My Most Potent Weapon Against Fear

Recently I was in church feeling all the feelings. If one more person said, "How are you handling this?" I was going to dissolve into a puddle of snot and tears.  My oldest graduated from High School that Saturday and all the love and attention I was getting was only making it worse.

I didn't even know why I was so upset.

But sitting there praying as the communion trays were passed I suddenly understood.

I was afraid. Afraid of time passing, of things changing, and losing the close relationship we've shared. I wanted to pretend it was all sadness, but in that moment of communion I knew the truth.  I was afraid.

It's not the first time (or the second) I've faced fear.  Or re-learned the hard lesson about trusting God with my unknowns.

Fear is my enemy.  Caution can be a wise friend but fear is a thief.  It steals today's happiness to be replaced with tomorrow's worries.  How can we fight this enemy?  What is my most potent weapon against that fear?

Swing over to Jerushaagen.com and find out!  I have a compete guest post there and I am excited to share with you how I fight fear!

Bearing With One Another

Devotional 8 focuses on bearing with one another.  This devotional, like the others, is timed for less than 10 minutes, but feel free to slow down if your kids are older or have a longer attention span.  Parents your notes are in italics.  Happy studying!

Bearing with one another

To Do:  Like last week if the children have fully memorized their work ask them if they'd like to share it with someone.  It could be a family member, aunt, uncle, grandparents.  You could use the phone or Skype.  Or locally a favorite grandparent figure at church, a Sunday School teacher or your minister might be someone they'd like to share with.  Don't forget to start this week's devotional by re-reading the verses Colossians 3:12-14.

Questions to Ask:

What does it mean to "bear with" someone?  Don't be surprised if they don't know!  "Bearing with" someone simply means to put up with someone, to be patient, to be tolerant with them.

If "Bearing with one another" means be patient, why does Paul tells us the same thing twice?  Answers might include: It's really hard.  It's really important.  And that they have slightly different meanings (one is the idea of being patient in general and the other is being patient with someone who is different, difficult or annoying).

Who do you have to work hard to bear with?  Help kids focus on behavior or people who are hard to deal with but not necessarily sinning against them.  

What do you do that others have to bear with? This is a great time to help kids see that they can be annoying to their parents or siblings!

Who did Jesus bear with? 

Think of a situation where someone was doing something annoying.  What did you do?  What could you have done? What would be "bearing with" them?  Answers might be something like: "I hate it when my brother hums, especially first thing in the morning.  He's such a morning person.  I think that's annoying.  Often I shout at him to shut up.  Instead I could ignore it.  Bearing with him would be to either make my feelings known in a nice way or just not worry about it!"

Insights: 

In a family there are innumerable ways that people can rub each other the wrong way without actually doing anything wrong.  Add kids into the mix and the ways double.  Humming, tapping, and chewing; leaving underwear on the floor,  leaving the butter out, leaving shoes in the doorway; the way the toothpaste is squeezed, the time to leave for church, the best way to do...anything!  

Have you ever considered the spiritual aspects of dealing with these simple but annoying issues? 

When God places us in a family, He is giving us the opportunity to grow.  To put others first.  To demonstrate patience.  To learn to love others.  In other words He is offering us the chance to be like Him.  Like a rock being tumbled in a stream, the small annoyances and little problems are knocking off our rough edges and allowing us to shine in humility for the Lord. 



Did you miss one? 


The "Why" Matters, Identity Matters, Compassion Matters, Kindness Matters, Humility Matters, Gentleness Matters, Patience Matters, Bearing with One Another Matters, Forgiveness Matters

SaveSave

Compassion Matters

Devotional 3 highlights a powerful aspect of the character of God: compassion.  This devotional, like the others, is timed for less than 10 minutes, but feel free to slow down if your kids are older or have a longer attention span.  Parents your notes are in italics.  Happy studying!

Compassion Matters 

To Do:

Read Colossians 3:1-4.  Say the verses aloud once or twice and see if anyone can recite the first or second verse on their own.  Then read Colossians 3:12-14.

Questions to Ask: 

*What is compassion? To be compassionate means that you are moved to help when you see someone who hurting because their pain/fear/sorrow makes you feel bad too.  Notice that compassion is more than a feeling.  In the New Testament Jesus’ compassion drives him to help. 

*Can you think of a time that Jesus was compassionate? The woman at the well (John 4), the woman caught in adultery (John 8: 1-11), feeding the 5,000 (Matthew 14:13-21) are all exanples.  If the kids think of a story but don’t know the details don’t hesitate to look it up and read it aloud! 

