Our hands we fold, our heads we bow.
God is great. God is good.
Let us thank Him for our food.
By His hands we are fed.In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Part of a series of posts on prayers that children can pray (for devotions, bedtime, dinner, etc).
Our Hands We Fold // Dinner Prayer
Human Beings are Vitally Important in the Transmission of the Gospel
I grew up in church. My parents brought me to church every single Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Wednesday night. It was part of the culture of our family. It’s what we did.
So I was one of those kids that was in Sunday school class every single week. I heard almost every single Bible story. But do you know what? I only remember a handful of those “lessons” that were carefully and intentionally planned by my teachers each week. This might be discouraging to hear if you are a teacher and you work tirelessly each and every week to teach your students, but only a handful stand out to me.
But do you know what REALLY stands out to me when I look back on my Christian education at church? The people. My teachers. It was the relationships those teachers and leaders fostered with me that were not only memorable, but what actually shaped me.
It was the Gospel of Jesus Christ, lived out in these teachers, that impacted me the most.
Sure the lessons were helpful. I’m sure my knowledge of the Bible was furthered because of those carefully planned and intentionally executed lessons.
But it was the “lessons” lived out in the life of the teacher that made the difference.
Kids are smart, right? Smarter than we sometimes give them credit for. They know if you really believe what you are telling them. You see, I don’t remember all of my teachers in Sunday school at church, or the teachers at school for that matter.
I only remember those teachers whose lives looked like the lessons they taught from Scripture.
So you could say, not only was my knowledge of the Bible furthered, but my relationship with God was strengthened by my teacher’s example to me. I remember Mrs. Hodges in Kindergarten, Wendell Hodges in 3rd grade, Junior Garcia in 4th, Jim Hunt in Middle School, Mike Mobly in High School, Mark Jalovick, John McMurray, Steve Patty, and Professor David Needham in College. These people marked and shaped my life because they lived and displayed the Gospel to me.
Content is important, however content without a relationally appropriate vehicle (a gospeled/gospeling human being) to deliver it, is just black ink on a white page or the “Blah, blah” teacher in Charlie Brown.
source Hayward Wesleyan
Tips for Controlling a Bus Full of Teenagers
This past summer, I ended up as the lone adult on a bus full of teenagers headed to Bible Camp. I was sitting in the front seat of the bus turned around so I could “monitor” the activity. Sitting next to me was a girl who was going to be Junior in high school. After a couple of hours, my seatmate asked me a poignant and insightful question:
“How in the world do you control a bus full of teenagers all by yourself?”
I suppressed a giggle (so as not to offend her) and said:
“I have to be smarter than everyone.”
Funny. I was trying not to offend her by not laughing, but ended up doing so by calling them dumb (at least that’s what she heard). Now, that comment would have been appropriate for a middle school student asking the same question, and I’m used to answering that age of students on down to babies. However, this was a high school student. So I quickly apologized and reworded my answer:
“I have to be about 8 steps ahead of everyone.”
This time my response roused her curiosity instead of offending her. I told her that with children I only need to stay about 3-4 steps ahead of them (in anticipating what they might do and already have a response for it), while with teenagers I need about 8 steps because they are smarter and more resourceful than kids are. I told her in a situation like we were in on the bus, my list of what potential things a teen might do is rather limited because they are contained in an steel tube, traveling 65mph down the highway.
This reasoning made sense to her. She then began to observe how I interacted with the students as I moved through the bus from time to time to subtly diffuse any potential flare-ups. She noticed that the way I responded and interacted to things kept certain kinds of behavior at bay. We ended up creating a short list of tips for:
Controlling a Bus Full of Teenagers with a Lone Adult
- Act like you don’t hear them.
- Speak in a foreign language.
- Smile and nod.
- Make stuff up.
- Pretend like you care.
I broke my rules a little with this high school student in that I let her in on my tricks. Doing so could cause or enable her to “hack” my teenager management strategy. Little did she know that my interaction with her about how I do this stuff was managing her behavior as well.
She stared at me for about 10 seconds and then punched my shoulder when I revealed that to her right before we got off the bus for lunch!
Be The Church
source Creation Swap
Followers Promo Material for 2012-2013
These are our promotional materials for Followers (our after school program) this year (2012-2013):
We also consolidated our web properties into one site, so the Followers landing page and info is located at:
http://www.haywardwesleyan.org/followers
Free Wi-Fi | Friend or Foe?
source Orange Leaders
It’s Important to Tell Your Kids “NO”
“A mom at church recently asked me for parental advice. Specifically, she wanted to know how to make her young son stop a pattern of inappropriate behavior.
“I sipped my coffee as she described his actions, concentrating on how I might help her. Actually, I strained to understand the complexity of her situation, but none existed. So I asked a simple, but jarring, question: ‘Have you firmly told him “no” when he does that, and then showed him you mean business?’
“I nearly choked on my coffee at her response: ‘I don’t know; he’s pretty sensitive.'”
David Staal relates this story in his article Great Parenting Advice You’ll Never Admit to Reading.
He goes on to describe what a child might eventually look like who never gets told “No.” And it’s not a pretty picture.
“The words adults need to hear on this topic: kids will still like you even after you say no. If your relationship with a child hinges on avoiding that word, you have deeper issues that need to be addressed.”
It’s our job as parents (one we accepted when we took on the responsibility of having a child) is to raise them to obey. The key to that is telling them “yes” when appropriate and “no” when appropriate. It seems to many people, David Staal included, that parents are abdicating their role of disciplining and shaping their children to others. However, the “others” don’t have as much influence as parents do. It’s in the crucible of regular, routine life that shaping children occurs.
My kids are young, and the best thing my wife and I can do right now in raising our young children is to teach them to simply obey.
Why Are Christians So…
HT Jonathan Cliff
source YouTube
10 Things Teachers Wish Parents Knew
School is starting soon and this year will be our oldest child’s first experience in the public school: Kindergarten. I imagine students and teachers are mentally preparing themselves for 180 days worth of intentional instruction over the course of the next 9 months. My daughter has no idea what to expect, but she is really excited!
In the spirit of school starting and teachers teaching, I would like to share an insightful article written by an 18 year old student whose father is a teacher.
Top 10 Things Teachers Wish Parents Knew
- There are two types of students: 1) Those who are internally motivated, and 2) Those who are not. Adjust your parenting accordingly.
- It is human nature to lie. Thus, students lie.
- It’s not our job to parent. No. That’s your job.
- We have 100 plus students. You have maybe one or two.
- Your students actually do work hard.
- Enabling your child will only hurt them in the future.
- Your students will be more successful academically if they organize themselves in the classroom.
- Students need to know when to speak and when not to speak.
- We have lives just like you.
- We really are on your side.
source Radical Parenting
3 Ways to Help Your Child Through a Divorce
A fifteen year old, named Hailey, wrote an article called: Three Ways To Help Your Child Through a Divorce.
Hailey writes:
When I was ten years old I was faced with the fact that my parents, who had been together for over fifteen years, were getting a divorce. Since I was used to them arguing a lot and not getting along, I got through it much better than my brother and sister. I have a great relationship with my mom, as well, so it was easy to talk to her about how I was feeling. The following three steps are the most important five steps my mother has taken over the past five years through the divorce of my parents.
She goes on to explain the three steps:
- Explain
- Talk
- Listen
Click to read what Hailey says about these three helpful things.
Kids in the Family of God // GCD series
Gospel Centered Discipleship writes and produces some great content regarding discipleship and living out the Gospel.
They recently wrote a 3 part series called, Kids in the Family of God that’s a worthy read: