sought after God’s truth through it all.
My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth! Psalm 121:2
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Trust in God’s Plan

Proverbs 3:5-6 says
Trust in the Lord with all your heart; lean not on your own understandings. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
God has a plan for our lives and much of the time we will not know exactly what it’s supposed to look like – that’s when trust comes into play.
So how can we raise our kids to have faith and trust in God’s plan like Joseph?
Because we can’t raise our kiddos without his help.
Our kids are watching our every move. When things don’t go as planned, use those as teaching moments to encourage them to trust in God’s plan. It might be a failed test, a loss on the field, a sick relative, or a disappointment from a friend. It’s not fun to go through those hard times with our kids. But it’s how we will respond and move forward with them after that will be a witness to our unfailing faith in God’s plan.
….and we will….daily….just get back up and go at it again. That is what is so amazing about our Heavenly Father…he never leaves us.
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Share Your Struggles with Your Children

We hold fast to Proverbs 22:6, praying that our kids choose Jesus someday.
Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it.
If you have children in junior high or high school, I can promise you that your kids know when something is wrong.
Pray for God’s discernment and be open as God leads.
Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says
These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress 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.
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Faith of the Next Generation

Deuteronomy 4:9 reads, “Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.”
-can forget who and what must be first
-can take the easy way out
-can grieve the Holy Spirit
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Foundations

In Matthew 7, Jesus says:Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
Building your house on the sand means not practicing the words of Jesus and/or practicing the words of someone else.
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