Love begins at home… – Mother Teresa

There is a lot of talk about Family Ministry as it applies to Children’s Ministry. What does it mean? What does it look like? While I believe that this is an important conversation to have, I believe that we also need to be talking about what Family Ministry looks like in our own homes.

We can get so caught up in doing Children’s Ministry that we neglect our first ministry which is our family. We have become more intentional about reaching outside of our homes and churches and less in reaching those inside our own homes. We are teaching the families in our churches how to spend time together and teaching parents to be the spiritual leaders of their home – yet we leave very little time to do that ourselves.

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Recently. I have been listening to Rick Warren’s latest series on Raising Amazing Kids. this past week’s message was all about Purpose Driven Kids. In this message he shared the five truths that we need to help our children understand and believe about themselves along with five questions that we need to help them ask and answer.

1. I was planned for God’s pleasure.

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Teaching your children about Jesus can be very overwhelming. Most of us don’t know where to start. How do we teach them? Will just reading the bible make a difference? How do we bring God into our lives all week long?  How do we prioritize with so many things going on? You will never have the perfect answer to all of your questions. It is not something I can give you.  You have to have a desire to do it.

Helping your kids to grow spiritually involves a whole lot more than just teaching your kids about God, It means living a God-centered life in front of them!  It means getting your family to church every week where they can be with God each Sunday and around great people who love your kids and will help to instill in them a biblical worldview. You have to have faith that God will take care of your family!  Will all your prayers get answered? God answers every prayer. I believe that Gods answers hundreds of our prayers each day. Keeping us happy and strong each day dealing all the hundreds of things we all do every day is a definite answer to prayer.  You cannot out dream GOD! He has a plan for all of us including your children.  So, let’s help them to know who he is and build that foundation in their lives while they are still young!

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Yesterday, we looked at the need to get your house organized and some keys to getting that done.  Today, let’s review a a few tips that may help you with practical everyday chores.

IN THE KITCHEN

• Dishes:  Color code your kids.  This has been the very best way to keep our kids organized.  We went to Dollar General and bought 3 sets of cups, bowls and plates – pink, orange, and green. Each child is assigned their own color.  So, when they leave a dish out, we know who it belongs to.  It makes setting the dinner table easy and fun and colorful to boot.   It also makes putting dishes away easy for kids.

• Dedicate one cabinet to each of your  kids:  This cabinet will include color coded dishes, water bottles, lunch boxes, one bucket of silver ware for easy access, one towel for each one to clean up their own mess, kids’ aprons, mixing bowels for helpful cook times, popcorn cups, and a basket full of snacks just for them. You can also put kids’ cook books in this cabinet along with a kid’s step stool if you have the space.  This keeps the kids out of all the other cabinets and gives them some independence in the kitchen.  This helps the kids feel like they belong and make clean up time so easy.

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As volunteers and children’s ministers, there is one thing that many of us have in common – we wish we had more time!  Oftentimes, we allow our ministry to impact the time we have at home.  Even when our ministry does require a lot of time, that is still no excuse for an unorganized home.  In today’s article I want to explore some simple tips for helping you organize your home.

As a Certified Family Manager, I sit down with so many families that need help with everyday stuff like balancing their homes.  This includes not only and organizing their lives but organizing their physical homes as well.  It can be so difficult to focus on your life when your home is in a state of chaos.  Tomorrow, we will look at a variety of practical tips for organizing your home room-by-room, but first let’s have a look at the key to any organizational effort.

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Oh if I only had a nickel for every time I heard this phrase as a child…

For a long time I believed that this was every parents mantra even when I first became a mom. I grew up thinking that it was more important to instruct on the right things to do. To say I was confused both as a child and early in my parenting journey is an understatement.

Yes the words are important, but the actions have to match. We, as parents, need to model the behavior that we are hoping to pass on to our kids. The fact is we will teach our children more by our actions than any words we could say. Most behavior, both good and bad, is caught not taught.

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Would you consider your home a pit stop or a rest area for your family? What I mean is – are you only coming home long enough to change clothes, eat, and sleep between activities or are you living life with your family in your home? If you answered yes to the first part of either question, then it is time to take a look at how busy your family’s life has become and make some changes.

Consider the following verse: (more…)

When my boys were very little, they loved taking walks and holding my hand. We would walk down a path chatting away about our days. As they got older, they would still hold my hand as we walked, but there would be brief moments when they would run ahead with me chasing after them. Today my two oldest hold my hand less frequently with rare moments that they grab hold of my hand. My youngest and I still hold hands as we walk together.  Today all three of them are secure in knowing that I am walking with them and my hand is always there for them to hold onto.

I was thinking today of how similar this is to walking with my heavenly Father. I cherish those times when I walk along the path holding His hand. I still have those moments where I let go and run ahead and He chases me to bring me back to the path. I too am secure in knowing He walks with me and His hand is always there for me to hold.

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Our children are our first disciples and I have to admit there have been times that I have failed my boys.

I spent months challenging them to read their Bibles and couldn’t understand why they weren’t doing it. I would use the example that “daddy and I read ours every day.”

The only problem with that was I did my reading early in the morning before they were awake and late at night once they were asleep. I wasn’t modeling the behavior where they could see it, so how could I expect them to follow my lead?

This realization caused my husband and I to make a few changes. We now make an effort to do some of our personal daily reading while the boys are around to witness it. We are making more of an effort to do family devotions with the boys.  Since approaching it differently, we are seeing them take the initiative to read on their own and participate in discussions more as a result.

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Making family time a priority is so important when you have a full time job and serve in children’s ministry. You have to be very intentional about making that time. I heard someone say once that they actually schedule family time on their calendar throughout the week and work everything else around that. You have to figure out what works best for you.

For me this means: (more…)