Thanksgiving Reflection

This week during our family time we devoted our time expressing what things we are thankful for. I reminded the children (along with Julien our exchange student) that a thankful heart is indicative of one who understands, knows, and believes what Jesus Christ did for us when He died on the cross for our sins. I reminded them that it is God’s will for His children to be thankful (1 Thess 5:18).

So we took the time to reflect on what things we’ve been thankful for over the past few months. Last night it was exciting to listen to the kids express what things they were thankful for. In the past it’s often been things like “our home” or “family” or “a good church” and so forth. And we rejoice with them when they express thanksgiving for such things. We remind them that “every good gift” is from the Lord. Over the past several months our time, energy, resources and finances have been focused on bringing home our children from the Philippines. At times our faith is strong and at other times our faith is weak. Certain moments we clearly see the hand of God behind the process we are going through, and at other times God seems to be inactive. But as I listened to each one of my children express their thankfulness, I couldn’t keep my eyes from welling up with tears because their comments reminded me of how good God has been during this process. It reminded me that they are watching their mom and dad attempt to put their faith in action. It reminded me that as LaNae and I make every effort to act out our faith, it gives them that much more motivation to act out their faith. Each of our kids, in their own way, expressed how thankful they were to see how God is growing our faith as we watch Him work through this adoption process. Claire expressed thankfulness in the Lord’s provision financially. Cade expressed thankfulness in how God is growing his affections for his sisters even though they are in Philippines at the moment. Kailyn expressed thankfulness for how God must be pleased to watch His church respond to the needs of His people.

A lot of the things that we are waiting for during this adoption process are outside of “our control.” This only elevates our need to be dependent on Him throughout the whole process. It’s been hard for them at times to watch mommy and daddy wrestle with what God is doing, but it’s been a joy for them when they see the Lord answer in real specific ways. These times of trusting and waiting have been a valuable lesson for them (and us as well) to learn. They (we) have seen God work in so many different ways. They have seen faith acted out even though it seems foolish in the eyes of many.

As I think about what the Lord is taking us through during this time, I don’t always see the good in it. I often need to be reminded that God is always honored when we seek to step out in faith. And when I listen to my children express their complete faith and trust in the Lord, I’m reminded that their view of God is affected by my view of God. If I believe my God is small they will view God as small. When I view my God as one who is able to do above and beyond what I can think or imagine, they will view God the same way. It gives them a view of how big our God is. It gives them a perspective that our God is bigger than our pocket book. He’s bigger than our savings account. He’s bigger than our ability to plan. In fact often he disrupts our plans to show us and remind us just how big he is.

I have much to be thankful for, and I am thankful to the Lord that he used the faith of my children to show me where mine was lacking.

Family Prayer Time

I love blogging about various things we do during our family devotions, because I want to be helpful to those who may be having a hard time trying to figure out what to do with your children. Because of our study through 1 Thessalonians the topic of prayer has been fresh in my mind. Do you ever have a hard time trying to figure out what you should pray for as a family? Well, here's a suggestion. I got the idea from the prayer calendar I put together for myself.

Each night after our family devotions, we devote a time of prayer together. When we first started doing this all we would do was pray for each other, and I started to think, “surely, we could be praying for more than ourselves.” So I laid a schedule for our prayer times so that each night of the week our prayers have a different focus. On Mondays we generally pray for any pressing needs related to our family, on Tuesdays we pray for our missionaries, on Thursdays we pray for our friends and/or for those who need Christ, and on Saturdays we pray for all the teachers in Sunday School and for the preaching of God’s word.

Here’s a suggestion for how to keep your friends in your prayers. Do you ever wonder what you should with all those family pictures you receive during the Christmas season? Sometimes they get placed on your fridge and other times they get thrown into the garbage. We have all the pictures we receive during Christmas in a drawer, and every Thursday night is our night to pray for friends. So we take 10 pictures from the drawer and divided it among the five of us and each of us take turns praying for the families represented in the picture we are given. It’s a great way to remind ourselves of the many friends that God has brought into our lives over the years, and when we get together with these friends during the year or when we correspond with them in some way we are able encourage them by telling them that we are praying for them as a family.

