Perserverance

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses,
let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.
And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." Hebrews 12:1

Things don't always go exactly as we plan it.  Trips to the grocery store usually end up with at least one item or two that wasn't on the list.  Projects at work sometimes take a different turn than we were expecting.  Our plans for our children are the same way.  We have all these big goals and ideas in our mind of where we want our children to be by the time they turn 18.  Sometimes they work out the way we think but then other times life gets in the way of our plans.   Cancer or some other disease breaks into our perfectly knit plan.  Drugs or just plan old disobedience breaks the ties we worked so diligently to build.  It can cause us to want to give up.  Perseverance through these times and a true focus on what God wants us to do is the key to getting through life's ups and downs and twists and turns.  
A friend of mine recently lost his child after a few months of being able to hold their precious miracle.   Born with "defects" they knew he was only with them for a short time.  He recently posted he was having a rough day.  We gathered around him in prayer and he said he needed to persevere through this storm.  That the grace of God was bigger than his sorrow.  
Our children struggle with these ups and downs to.  They even at young ages have dreams.  We as adults sometimes forget this and try to give them our dreams.   It takes time to allow them to live out their dreams.  It takes patience as we watch them fail and it takes a caring spirit to help them stand back up and try again.    The video below is of this.   It shows what perseverance can achieve.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1D2YuNnpqk

52 weeks

It may sound like a lot when you hear it but 52 weeks is short and flies by.  This week I took a bit of time and spent it with a few of our college students.  As we walked the city of Savannah I was smacked with a reality that they are grown up.  They are planning their lives and it isn't just a dream but they are realities that are being set.   

Time is slowly slipping away.  In a few years they will be paying bills on their own spreading the wings that we hope have been built on a good foundation.  But what if the faith and morals we have set in their lives didn't stick?   

Questioning and worrying about their future as we raise them I think is healthy and keeps us in check but we have to also lean on God for comfort and peace about where our children will be when they reach their adult years.  

As I live my life as an example for these kids and youth I pray that God will help them to use all the lessons they have been taught, remember all the morals they have been shown and listen to all the leading of the Holy Spirit.  

It was good to see some of the youth that have moved away for various reasons.  To see where life has taken them and to allow them to show us where they are now.  Good trip with good memories.  Investing time into our future is never wasted.

It was also great to teach them a bit of the Methodist history and introduce them to John.  Who looks well for his age ;)

Tuesdays Tweet

This month we are focusing on Media in the youth ministry.  The good, the bad and the ugly of Media.   I know that I am attached to my phone.  Between work, friends and family I almost always have someone to talk to or email to respond to.   If you allow it the technology will take over your world.  It will create an atmosphere where all you think about is that next tweet.

I saw a video on Facebook the other day of a child being born and it went straight to using technology and left its parents behind in the hospital.   We are not far from that.  We place phones in our babies hands to keep them occupied.  Our children use them and I dare say know more about technology than we do.  A few years ago I had to start taking phones away from kids before kids worship.  Our world is so fast pace our children crave those moments of slowness.  They may not tell you but their attitudes and actions will.  This week take a night an leave the phones at home.  I'm sure you will be okay and everyone else will to.

For our tweens and youth the phone and other technologies are great tools for them but can also be very dangerous.   Having a phone or iPod is a privilege and should be treated that way.  When I was a nanny I made each of the girls in my care sign a contract about their phone usage.  Here is an example of one:http://stickyfaith.org/family/blog/cell-phone-contract

This month our youth will be learning the fun things with technology and also the bad things.  On Sunday October 26 at 6pm we are going to have a movie night and will be showing the movie Finding Faith.  It was released last year and is based on a true story of internet safety.   You can find out more about the movie at this website: http://findingfaithfilm.com/   I would recommend that parents come and watch this movie with us.   If you can't come on that night the movie is on Netflix.

October Newsletter

 

Tuesday Challenge

It is said that it takes about 40 days to create a habit.  Forty continues days that is.  Not a few here and a few there. Month and a week to start something doesn't sound to hard till you get to day 21.  The halfway point has past and although the end of the 40 days is in sight the temptation to drop it is so powerful.   Over the summer I did the love dare with a friend.  We got to the halfway point and almost gave up but we encouraged each other and pushed each other through the rough days.  And at the end of the 40 days we had lost count of our days mentally just the calendar reminded us of our milestone.

