Focus on the Family

I said I was going to address praying for our children this week. I think God purposely ment for Jami to buy me that book because as this week has gone on I have felt more & more the need to address our children. Remember as I say this I am not parenting pro, I make mistakes all the time, I just hope something I say can be used as encouragement for parents.  In the Bible there is many verses on children. This tells me that Jesus valued children. If we are Christians then we should value them too. As a parent, we should be praying for our children. My prayers in the past have been kind of generic... Lord let the boys have a good day at school or let them do well on a test. Again, I have been praying wrong but again God showed me the way. I finished " The Praying Parent" portion of the book last week and began praying for specific items. I never thought to pray specifically for Godly adults or friends to be in my boys lives & if there is those who are not Christian ask God to remove them until their hearts are changed, I never thought to pray for God's purpose in their lives, the urge to resist evil, success at school, to develop a heart for God, a right attitude, sexual temptation and their future spouse with a successful marriage. I know you are thinking I am crazy but why not pray for their future spouse. I want them to find the right woman the 1st time not the 3rd or 4th marriage on down the road. Outside of God, isn't the spouse the most important person in an adults life? So I began praying specifically for these things & I have seen change happening. I really believe being a praying parent is going to help my children with their futures. We say we love our children & we want to give them the best of everything but are we doing that? If God is not the head of your house, if God is not the head of your marriage then your children are getting short changed. Lead by example. Show them what a family looks like with God in control of ever aspect, marriage, finances, child rearing, problem solving.  So what example are you setting? I saw this somewhere over the week so I am borrowing it...  You make places in your schedule every week for sports, music, dance, gymnastics,gym so why should church be any different. What about praying? There is time in the schedule for putting on makeup every morning, coffee, maybe some news or Facebook ( my struggle) but what about time to pray? Maybe it needs to be scheduled in. I don't want any of this to come across like I am the perfect parent, the perfect wife, the perfect anything because God knows I am not & bless my family but they know I am not. I fail many times a day. I just want to give us something to think about. I love my church children & I want them to have the best home lives, the best relationships with Godly parents, the best Christian friends and role models. I want them to have the best chance at a Christian life and I want them to have people in their lives that lead by setting the right example. Are we doing that? 

Big City Studio this Wed. Night. Don't forget if you or your child is going on the Spring Break trip nonrefundable $10.00 dep is due by Sunday. Thanks for all who supported our lunch yesterday. Thank you to all the ladies who got everything ready in the kitchen while I was in Sunday school. Yall did a great job!I also wanted to think some youth parents who offered to cook something to help us out, Shay, Amy & Wendy. That was very generous of y'all! Have a great week & start praying for your spouse & children today. You'll see the difference because God is faithful!