Puppet Show

Tonight during our family time Kailyn and Cade put together a puppet show for Claire explaining the overall theme of the first 3 chapters of 1 Thessalonians. We have been studying it all week and this week we were finally back on a somewhat normal routine after being on vacation for 2 weeks and then moving into our new home 1 week after returning from our trip. They decided they would teach this lesson in puppet show fashion and they did a great job. Their puppets are made out of craft sticks and LaNae decorated them to represent different characters. We haven’t seen a puppet show in a long time. LaNae and I used to put together puppet shows together for Kailyn and Cade when they were younger, but lately we’ve slacked (I should say I have slacked). Sometimes I resort to what is easiest to put together, namely a straight lecture.

After Kailyn and Cade did their lesson, they asked if LaNae and I would put a puppet show together. We’ve been in the passage all week, so we pretty much know the key point of the passage. So we put one together “off the cuff.” It was fun, the kids always enjoy it, and they usually grasp the concepts we are trying to teach them when we do so in creative fashion. I guess, I know this, but sometimes I get lazy in the creativity department. It was a good reminder that I need to think through how I am going to present my Bible lesson during our family times on my way home from work.

Here’s a picture of the puppets we use as a teaching tool (check out the babe in the middle with the 80's big hair look). They are easy to make. You need craft sticks, felt, glue gun, pen, and some buttons. You can look at the picture and see how they come together. It looks kind of “cheesy”, but our kids don’t have much in the way of entertainment media so they are easily entertained. However, we’ve used these figures in a Sunday school class on several occasions with kids who have every form of entertainment possible from pre-school all they way to 2nd grade, and they are still drawn to them. It's nothing fancy, but my philosophy in family devotions (and teaching kids in general) is be creative. Whatever will keep them engaged in the lesson and as long as they hear and learn God's word, use it.

LaNae is taking orders.

Here's one way to teach doctrine to children

What is doctrine? According to Wayne Grudem, “Doctrine is what the whole Bible teaches us today about some particular topic.” He goes on to discuss that doctrine is developed through a “process called systematic theology.” In Matthew 28:19-20 Jesus told his disciples to “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations . . . teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.” In the second part of the Great Commission, believers are called to teach the whole Bible to one another. The nature of systematic theology is an attempt then to summarize the teaching of Scripture in brief, understandable, and very carefully formulated statements, and from there doctrines are developed (i.e., doctrine of God, doctrine of Christ, man, sin, salvation, future etc…). These are doctrines that have been most significant and foundational throughout church history, these are doctrines that have practical implications in how we live, and yet these same doctrines are under attack today by those who call themselves evangelicals.

Unfortunately we live in a day where many who claim to be evangelicals deny the need for propositional truth. The post-modern culture has had a great impact on the church, so much so that even many churches who call themselves evangelical denies that there is such a thing as absolute truth.

Twelve years ago when I was first introduced to the topic of systematic theology, I was determined that when I had children, I would make every effort to be faithful in teaching them the key doctrines of the Christian faith. When my oldest daughter was about 18 months old she loved to go to bed at night listening to music. She would wake up the next day reciting some of the songs she learned. So from there I decided to make a tape for her that included all the key doctrines of our faith from the doctrine of God to the doctrine of end times. I would ask a question (i.e. How many gods are there?), provide the answer, read the verses that supported the doctrine and recite the verse in a song. As she listened to this tape over a period of time my wife and noticed that she was no longer repeating the nursery rhymes from her previous tapes, but she repeating the questions and verses from her doctrine tape. We did the same thing with our second child. And this morning I came back from my early morning run, and I listened through the vent of our upstairs room and sure enough my youngest daughter was listening to that same doctrine tape that I made 10 years ago. She listens to that tape for 30 minutes, but on this particular morning it was part of her morning devotions. Some might call this brain washing. But I call it catechizing my children.

This is the kind of foundation we need to lay for our children. While they are young we need to ensure that a solid doctrinal foundation is laid for them so that when they are out in the world that disregards absolute truth they will be able to stand up against every wind of doctrine that comes their way.

Redeeming Family Vacations

We started our family vacation on Thursday, May 1st. It actually has several things attached to it. One of which is a field trip for our homeschooled children. The first stop was Butte, Montana and the final stop will be The Master’s Seminary where I will walk in the graduation ceremony. You can visit LaNae’s blog to get each day’s details of our trip.

One of the hardest things for me during vacations is the disruption of our family routine. For many people the disruption of routine for a season is actually a good thing. But for some reason I actually thrive on routine. I love getting up the same time every morning and sitting in the usual spot of our living room to spend my quiet time with the Lord. I love going for a run after I finish my quiet time. I love walking into the house after a run to say good morning to my wife and kids. I love going to work by 8:00 am. I love coming home by 5:00 pm (or 5:30). I love doing family time after dinner. I love talking with LaNae after the kids go to bed by 8:00 pm. Because these things and a host of other things get turned upside down during vacations, I feel like my life goes from order to disorder.

