Deuteronomy 6:1-25, 7:9

I had the opportunity to speak at our Mom’s group this morning at Preston Trail (Moms@prestontrail).  What a sweet time I had with this group of ladies!  Here’s recap of what I shared today about how to lead your child to be a fully devoted follower of Christ.

Life as a mom is awesome!  I have loved every season of motherhood from pregnancy to bringing home my babies, from the terrific twos to the awkward middle school years, even the sometimes scary senior high school years and yes, even a few prodigal years in sprinkled in just to ensure life didn’t get too comfortable.  Every season is like a circle of it’s own, that intertwines with the next circle just around the bend creating a beautiful symmetrical cycle of concentric circles that all work together in this thing called “motherhood”.

But I confess, sometimes I’ve felt like I was just spinning in circles aimlessly and not really knowing what to do next.  As I have tried to focus on the next horizon with squinted eyes, trying to see the future and what the next “circle” would bring, I found myself many days groping in the dark for the latest “parenting” book, christian parenting magazine, listening to James Dobson talk about “Bringing Up Boys” and The Strong-Will Child or asking my mom-friends for their best advise (I didn’t have the convenience of googling a blog or reading Twitter for the best info out there).  I really am that old!

Sadly, the church we attended offered limited parenting help (I remember picking up a pamphlet from the church Narex table and was so offended by the recommendation as a young believer, to beat my child with a rod… this is not what it said, but to my untrained, un-discipled mind, I was traumatized and critical of the recommendation!

The age-old adage, I wish I knew then, what I know now has never been more true in my life as it relates to bringing up godly kids (who am I kidding… as it relates to my entire life!).  So today, I want to share with you some of the things I’ve learned along the way on this topic of raising up fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ and why and how we do ministry here for you and your family, so that you don’t have to feel like your spinning in circles, but creating concentric circles of spiritual goodness in your kids.

1. It IS all about us!

I know, I know~ we hear all the time that we’re suppose to die to self and serve and love others more than ourselves.  And as mom’s and wives, this is something that generally comes naturally to us, in fact I would say it’s part of the beautiful way God made us… to nurture, comfort, extend hospitality and compassion to those around us.  Let’s face it ladies, we make it happen and make it pretty in the process!

When it comes to the spiritual side of things however, the reverse is critical.  God wants us to stay in our circle first!  Take some time right now to read Deuteronomy 6:1-25:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=deut%206&version=NLT

Okay, let’s break this down!

The MSG version states verse 6 this way:  Write these commandments that I’ve given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children.  What exactly is God telling the people here through Moses?

1. V5-6   Give Him all we’ve got!  Everything!  Love Him with all of our heart, soul, strength.  Jesus added to this in Matthew 22, vs37-39, our minds and what?  To love others as ourselves.  God is telling the people you have GOT to tattoo all of me on your very hearts.  How do we do that?  Ladies.  Growing in your own faith FIRST!  Reading our Bibles,daily quiet time, active prayer life, being in a small group, having accountability, giving others permission to get in your junk and lovingly speak truth into your life.  Actively pursuing the next circle in your life, so that you can lead others.  He tells us to surround ourselves with His truths in vs 8-9… Not just to have it plastered all over our house and car, but implanted deep into our hearts to continually remind us to veer back to Him at every step.
2. Praise Him – always!  Have a heart that praises first for all the good things, big and small he has given you.  Let praise be our first expression.  Have a strict “no freak out policy”!
3. V 13Fear the Lord and serve Him only.  Have a great reverence and respect for God, allow Him to live in the rightful place in your life… NUMBER 1, not 2, 3rd …  Serve Him only, guard your hearts against idols.  This is one of those areas that I fell into without even knowing it.  I idolized my children and my relationships and placed them above God.  This is so easy to do ladies, our children steal our hearts the moment we conceive them or see them for the first time.  We give them our all; our bodies, our time, our hearts and our energy.  As we should, but they should never assume the throne of Christ in our lives.  They are not ours, they are God’s kids and we have been given the great privilege of raising them and loving them for Him.
4. V18Do what is right and good in the Lords sight.  Honor Him in all you do
5. V20-25 Share your story.  One of my favorite things to do when I was little was looking at my parents wedding album and going through my baby book.  Story is so powerful, kids want to hear about how they came to be… we all do.  If your family is like mine, this is one of our favorite past times when we all get together at the holidays or vacations… retelling stories of when we were growing up.  Now my kids ask for us to retell their stories.  Share with your children who they are… share faith stories, etc… You are your child’s greatest spiritual influencer!  We’ll unpack some practical ways to take on this daunting task down below.
6. Slow Down!  This season or “circle” that you are in right now, whether it is the circle of having an infant that keeps you up to your elbows in diapers and looking like a zombie with mascara, or the circle that I’m in now as a Grammy and empty-nester, life wisps by like a dandelion floating in the summer air.  Before we know it our baby is holding a baby.  I think Mary, Jesus mother, knew that she needed to capture as many moments as she could while she had her Son.  Listen to what Luke 2:19 says, “But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.”  Every day has a wonder factor, don’t let the duties of being a wife, mom and friend cloud out all the precious moments that today brings.

