Giving up our Children

 

Photo by Aditya Romansa

Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof. ~I Kings 3:27

In the story of King Solomon, two new moms who were prostitutes brought their babies to the king. One mom had lain on her baby in the night and smothered it. She had taken her dead baby and swapped it for the other mom's living baby. Now they argued before the king.

King Solomon sounded cruel when he asked for a sword to divide the living child in two but in reality he was revealing the heart of the true mother. She was willing to give up control of her child's life to save her baby. King Solomon returned the child to her because he knew only a real mother would be willing to give up her child for its life. 

As moms, we give up a lot for our children, even our own bodies. We, to protect our babies, give them everything life has to offer, and hold them close, but are we willing to give them up for the sake of their lives? for the sake of their souls? We must give them up to the king, the King of kings if we want life for our babies. What would that look like? 

• Are we too tired to read a Bible story to our children each night? 
• Are we praying with them and for them?
• Are they involved in activities that would take them away from church, activities we feel would give them a better chance in life? 
• Are we willing to have less so we can raise our children instead of giving them up to others?  Prov 22:6
• Are we giving them our undivided attention when they want/need to talk to us? Deut. 11:19

We may not be the best mom just as the mom in our story wasn't the perfect mom. She wasn't married. Other moms probably wrote her off as unworthy of their company.  She lived as a prostitute but she was willing to give up her baby if it meant giving her baby life. 

Can we do better? How can we give our children to the King of Kings even when it means sacrificing the things we think are important to us? 

Maybe your toes feel stepped on. I know mine do. Maybe we feel like it's too late. It's never too late to give our children to the King of Kings. 

Heavenly Father, may I be willing to turn loose of control and let you have control of my children. In Jesus's name. Amen. 

Dandelions in the Kingdom

 

picture by Manfriedrichter

But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. ~Malachi 4:2

As children, we lay in the fields and picked dandelions, blowing the puff balls across the field or making crowns with the yellow flowers. As adults, we try to rid them from our lawns and gardens, calling them weeds. Weeds indeed! The deep roots plow through the soil, loosening it to let the rain reach the grass and garden plants. We deprive our children of lazy days of enjoyment in nature while learning the natural way of seed distribution and plant reproduction. Ah, but to the point. Dandelions are another reminder that creation speaks of the Creator, and they speak of us. 

Rooted and grounded deep in the soil, the dark green leaves show off the single orange flower head, whose stem is hollow to uptake water and nutrients in the soil. The flower soon changes to a ball of fluff whose seeds are carried by the wind across lawns and fields to bring a rebirth of the flower in another place. So what does that have to do with you and me? 

• Deeply Rooted - We need to be deeply rooted in God's word. The Word gives us the nutrients we need to grow as Christians. It is the Water of Life. 
• Yellow Gold - The yellow gold flower head in the middle of the whorl of dark green leaves speaks of the King's crown, in the center of our lives. We are the living body of leaves surrounding our hearts, which carries Jesus as the center of our lives. 
• Seed Distribution - As the flower matures, it shoots up a hollow stem that carries water and nutrients to the seeds that form around the center of the flower. The seeds grow and mature until they are blown away to another place for another time, just as we should be maturing and raising our children to be the seeds transplanted to another place and time. A place and time to raise another godly generation.

Sometimes we may feel that the seeds have flown without their purpose, but remember that not all flowers bloom at the same time. The living word you have implanted in those children will not be forgotten. In God's time, they too will produce another generation for the Lord. 

Heavenly Father, help us keep You at the center of our lives. Help us show Jesus to our children in our daily living. Help us implant Your word in their minds so their thoughts, their deeds, their ethics are demonstrations of You. May they see these same examples in our lives. In Jesus' name. Amen. 

Raising Kids to Follow Christ

 

 That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments: ~ Psalms 78:6-7

Children have always been my passion. I taught 4K for most of my 30 years of teaching. I look for information and books to stretch my ability to help children learn, to learn the three Rs and to learn about Christ. My friend, Lee Ann Mancini, has written  Raising Kids to Follow Christ.  I wish it had been written when I was raising my children. The chapters are conversational. I felt like Lee Ann was sitting there encouraging me as a young parent. Encouraging is the right word here. She isn't high-minded or judgmental but rather takes us through useful information every parent can use.  She incorporates scripture with each recommendation, so it's not her that speaks, but God's Word. Each chapter builds on the previous with good instruction beginning with building a spiritual foundation for our children and taking that instruction through the years. 

I really like the way each chapter is broken down into small bites. As a busy parent, I needed small bites of information I could ponder while changing a diaper or fixing a meal. These are meaty small bites such as Praying Over Our Children (even while they are still in the womb), The Ten Commandments (memorizing them by living them out before our children), and Tell the Next Generation (instilling allegiance to God like we show allegiance to our sports teams - go all out). 

Some of the chapters address character development and building a strong Christian foundation. She offers practical methods for connecting children to Jesus and cultivating trust in God. One of my favorite chapters is Helping Shape a Godly Worldview. To me that was always a hard concept but Mrs. Mancini breaks it down so it's a natural process of everyday life. 

I often hear people say "Kids are mean." Lee Ann has a chapter that helps us instill virtues in our children. She helps parents realize virtues are caught, not taught. There's also a chapter on the fruits of the Spirit. Every chapter is built on the idea that we must demonstrate not tell our children how to live godly lives.

At the end of the book is chapter by chapter questions. I love this because I can reflect on what I've read and if I have a question about how she recommends handling something I can easily find the chapter. 

Mrs. Mancini's conclusion is "Raising kids to be followers of Christ is all about the salvation of our children." We want to know that one day we will sit down in heaven and our children will be sitting across the table from us. 

Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us writers who point us to the ultimate instruction book, Your Word. Thank you, that you've given them the gift to break down the scripture in such a way as to increase our understanding. Father, help us follow through with the concepts in Your Word to raise our children to be followers of Christ so that we may spend eternity together in heaven. In Jesus's name, I pray. Amen. 

Hey Kids:

Do you have a devotional time with your parents?

Are you asking questions? 

Are you expressing your thoughts about your family life, church life, and school life? 

Can others see Jesus in you? 

As you ponder these questions, what do you notice you are doing right? What are one or two things you could work on? You may want to place a sticky note somewhere obvious to you as a reminder of the great things you're doing and the work yet to be accomplished.