I resolved that this vacation was going to be different. I knew that there would have to be things I would have to give up. Perhaps a run in the morning would be placed on the bottom of the priority list.

It’s taken me over 17 years of marriage to finally resolve to enjoy whole heartedly our family vacations. Here are some ways I plan to redeem this family vacation to make it more purposeful and enjoyable.

1. Stick to LaNae’s detailed plan (LaNae did an incredible job planning this trip, every activity was carefully chosen and planned out)
2. Don’t set the alarm for the morning.
3. Get up at the earliest by 7:00 am (unless everyone is awake earlier)
4. Do a family devotional time each morning in place of individual devotional times. (The plan is to finish reading through Romans and then start in 1 Thessalonians ~ this is what the kids would have been studying in Sunday School and we would have been studying in our adult small groups).
5. Listen to at least three 2008 Together for the Gospel sermons with my wife.
6. Read missionary biographies to the kids prior to them going to bed at night.
7. Eat a light breakfast and lunch when our day is going to consist of more than 4 to 6 hours of driving (this will help me feel less like a sloth).
8. Eat a light dinner each night.
9. Take the kids swimming to each hotel that has a swimming pool (they enjoy swimming, this is a good time to read a book)
10. If there is a fitness room in the hotel, exercise with LaNae and use that time to talk.
11. Absolutely, NO studying. Just some light reading (I will finish Culture Shift by Al Mohler and will probably start A Long Line of Godly Men by Steve Lawson.
12. Have a list of questions I want to ask LaNae during our long drives to engage in meaningful and light conversation (I downloaded some good conversation starters from Reb Bradley’s website, http://www.familyministries.com/)

Today is May 5th and LaNae actually said during our hike in the Capitol Reef National Park, “you seem really relaxed.” God is so gracious to allow me to learn to enjoy being refreshed.

Living for the King

This past Sunday I had the privilege of preaching from Matthew 6:25-34. One of the things I love about preaching is the amount of study that is poured into God’s Word, but with the study comes responsibility, namely the application of God’s Word. Our church (Faith Bible Church) is doing a four week series on stewardship both from the pulpit ministry and our small group ministry. It has been quite challenging both for my wife and I, and also for our children. We have had many conversations in our home regarding how we spend our money, how we use our resources, and what we spend our time in.

In Matthew 6:19-34, the entire section is built around Jesus’ exhortation in 6:33, …seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you. Jesus says it another way in verses 19-20, …lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. The natural response of someone desiring to seek God’s Kingdom or lay up treasures in heaven is anxiety. Therefore, the words of Jesus in verses 25-34 serves as an encouragement to believers who want to follow the Lord in obedience to His commands. Don’t be anxious is his encouragement and He gives three reasons why there is no need for anxiety: 1) He will sustain our life, 2) He will supply us with what we need, 3) He will strengthen us for each day’s troubles. These three actions of God flow right out of the text, and it would have been an encouragement for the believers truly seeking God’s Kingdom to persevere in their faith despite what trials may come as a result of laying up treasures in heaven. The failure to trust in the 3 actions of God described in this text is a demonstration of a lack of faith. And as George Mueller said: The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety.

This was a powerful message for my heart. I was compelled as the leader in my home to lead my family in this area of our life. Men, let me offer some possible discussion questions you may want to have with your wife and family. These are questions we asked one another during the course of 2 1/2 weeks. You could pose these questions for a dinner time conversation. Or right before you go to bed you and your wife can sit down for a half hour to an hour and discuss the questions. For those of you who are single, the questions apply to you as well. Perhaps you may want to find a close friend who will hold you accountable in these things. The purpose of these questions is to stimulate your thinking about how you are using your wealth, time, and resources for the sake of God’s Kingdom.

1. In what way are we laying up treasures in heaven? (vague but you can build on it)

2. Where is the bulk of our money going towards? (Are we giving in proportion to our wealth? – is the real question)

3. Where is the bulk of our time being spent? (You should clock how much time you spend in front of your TV. How much of your time is spent scurrying from all the different activities your kids are involved you don’t have time to invest in kingdom work.)

