Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Good morning. This time next week most of our children will have survived one day of school or for those of us with Kindergardeners at least met their teacher and saw their classroom. This school year I have 2 Freshman and a Kindergardener. I try to look forward to each step of my kids lives so I am excited about the twins starting high school. I look forward to hearing about their classes, teachers and what friends are in each class. My boys are older so they'll be driving soon too. That opens up possibilities like part time jobs. I will not turn around good and it will be time for college. Some of you will be dealing with college next week, your young men and women moving away from home or driving over to Harvard on the Hill or maybe they chose to work a job. All of theses changes all require a foundation. Jack needs to know a few things to be successful in Kindergarden, the twins need the foundations they have learned from class to class, year after year to do well in their high school classes, they need to have some driving foundation to go take and hopefully, pass the driving test. If your child is going to college then everything they have learned thru 12th grade is their foundation to continue their education. Their Christian life is no different. They need a foundation of Jesus! Where do they get this foundation? Education comes from different places and involves the teacher instruction during the day and the parents help with homework at night. The Christian foundation includes Sunday school teachers but also homework. I want to stress the importance of Sunday school. This is where your child learns the Bible stories such God's commandments, miracles, Jesus's life, His teachings, His death and resurrection. Then the homework is where you follow up at home. You read those stories to your child, let them see you read your Bible, take life events and show your child how our faith fits in. Let your child see you pray and you pray with them. A foundation will not be strong if you are leaving your child's Christian education up to just the occasional Sunday children's church and Wednesday night. They need more. They need to know that every step in their lives Jesus is with them. So as a parent where do you start to strengthen that foundation. I suggest prayer. Pray to God and ask him to show you what your child needs and to
show you where you can improve your walk with Jesus. If you are half attending church, make a
commitment that you'll start Sunday school as a family. There is a class for every age group at
WBBC and if you aren't sure what type class would work best for you it is ok to try a class and then
try another one. Once church is out, ask your child what they learned, then talk about it. If they can't
remember then ask me. If you only attend Sunday services, come on Wednesdays. Years ago I didn't like to go to church on Wednesday nights. Who had time for it. I worked in Birmingham, had to go to bed early to get up early, had babies and I had things I needed to get done at home for the next day.  It took a few Wednesday night services for me to see I needed Jesus to get me thru the week. Give Wednesday nights a chance. There is something for all ages on Wednesday night. I feel like one of the most important things I can do with my kids and for my kids is to pray. I have said this year after year. Since the twins have been small, when we get in the car to go to school, we pray. Normally, the morning has been tough, nobody wants to get up, they don't want to eat, one child is taking too long in the bathroom and the other doesn't have enough time, someone can't find their homework..Yada, yada, yada. You know the craziness I speak of. So for us, when we get in the car, we take a minute
and pray. We are all calm and the kids are in a better frame of mind and attitude when they get out of
the car. Now this year will be different since I'll not be driving the twins so I guess we will take a
minute to pray before they walk out of the door. Lastly, I personally think life lessons helps build your child's foundation. I feel like I am very open with my kids and if something is wrong I don't shelter them from it. I rather them see me crying over missing my mother and explain yes I am sad but this is how God has gotten me thru these times than for them too think everything is always great.  I know this is a lot of stuff but many of you have kids embarking on new adventures, many of you know without a doubt you raised your kids up with a strong foundation of knowing Jesus and how He applies to our daily lives but some of you might be thinking that foundation needs some more
concrete. Do all you can to make sure your child has the foundation they need for this life. Off my soap box! I'll be in prayer for you and your child.

I wanted to also go over tomorrow night. The kids moving to middle school are about to promote up
from the children's dept to the youth. Tomorrow night I'll be taking those kids to eat at Zaxby's. We
will leave the church at 5:45 and be back by 7:00/7:15. They will not need any money. Teresa Coley will be leading the other children upstairs in the Kidz Zone from 6-7. Now that school is starting back we will be back to regular Wednesday night lessons in the Kidz Zone.

Take a moment today and pray for teachers and staff as most went back to school today. Please remember Mary Pruett's husband Larry and Mrs. Sansom in your prayers. Pray for the students going back to school and for the families sending children off to college.  Matthew 7:24-27Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on a solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against the house, it won't collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn't obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains come and the winds beat against that  house, it will collapse with a mighty crash. Be in prayer about your child's foundation. Have a great week!