Kids............they look and seem so innocent. As my children are growing and we have experienced 5yrs of child-rearing, I have seen first hand just how much we are born sinners. Yes, a term most of us have heard all our lives, but I never really put much thought into it until the past few weeks. However, some folks will argue that we are not born sinners, please, have you ever in your life been around children? Even newborns learn to manipulate their parents to a certain extent. Ask me why I still sleep with my 5yr old every night. She manipulated me from 2 weeks old and it just grew worse. I could not stand her crying and so I held her while she slept and now I am still paying for it. I enabled her to do this. Needless to say, I did not do this the second time around. I learned my lesson! I am seeing behaviors, words, etc. out of my kids that shows me more and more how much we need a Savior. My greatest longing for my kids is that they be saved, that they believe Jesus died for their sins and they grow up loving Him with all their heart, mind, and soul! As a parent, I am learning to lean on Jesus even more as I have been given these 2 gifts from God to raise and train up for Him, not for me or my family, but for God. Parenting has been my biggest challenge and the most rewarding at the same time. I want my kids to be loving, compassionate, slow to anger, extend mercy, and so on....
A prime example of how early being selfish begins occurred last night as Brandon and I helped Keira count the money from her piggy bank. We are going to take it to the bank and I suggested she leave some out to buy a gift from an angel tree. She said "No", she wanted "it all to go to the bank." Then, Brandon tried to talk to her about giving some to the church as an offering, again she responded with a "no." We tried to explain how this money is ultimately not hers, or ours, but God's and that He gave it to her from the start. She wasn't having any of that. I tried to talk to her about helping others, especially ones in need, she didn't care. She wanted it all for herself. I talked about little girls who will not get any gifts for Christmas and so on, still she was cold-hearted and wanted to know if she gave them something, would she get something in return. This opened my eyes to how much I want to show my kids to be givers, not takers. And, I do think we need to begin this now with them. We always do the angel tree and such at Christmas time, but I want them to be givers year round. I want them to see the joy in helping others, the joy in sharing Christ's love, the joy in seeing someone be saved. I pray they will be servants, not takers all the the time. Now more than ever in our culture, I must teach them to be givers. It is so easy to get caught up in the me, me, me syndrome. I see it already in my 3yr old, who wants every single toy that is advertised on tv. Yes, I know this is normal in kids, but I don't want them growing up thinking they should have anything and everything just because they want it. One day I hope they realize how they have been blessed with the family God gave them too, not just materially, but in more important areas. It just saddened me to see and hear Keira's reaction, and made me realize how selfish I am also. I pitch my little adult temper-tantrums when things don't go my way, or I don't get the material things I think I need. I may not react like my daughter, but I do whine or complain, or turn cold. I like to get upset if things don't go the way I planned, which just happened a couple weeks ago, when a day in my week was changed and I had it all set. But, know I can be positive about it and who knows, maybe God set that day aside for me to do something different. Time will tell. It is all depends on my perspective on things. As I am teaching my kids, in turn God is using it to open my eyes to areas in my life that need work. Sometimes, it is as simple as acting on a thought to send cards to people. I yielded to that last week and it didn't take but 5 minutes to write and address 3 cards to some sweet ladies. I could have been selfish and said "I don't have time to do that", but I did it anyway.
My goal is to become less selfish and for my kids to see this in me and for them to grow up giving to others and Jesus. Afterall, we have the greatest example in Jesus, who died on the cross, for us. He gave up His life, everything, for us! Amazing love - how can it be that you would die for me?
Kids............they look and seem so innocent. As my children are growing and we have experienced 5yrs of child-rearing, I have seen first hand just how much we are born sinners. Yes, a term most of us have heard all our lives, but I never really put much thought into it until the past few weeks. However, some folks will argue that we are not born sinners, please, have you ever in your life been around children? Even newborns learn to manipulate their parents to a certain extent. Ask me why I still sleep with my 5yr old every night. She manipulated me from 2 weeks old and it just grew worse. I could not stand her crying and so I held her while she slept and now I am still paying for it. I enabled her to do this. Needless to say, I did not do this the second time around. I learned my lesson! I am seeing behaviors, words, etc. out of my kids that shows me more and more how much we need a Savior. My greatest longing for my kids is that they be saved, that they believe Jesus died for their sins and they grow up loving Him with all their heart, mind, and soul! As a parent, I am learning to lean on Jesus even more as I have been given these 2 gifts from God to raise and train up for Him, not for me or my family, but for God. Parenting has been my biggest challenge and the most rewarding at the same time. I want my kids to be loving, compassionate, slow to anger, extend mercy, and so on....
A prime example of how early being selfish begins occurred last night as Brandon and I helped Keira count the money from her piggy bank. We are going to take it to the bank and I suggested she leave some out to buy a gift from an angel tree. She said "No", she wanted "it all to go to the bank." Then, Brandon tried to talk to her about giving some to the church as an offering, again she responded with a "no." We tried to explain how this money is ultimately not hers, or ours, but God's and that He gave it to her from the start. She wasn't having any of that. I tried to talk to her about helping others, especially ones in need, she didn't care. She wanted it all for herself. I talked about little girls who will not get any gifts for Christmas and so on, still she was cold-hearted and wanted to know if she gave them something, would she get something in return. This opened my eyes to how much I want to show my kids to be givers, not takers. And, I do think we need to begin this now with them. We always do the angel tree and such at Christmas time, but I want them to be givers year round. I want them to see the joy in helping others, the joy in sharing Christ's love, the joy in seeing someone be saved. I pray they will be servants, not takers all the the time. Now more than ever in our culture, I must teach them to be givers. It is so easy to get caught up in the me, me, me syndrome. I see it already in my 3yr old, who wants every single toy that is advertised on tv. Yes, I know this is normal in kids, but I don't want them growing up thinking they should have anything and everything just because they want it. One day I hope they realize how they have been blessed with the family God gave them too, not just materially, but in more important areas. It just saddened me to see and hear Keira's reaction, and made me realize how selfish I am also. I pitch my little adult temper-tantrums when things don't go my way, or I don't get the material things I think I need. I may not react like my daughter, but I do whine or complain, or turn cold. I like to get upset if things don't go the way I planned, which just happened a couple weeks ago, when a day in my week was changed and I had it all set. But, know I can be positive about it and who knows, maybe God set that day aside for me to do something different. Time will tell. It is all depends on my perspective on things. As I am teaching my kids, in turn God is using it to open my eyes to areas in my life that need work. Sometimes, it is as simple as acting on a thought to send cards to people. I yielded to that last week and it didn't take but 5 minutes to write and address 3 cards to some sweet ladies. I could have been selfish and said "I don't have time to do that", but I did it anyway.
My goal is to become less selfish and for my kids to see this in me and for them to grow up giving to others and Jesus. Afterall, we have the greatest example in Jesus, who died on the cross, for us. He gave up His life, everything, for us! Amazing love - how can it be that you would die for me?
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