4. In what way are we modeling to our children that money is our god?

5. What is the driving factor behind your career path? (Gain wealth, Prestige, Power)

6. Parents, the question you should be asking your children as they prepare for their future is... Have you thought about missions?? Have you thought about full time ministry?? And then if the Lord closes that door, great…

7. What are you doing with your time so that you are cultivating a heart of godliness?

8. For those of you who are retired…Have you considered short term missions or mid term missions?

Book Recommendation

Every year (for the past few years) during this time of the year we read a book called Journey to the Cross by Helen Haidle. Our kids enjoy bringing this book out every during the Easter season. The story of the cross is not watered down. The reality of God’s hatred towards sin is not glossed over. Here’s an excerpt from the back of the book:

Finally…a book that features all the events of the last week of Jesus’ life and resurrection in chronological order. Well-known children’s author Helen Haidle brings together a day-by-day recounting of the last week of Jesus’ life – his death, his resurrection, and all of the events following his resurrection, including his ascension and the pouring out of his Spirit at Pentecost. Journey to the cross helps six to twelve year olds understand who Jesus is and what he has done for them. Young readers will discover: 1) details of the culture and customs of the first century, 2) how Jesus fulfilled Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah, 3) All the events of Jesus’ passion and resurrection, and 4) What Jesus’ sacrifice means to them today.

Last night, after reading through the events that took place at the cross, the application question at the end of the chapter was, “Could Jesus have come down from the cross?” My youngest said, “yes” and my two oldest said “no”. The answer: yes and no. My youngest understands that since Jesus is God he can do anything and if that means coming down from the cross he could do it. In her mind if Jesus has the power to forgive sins, surely he has the power to come down from the cross. My two oldest children also understand that this was accomplished according to God’s sovereign plan. They also understood that Jesus had to suffer and die in order to satisfy God’s wrath. I am so thankful to God for good children’s books that do not water down the truth. I didn’t have to prepare a complicated lesson, it was packaged right here for me in this book.

At the end of our family devotional time we spent some time singing songs of praise and thanksgiving to God for his great gift of salvation.
You need to get this book.

Teaching your children difficult doctrines

This week we are studying Romans 9 in our small groups as well as in our Sunday school classrooms. I often find it hard to teach such a difficult doctrine as the doctrine of election to my children. When you mention to them that God chooses whom He wishes to choose into His family there is a bit of confusion that is seen in their eyes. And then when they follow up that confused look with, “Daddy, doesn’t God love everyone?” This was the conversation that took place last night during our family devotions. My reply to the follow up question was, “Yes, yes, God does love everyone!” But the follow up question wasn’t asked, “why doesn’t He choose everyone then?” But I realized why the follow up question wasn’t asked. Children are able to take what the Scriptures teach at face value. Often times we are the ones who limit them from diving into the depths of Scripture because we think that they will not get it or somehow we will confuse them even more. So last night I asked a question, “Is God merciful?” To which my children responded, “Yes.” Then I asked, “Is God sovereign over whom he chooses?” They replied, “Yes.” Then I asked, “Is God merciful when he chooses some and not others.” And they said, “Yes.” They believe it because it’s what Paul teaches in Romans 9 to 11. Why do we need to be afraid to teach difficult doctrines to our children? The response our children need to see and hear from us is summed up in the words of Paul in Romans 11:33-36. When Paul reflected on the wondrous work of God in saving sinners from His wrath, he replied, “O, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?’” That’s what our children need to see and hear. They need moms and dads who worship God for the infinite display of His worth in showing mercy to undeserved sinners like you and me.

Leaving a Spiritual Legacy for the Next Generation

This past Sunday I had the privilege preaching on Sunday morning. Since coming on staff to FBC as the Family and Children’s pastor, I have taken the time to meditate on Psalm 78:1-8. This is the passage of Scripture that we wave around as the banner passage for Family and Children’s ministry and it is the passage that I constantly go back to when I want to be reminded about what I must leave behind for my own children. We are called to leave behind a spiritual legacy so that the next generation sets their hope and confidence in a God who saves. This passage reminded me that when I instruct my children whether it be formal Bible instruction, informal everyday instruction, and in corrective instruction, I need to constantly remind them of the gospel. The gospel is not only the hope for unbelievers, but it is the hope for believers as well. The gospel that saves is the gospel that sanctifies. This passage also reminded me of ways that I might be concealing the glorious deeds, the mighty works, and the wondrous works of God from my children. What are the glorious deeds, mighty works, and wondrous works of God? Again, it is the gospel. These three phrases describe the totality of God’s work in redeeming His people. It describes His salvation. We could say it is a description of the most infinite display of God’s glory, namely the cross. What are ways in which we might conceal the glory of the cross from our children? I came up with a several thoughts.

