"Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves" ~~Jesus
I talk a lot with my children. I talk with them in the car on the way to school. I talk with them, when they pass me in the hall. I talk with them when they come home from a friends house. I talk with them when they are bad & when they do good.
When the "Cars" lunchbox we recently got started to show wear and the fabric was fraying & ripping, I gathered them around and I told them that every time someone tries to teach them that we evolved and elements & cells naturally order themselves together & produce good things over a lot of time, I tell them to remember this lunch box. Remember this skirt I bought you 2 years ago. Remember this rotting metal shelving unit at the 99cent store. Does the evidence point to natural ordering and improvement?
When the radio program "Focus on the Family" airs a warning to parents to occupy their children because the program that is going to be broadcast contains sensitive material, I cautiously turn it up and call my children's attention to it. And they hear first hand from a wonderful woman named Gianna, who lived through a failed saline abortion attempt and is now 35 years old.
When Hannah Montana appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair. I called my girls to the computer after I had pulled her pose up on it. I said "Girls, I want you to see a picture of Hannah Montana." I then showed the scantily clad 15 year old girl, wrapped only in a sheet, to them.
"What do you think about this picture? Do you think this is someone young girls of today should be looking up to? Would you want to look up to her as someone to follow after?"
We talk about tops that are to low and skirts that are to high on different girls we meet through out the day. We talk about those Christian girls who dress immodestly. I tell them that those girls can still love Jesus, even thought they dress differently than we do. That each parent is responsible to bring up their child the way God convicts them to do so. We talk about not being self-righteous and judgmental and YET still holding your own standard.
We talk about marriage and what it means. We talk about abortion. We talk about homosexuals and why we love them even though we think they are choosing sin, and why they need Jesus' forgiveness just as badly as we do. We talk about the billboards they see, and in terms that do not force them to carry sexual burdens beyond their youth & innocence, we discuss them.
I read Foxes Book of Martyrs aloud to my children. I want them to know and be familiar with persecution and suffering for Jesus. I want them to ask themselves, "would I be willing to go through that for Jesus?" We read about the Christians who are told "Only recount Christ and you may live" and then we read of their bravery and their horrible murder as they first watch their children killed & then are they themselves killed for their Savior.
We watch End Times Movie together. We watch "Thief in the Night" "A Distant Thunder" & "The Mark of the Beast" on a regular basis. We watch dramatizations of the end times where Christians are killed, starved, and running for their lives only because they are Christians. My Children are processing these things, on a regular basis. They are being prepared to suffer. They are coming to terms in their mind as to whether they are just going along with this "Christianity" thing or whether they really are personally committed to Christ unto their own death.
Many times I have told my children: "You do not have to be a Christian. We will still love you if you choose not to follow Christ. It is YOUR choice & we would not nor could not force you to be a Christian." Maddie will often just randomly say things like: "I will never deny Christ" as she is loading clean glasses into the cupboard. And after moments of quiet in the car " I want to follow Jesus, no matter what." I know she is thinking about these things, preparing herself and processing her own choices on this topic.
Kayla used to have regular nightmares about being left behind in the rapture. While I was sympathetic to her in regards to her nightmares, I was pleased that she was feeling fear. I would constantly remind her how she could be sure she would never be left behind. She eventually chose to repent of her sins & commit her life to Jesus Christ and I believe the fear she felt had a part to play in her choice. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom Proverbs 1:7
It is my prayer that the Lord Jesus would continue to help me to bring up Children who are passionate for God & His glory. Who are as shrewd as serpents & innocent as doves.
I talk a lot with my children. I talk with them in the car on the way to school. I talk with them, when they pass me in the hall. I talk with them when they come home from a friends house. I talk with them when they are bad & when they do good.
When the "Cars" lunchbox we recently got started to show wear and the fabric was fraying & ripping, I gathered them around and I told them that every time someone tries to teach them that we evolved and elements & cells naturally order themselves together & produce good things over a lot of time, I tell them to remember this lunch box. Remember this skirt I bought you 2 years ago. Remember this rotting metal shelving unit at the 99cent store. Does the evidence point to natural ordering and improvement?
When the radio program "Focus on the Family" airs a warning to parents to occupy their children because the program that is going to be broadcast contains sensitive material, I cautiously turn it up and call my children's attention to it. And they hear first hand from a wonderful woman named Gianna, who lived through a failed saline abortion attempt and is now 35 years old.
When Hannah Montana appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair. I called my girls to the computer after I had pulled her pose up on it. I said "Girls, I want you to see a picture of Hannah Montana." I then showed the scantily clad 15 year old girl, wrapped only in a sheet, to them.
"What do you think about this picture? Do you think this is someone young girls of today should be looking up to? Would you want to look up to her as someone to follow after?"
We talk about tops that are to low and skirts that are to high on different girls we meet through out the day. We talk about those Christian girls who dress immodestly. I tell them that those girls can still love Jesus, even thought they dress differently than we do. That each parent is responsible to bring up their child the way God convicts them to do so. We talk about not being self-righteous and judgmental and YET still holding your own standard.
We talk about marriage and what it means. We talk about abortion. We talk about homosexuals and why we love them even though we think they are choosing sin, and why they need Jesus' forgiveness just as badly as we do. We talk about the billboards they see, and in terms that do not force them to carry sexual burdens beyond their youth & innocence, we discuss them.
I read Foxes Book of Martyrs aloud to my children. I want them to know and be familiar with persecution and suffering for Jesus. I want them to ask themselves, "would I be willing to go through that for Jesus?" We read about the Christians who are told "Only recount Christ and you may live" and then we read of their bravery and their horrible murder as they first watch their children killed & then are they themselves killed for their Savior.
We watch End Times Movie together. We watch "Thief in the Night" "A Distant Thunder" & "The Mark of the Beast" on a regular basis. We watch dramatizations of the end times where Christians are killed, starved, and running for their lives only because they are Christians. My Children are processing these things, on a regular basis. They are being prepared to suffer. They are coming to terms in their mind as to whether they are just going along with this "Christianity" thing or whether they really are personally committed to Christ unto their own death.
Many times I have told my children: "You do not have to be a Christian. We will still love you if you choose not to follow Christ. It is YOUR choice & we would not nor could not force you to be a Christian." Maddie will often just randomly say things like: "I will never deny Christ" as she is loading clean glasses into the cupboard. And after moments of quiet in the car " I want to follow Jesus, no matter what." I know she is thinking about these things, preparing herself and processing her own choices on this topic.
Kayla used to have regular nightmares about being left behind in the rapture. While I was sympathetic to her in regards to her nightmares, I was pleased that she was feeling fear. I would constantly remind her how she could be sure she would never be left behind. She eventually chose to repent of her sins & commit her life to Jesus Christ and I believe the fear she felt had a part to play in her choice. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom Proverbs 1:7
It is my prayer that the Lord Jesus would continue to help me to bring up Children who are passionate for God & His glory. Who are as shrewd as serpents & innocent as doves.
Thank you for being such an example and I hope to be such an wonderful example to my child and I need to strive to be better at it for sure.
ReplyDeleteKari
I am glad you talk to your kids about all those things. We just read about communication in Shepherding a Child's Heart. The next section is about the rod. oh boy!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing!! Janet
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