1. It’s All About Orange!

Let’s jump to verse 7 of Deut. 6.  “Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”

1. Now that you’ve tattooed your heart and are learning for yourself what it means to live for Christ daily, teach your kids.
2. What happens at home really is more important than what happens here at church.    You have in excess of 3000+ hours to influence your kiddo, the church only has on an average of 40 hours PER YEAR.  Let’s partner together!  Yellow=church, Red=home, both = Orange. Greater combine spiritual influence for a child!
3. Our goal:  not to make you busier, or to make this hard.  That’s not God’s goal either.  Our goal is to equip you to be the primary spiritual influencer of your child and to give you a strategic path in which to lead your child.
   1. Not asking you to do all things, but just one more thing.
   2. Strategic plan is a less is more, small is BIG, many mini steps.
      1. Small groups
      2. Meetings for parents of students
      3. Family celebrations:  Child D, Deeper/baptism, other milestones
      4. Shared Family Experiences:  FamJam, worship, learn and play together.  We feel like there is something different between doing something for the family vs. something with the family. (dad and motorcycles).
4. Practically spiritually influencing our children:  What does that look like?  Morning/Noon/Night (Verse7b)
   1. Wonder years (infancy to pre-k):  out of crib in am, breakfast, bathtime, walk/car ride, bedtime.  Babies and toddlers get this… Ps 8:2 says, that from the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise!  How cool is it to think that babies and toddlers are praising God?!!!  All that gibberish isn’t gibberish at all!!!
   2. Discovery years (elementary):  This is when kids really start to form their faith! Make every moment a teachable moment!  Meals, carpooling, sports, TV (share Michelle’s story), date your kids. (active listening, don’t zone out.  Brick Bible, Action Bible for boys, healthy self-image for girls… she is a princess of the King~ make sure she knows that, monthly bookmarks from TrailKids).
   3. Passion years (Middle and High School):  Fight for their hearts.  These years will challenge and sharpen you the most as a parent … begin to let go, allowing them to make decisions (date them, serve with them – studies show that students/kids who serve alongside their parents are less likely to leave their faith after they leave home, pick your battles, be a student of your child; know when they let their teen-age guard down and open their heart to you… coffee time, sporting events. Intentional relationships… other adults, small group leaders, weekly message series content on PTSM webpage)

III.  The Mother-Load!

So what’s the benefit of all this?  Deut 7:9 sums it up nicely; “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands!”

As you live your life INSIDE OUT for your kids to see, as you intentionally make every moment a teachable moment, you are not just influencing your children, but your grandchildren and their grandchildren, to a thousand generations!  Those are some serious circles!

It’s not about doing everything and being everything to every person in our lives (and don’t take the pressure of a thousand generations on your shoulders), it’s really just about doing just one more thing.  

Here are some questions to ponder:

1.  Where do you struggle most:

a.  In your own spiritual development?  How are you “writing” these things   on your heart first?

b.  In your marriage?  Are you actively pursuing oneness with your hunny?

c.  Spiritually influencing your kids.  Making every moment a teachable moment.

2.  What is ONE thing you can start doing this week to begin creating concentric   circles of spiritual goodness around your family?

a.  For own spiritual growth and development?  (Daily quiet time, prayer,  accountability, small group)

b.  For your marriage?  (Praying for your husband daily, putting him ahead of the kids, date night, etc…you know what the etc is)

c.  For your kids?  (Praying over them and with them, using the weekly take- home from TrailKids and PTSM as conversation starters on godly topics,listening)