As we get into the fall the temptation to sleep in or to stay home is almost more than we can handle.  To drive back to church on a Sunday evening seems so hard.  We get out of our routine of coming to church and it is hard to get back into it.  There is a great risk of never getting back into the habit for our children.   If we don't instill into them the habit of going to church and fellowshipping with other believers they will stray from the path.  It takes 40 days to create a habit and 1 day to break it.

While working in lexington I worked with the AA group that met in our building.  One of the men told me it would take one sip for him to go back to drinking.  That he had to change his whole routine to get sober.  One trip down his old routine and he would be back to his old habits again.  I think in a way that is true for us. I know it is for me.

If there is a habit that you need to get back into or maybe one you need to stop.  For the next forty days focus on that goal.  And help your children to do find a habit to work on.  Maybe it is saying a prayer before school or reading a story before bed or attending church more regularly. Make it an achievable goal.  Mark a calendar, set an alarm and tell others so they can hold you accountable.  

We can achieve so much more together. And remember it only takes 40 days to build a habit!

Thinking Tuesdays

Over the weekend I took a few youth to the Judgement House.   If you want to hear my thoughts on that please ask but there was a piece of that experience that reminded me of what I have been saying over the last couple years.   "When you see how much time you have left, you tend to do more with the time you have now."   We are only given a certain number of weeks and days with our children.   We have the opportunity to either invest in them or to waste away our time.  There is a song called "Live Like You Were Dying."  I wonder what our world would be like, what our churches would be like, how our bank accounts would look if we all lived like we are going to die soon.   Over my years of ministry I have sat with parents who were begging God for just one more day with their child.  They would give anything to have more time.  They see how much time is left and are treasuring the moments.   One particular family asked their child what they wanted to do before they died.   Made a list.  And they checked each thing off one by one.  There was no consideration of how their employers would respond.  There was no "when I get off work we will do something."   They didn't have to wait for a vacation time to come up.   They just went.   The child's list was sweet and simple.   And as I examined this list it was evident that this dying child just wanted what every other child wants.   Time.   Wanted to be able to spend time with his family.   Unconditional time.   No phones.  No TV.   No work.  No friends coming and interrupting.   Just them.

Almost every problem can be solved with time. If your child is whining, grumpy or angry all the time.  Give them one on one time each day.  About an hour if possible.   Even 20 minutes would be good.  And this is time with just them.  No other children.  No other friends.  Just them. It isn't easy to do.  And you will have interruptions sometimes but your child will greatly improve their behavior.  

Some of you might already do this.   Some of you might be trying to do this and are having trouble finding the time.  Some of you may be reading this and are thinking you do it but really don't.   Some people never got past the first line of this blog.   This week I want you to focus on your calendar.   Watch the clock.  Not for your job.  Not for when your favorite TV show comes on.  But for your children.   Make time for them that isn't taking them to their sporting events and doing homework.  Both of which are important.  However, find time where you can sit with your child.  Listen to them.  Hear their concerns, their struggles, their joys and their dreams.  

Having trouble starting that conversation?   Ask them three questions, how are you doing?   how is your walk with God?  what are you going to do about it?

Tuesdays Thoughts

                "People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing".  Dale Carnegie

Everyone is has their own gifts that God has given them.   Their own dreams that they are designed to follow.   This past Sunday in youth we had a Disney themed day where we talked about the life lessons we can learn from Disney but also our dreams.   We made our own Adventure Books filled with some of the dreams we have.   

      

As we were talking one of the youth said "I don't dream."   I asked why not and soon realized she was told not to.  As we worked through that I was reminded of the quote above.   People will not succeed if it is not something they like.  I have watched parents try to live their lives through their children instead of allowing their child to choose their own paths.  It is so easy to tell a child no this is what you really should do cause you'll make more money as an adult or you will gain more experiences.   

We as adults sometimes choose things not because they are fun or what we are gifted in but because it is what outside forces say we should do.  Many people dread going to work because of this very reason.  It isn't fun or what brings them fulfilment.   God had designed each of us for specific tasks.   These tasks will bring us great joy to do.  There will always be bad moments cause we live in a fallen world.  But if what you are doing is fun and what God has called you to do, you will succeed.  

This week is a simple week.  As your child what they like to do.  Even your two year old.  Give them time during the day to do that in which makes them happy.   And you do the same thing.  Make sure it is God honoring and you will see a shift in attitudes.   It is amazing how a little bit of fun and fulfilment can do for a persons attitude and out look on life.