Expanding the View of Parenting Goals

I am excited about our latest homework assignment. Allison and I talked the other night about setting goals for our parenting. I think we might ease into this as we only came up with one goals so far. I am amazed however how much of life corresponds to our own relationship with God. As we think through these goals, we cannot help think through goals we have for our own lives and what we want to get out of it. I have been reading Mike Bickle's "Passion for Jesus". So far it has been very enjoyable, but this week I hit this idea of setting our primary focus, which I thought tied in well with setting parenting goals. So here is some food for thought...

Christianity in America and much of the world is not God-Centered. It's centered on needs, success, wholeness, or spiritual gifts. Although all these issues are important, they are not to be our primary focus, but rather a by-product of genuine spirituality. Emotional, spiritual, and physical blessings are a sure overflow from God-centered Christianity. The church, having neglected her diligent pursuit of the knowledge of God, sometimes referred to as intimacy with God, has lost her joy and affection and the consciousness of His divine presence. She has lost her spirit of worship and her sense of awe and adoration. She has replaced encountering God with ministry success and substituted activity for heartfelt relationship with God.

Last week we discussed unbiblical goals. I think this except describes the dangers of unbiblical goals well. It is not that these other things are bad; they just distract from the ulitmate goal of developing a heart for God.

Surfacing Unbiblical Goals of Parenting

This week we went over Chapters 5-6 of Shepharding a Child's Heart, which were about Unbiblical Goals. We all have goals for our children even if we cannot fully articulate what they are. Generally these goals are whatever we define for success in our own lives. How do you know if you are successful? Do you need a lot of money, plenty of friends, a few diplomas on the wall? Our kids will pick up on this and more than likely pick up the same measures of success.

As Christians our ulitmate goal should be to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. God has created your children for a specific plan in His kingdom, so we need to prepare them for success in whatever God's role is.

The next couple weeks we have asked each couple to come up with a specific goal for their children. Allison mentioned possibly coming up with anacronym using your last name. Whatever you do, make it personalize for your family, and let's help our kids succeed for eternity.

Image courtesy of Despair, Inc.

Operation Christmas Child

Christmas is approaching quickly. Maybe I am just trying to get the focus off what other people are celebrating next week. :) But it is actually not to early to bring this up. One thing Allison and I do every year is put together an Operation Christmas Child Shoebox.

Operation Christmas Child is an ministry of Samaritan's Purse where people put together shoeboxs full of presents for children who would proabably not get anything this year. You can select the age and gender of the child you put the box together for.

Our plan is to get our kids involved to give them a heart for kids who are in need.This year we put together boxes for girls Rachel's age so she could relate more to putting this together. It was a lot of fun walking through the store and whatching her think through it.

Images courtesy of Samaritan's Purse

What to Pray for Your Children

Last week we discussed verses we could pray for our children. Sara has scanned the pages that Anne Wright put together, which I will email to everyone. Here I have posted a sheet that Sara's mom put together. The great thing about praying through Scripture is that we can count on it being God's will for our kids.

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. -- I John 5: 14-15

Resource is no longer available

I understand the notes are small. The blog has a little width allowed, but since it is a PDF you can save it to your computer or print the page to view easier.

If anyone not in the class would like a copy of Anne's notes, send me your email with a note about wanting the "What to Pray for Your Children" notes to our Submit a Question page.

You're In Charge

For some parents this list is their only measure of success, but we need to remember we are called to a higher standard. God has given us authority to parent out children; He has placed us in charge. Because we are in charge we have a responsiblity under God to lead our children into holiness and righteousness for their own good. When we shirk our responsibility or discipline our children to make them more compliant to our desires we mismanage this most important resource God has given us for out joy and our own healing. Today we got in a great discussion not about how to discipline our kids, but about keeping our own attitudes as not to interfere with our children responding to God. I have posted the notes for You Are In Charge for those who may have missed the class.

Tedd Tripp in Winston Salem

As I mentioned in class today, Tedd Tripp will be in Winston Salem this coming weekend, October 24th - 25th. He will be giving a conference a Twin City Baptist Church on Ebert Street off of Silas Creek Parkway. The conference costs $30 per person and $50 per couple. Friday evening will be going over the background of the book, and Saturday will talk about shepherding your child at different age stages. I am sure it will be good if you have time to go.

Upcoming Kid-Friendly Events

Next weekend there are two events local to Winston Salem that both could be a lot of fun. The first is the Barbecue Festival in Lexington. Travel and Leisure magazine rates it as on the of the top 10 food festivals in the U.S. It will be all day Saturday, October 25th. They will have six different stages for entertainment and of course barbecue to be had. Go to their website at BarbecueFestival.com for more on directions and entertainment schedule.

The other event is the Carolina Balloon Fest in Statesville. They will have over 50 hot air balloons with mass ascensions and a kid's fun zone. This one does have a cost as it is $8 per person but kids 5 and under go free.

Images courtesy of each event's website.