1. When we get more excited about peripheral things than the cross (i.e. sporting events, scrap booking, decoration, a big house, a nice car, etc…)


2. When they don’t see mom and dad regularly studying their Bibles and quiet times with the Lord.


3. When we fail to extend mercy when correcting them or administering discipline. (The gospel is all about mercy towards us. God demonstrated justice on His Son so that we would be recipients of mercy. Therefore, should not the recipient of mercy be the first to extend mercy.)


4. When we fail to recognize evidence of grace (or the fruit of the Spirit) in their lives. (This is a clear indication of God’s work of grace in their lives; therefore we must constantly affirm them of that grace when we recognize it.)


5. When we fill our weekly schedule with so much activity that we have no time to formally instruct our children in the word of God (aka – Family Devotions)


6. When gathering with the saints on Sunday morning is not the highlight of our week.


7. When we fail to serve together as a family.

I’m sure there are more, and as I meditate on this a little more, I trust that the Lord will bring things to mind that will challenge my heart.

Teach them diligently, Part III

We are studying through Romans as a family during our family devotions and it has been rather challenging because of the style of writing. It’s harder to explain to children truths of the Bible when it is not in narrative form. As I read through Romans 1:18-32, I thought, “now how in the world am I going to communicate this truth to my children?” I started to isolate the main point of the passage and as I began to think about it, it hit me. Paul is talking about the wrath of God. Then he describes in every day life how the wrath of God has manifested itself in the consequences of man’s sin. As man continues on his sin the wrath of God is being revealed as man spirals downward towards the depraved condition of his heart. That was what I wanted to teach my children. Now if my children are like most children, they love stories. In fact every time we are in the car driving across town or on a long family trip, they ask at some point “Daddy, can you tell us a story?” How would I tell my children about God’s wrath in story form?

I developed this story about a little girl named Sarah and we charted the course of her life from the age of 3 all the way to her mid twenties. At the age of 3 Sarah started a pattern of deceiving here parents with one small lie after another. By the time she was 25 her whole life revolved around deceiving family and friends. The sad part about it was that Sarah’s heart was so hard she wasn’t even bothered by the fact that she left a wake of people in pain because of her consistent lying. The story went on for about 15 minutes. As the story unfolded I watched my children’s eyes get wider and wider and wider as they saw the ugliness of a hardened heart towards God. Then I told them that this is an example of God’s wrath being poured out on Sarah. God was allowing her to continue on her sin and experience all the consequences of her sin to show His hatred towards sin.

This story provided an opportunity to once again plead with my children to respond to the good news of the gospel. Christ experienced the full weight of God’s anger on the cross because he loved us. I reminded them that God does not want us to live a life that is hard and rebellious towards him. He wants us to live a life that is dependent on His grace alone. He wants us each day to be reminded of how much we deserve his anger and yet He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve. He showers us with His grace, mercy, and compassion through the cross of Christ

Afterwards we took the time to give praise to God for his grace and mercy.

Teach them diligently, Part II

A friend asked me this week how one might do family devotions with a 16 month old. My kids are now ages 10, 8, and 6 and so I had try to remember what we used to do when my children were that age. And all I could remember was that we did a lot of singing, we acted out the stories of the Bible and, we did use many hand motions. Overall, our aim was to make it fun and energetic. I remember one time we were studying the Triumphal Entry. I wanted to visually show my children how Jesus came into the city of Jerusalem and how he was initially received by the people. We went outside and gathered branches from a tree. Then we gathered all the coats inside the house we could find. Then we draped a sheet around one of the kids (who was supposed to be dressed as Jesus). Finally, I got down on my hands and knees (like a donkey) and we placed the one dressed like Jesus on my back and we came down the hallway while the other children (along with their mother) started waving the tree branches around and threw the coats in the hallway and started chanting, “hosanna, hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” and singing that “Doughnut Man” song, “He is the King”. It took a lot of energy to teach that one scene, but it is etched in their minds to this day. I used to worry whether they would get so caught up in the activity that they would forget the purpose of the story. And then I realized they’re just kids. These story times are merely building blocks to the day when I would finally be able to unpack the fuller meaning of Jesus’ Triumphal entry. I think often times parents (especially fathers) are hesitant about teaching their toddlers or preschoolers truths from Scripture because they realize they have to get down to their level in order to communicate the message to them, and that’s uncomfortable. And it is. It’s not natural to crawl on the ground like a donkey. But if crawling around on the ground like a donkey is laying a foundation for later discussions about the future reign of Christ and how they need to submit their lives to Christ’s rule, isn’t it a small price to pay.

Teach them diligently

Family devotions can become a little tricky when you have children at different ages of maturity. In our situation our oldest (Kailyn) is 10 years old and our youngest (Claire) is 6 and we have one in the middle (Cade) at 8. My tendency is to speak to the level of the oldest child because it takes the least amount of creativity on my part. I thought that somehow our youngest would “get it” through the “trickle down” method, but that wasn’t the case. My wife one day informed me that Claire wasn’t “getting it.” She was sitting quietly during our family devotions and was content to sit, but she didn’t understand a single thing I was talking about. I was so focused on Kailyn and Cade, I forgot all about our little one. To remedy this problem I gave the older two an assignment. On Mondays I will read from the Bible the passage we are going to study, and I simply walk through the passage explaining the meaning of the text and the implications for our lives. After the Monday’s family devotions, Kailyn and Cade have the task of coming up with a lesson for Claire. I usually give them a specific theme to focus on and perhaps two key application points to “drive home”. On Tuesday they will begin planning on how they will present this to their little sister. My wife helps them with ideas. Sometimes they are encouraged to act out the scene; some times they are encouraged to use puppets to communicate the truth that they are trying to get across. Sometimes we help them to put the memory verse they want to use in song form. Sometimes we help them with hand motions that will aid in communicating the truth. Then usually on Wednesday night, they will lead our family devotions to instruct Claire in what we discussed on Monday. We’ve been having them do this for a couple of years now and they really seem to enjoy it. They are at the place where their creative juices are constantly flowing and they need less and less direction as the weeks and months go by. In fact Claire looks forward to it with much anticipation now. Initially she didn’t know how to accept the concept of her brother and sister teaching her about the Bible, but now she is eager to listen. This activity has actually been beneficial for the whole family. For the older kids it reinforces the things they are learning. It also helps me determine whether I’m communicating to them clearly because if they can’t explain it to their sister, then that means I wasn’t clear enough in my explanation. And Claire learns the truths of Scripture explained to her at her level.

I was reminded of this topic because Kailyn put a note in my lunch bag this morning reminding me that tonight she and Cade would be teaching the Bible lesson.

"Daddy, I like it when you dig."

Last night we were doing our Advent calendar and we read from Matthew 2:9-11. I explained to my children that when the magi saw the king of the Jews they rejoiced with exceeding joy and then bowed down to worship the savior. This launched into a discussion on how God saving sinful people like us should be a cause for rejoicing. I showed them throughout Scripture how expressing great joy and being saved from the wrath of God are related. After our family time my youngest daughter (Claire, who just turned six) was sitting on my lap and looked up at me and said, “Daddy, I like it when you dig.” The statement took both her mother and I by surprise, so I asked a probing question, “What do you mean?” She proceeded to explain to us that she liked it when I explained the Bible to her in ways that she can understand. She went on to express that sometimes when she reads her Bible she doesn’t catch all the things that I talk about during our Bible times. This morning I went for a run, and for some reason I was rehearsing over and over in my thoughts her statement about “liking it when I dig”. I realized that our children really do want to know the deep things of God. They want to know more than what the stories of the Bible say. They want to know how the stories express the character of God. I also came to the conclusion that our children will only rise to the level we take them. If we feed them milk all their lives they would be malnourished. If we feed them only the milk of Scripture, they will become spiritually malnourished over a period of time. We are the limiting factor in the spiritual development of our children.

Teaching our Children to be Thankful

One of the things we started incorporating into your family times in the past year is a thankfulness journal. We got the idea from friends at The Master's Seminary (Justin and Juli McKitterick). Each week (usually Sunday evenings) we take the time to review the week and begin to list off things that we are thankful for. We usually begin with things that are spiritual in nature (ie salvation, God's grace, the cross of Christ, the Scriptures, etc...) This teaches our children that the greatest realities we are most thankful for are the many spiritual blessings given to us by God (Ephesians 1:3). From here we begin to express thanksgiving as it relates to our relationship with one another, and then we take the time to share material things that we are thankful for. This activity has helped our children see that true thankfulness begins with having a right perspective on the character of God first. I would encourage you to make it a goal that you might commit to this each week during the course of the next year, and see what the Lord does in the process.