*When was someone compassionate to you? When were you compassionate to someone? For these questions be sure that you have an example to share and take the appropriate moment to praise anytime you have seen siblings be compassionate recently!

*Why is compassion hard? Although as adults our focus may be very wide, envisioning compassion as helping refugees from Syria or helping victims of a natural disaster, children are more likely to understand compassion as what is done for and with the other children close to them.  Accept any answer that is on topic and help them see that when we are busy, absorbed in a book or play, or have our own problems, it can be hard to think about how other people feel. 

Insights: 

As my oldest daughter began to mature, suddenly she was able to see the adults around her as people who might need compassion.  Before a certain age children see adults as aliens who are impossible to relate to; they struggle see how their words or actions impact the adults around them.  (Think about a child screaming “I hate you” and slamming the door.  A certain amount of immaturity and self-absorption is required not to see or care about his/her mother’s tears)  As we welcomed two extra members into our family for a few weeks, of course the number  of chores that needed done immediately increased.  Seeing my work load, my teen had compassion on me; without being asked she  pitched in at every opportunity to make things easier.  

This devotional may be a good time to let kids know that  adults sometimes forget what it is like to be small.  We should try to ‘walk a mile in their shoes’ and have compassion. Children also need to stretch their imaginations and try to think about things from an adult's perspective.  That's what compassion is all about. 

Did you miss one? 

The "Why" Matters, Identity Matters, Compassion Matters, Kindness Matters, Humility Matters, Gentleness Matters, Patience Matters, Bearing with One Another Matters, Forgiveness Matters

The "Why" Matters!

I hope you receive as much blessing from Paul's words in Colossians as my children and I did.  Each devotional is timed for less than 10 minutes, but feel free to slow down if your kids are older or have a longer attention span.  I left notes for the parents in italics.  Happy studying!



Why matters: 

To do: 

Read Colossians 3:1-4.  Say the first verse aloud a couple of times as a group to start working on the memorization.

Questions to ask: 

*What does it mean to be “raised up with Christ”? See Colossians 2:9-15.

*What are the things above?  My kids had great ideas here.  My little one imagined that Paul meant to think about the stars and the angels! 

*What are the things on the earth we aren’t supposed to be focusing on?  Does that mean its wrong to read a novel, play video games or other free time activities? This is a great place to identify something that distracts you from thinking about God and admit it to your kids!  Devotionals will be more productive if you respect your kids enough to be honest with them!

Insights: 

As we studied through this section, it struck me that the "why" matters.  We do all the things we are going to be studying about because we are “raised up.” 

I love the double entendre here.  Our baptism is a kind of death and resurrection in the likeness of Jesus (Colossians 2:9-15 and Romans 6). Also our humbled state as sinners in front of our holy God has been transformed. Now our status has been raised to beloved sons or daughters, pure and righteous.  Jesus has been exalted to Heaven, to the best place, God’s right hand.  That’s where we are headed.  That’s where our minds need to be focused!   

Did you miss one? 

The "Why" Matters, Identity Matters, Compassion Matters, Kindness Matters, Humility Matters, Gentleness Matters, Patience Matters, Bearing with One Another Matters, Forgiveness Matters

Summer Kid's Devotional Series

This summer began for us with the advent of two young guests.  They’ll stay a couple of weeks and then head off to their grandma’s.  I warned their dad before they arrived that they should be ready for morning devos!  

Morning devotionals are a summertime tradition at my house.  For my homeschooler, during the school year, Bible is an academic subject.  My public school teen and I talk about how to apply God’s principles to her school life all the time.  But when the rigors of school are over, when summer slows everything down, we take a few minutes everyday after breakfast and read the Bible together.  We memorize God’s Word and think His thoughts after Him.  

Hannah's Hundred: A Review

Last year my mom brought my daughter a CD from a ladies day she attended.  It was entitled "Hannah's Hundred Vol IV".  We opened it up and popped it in to the CD player on the car.

My 8 year old daughter (who the CD was for) loves it.  Her older sister thinks it is corny. I am on the fence, on the one hand, a little corny, on the other hand, kids under 10 rarely have discriminating musical tastes!  

Resources for your Reboot

How are your New Year’s resolutions going?  Did you give up on the gym yet? Start cheating on your new diet?  Violate January’s budget?  No?  Great!

I hope your rebooted plan to be a regular student of God’s Word is also going well.  If you missed the first part of this post, go read it real quick and then come enjoy the multitude of resources we gathered for you to help you get started!

9 Christian Strategies for Helping Kids Overcome Fear

The shadows on the wall as they try to sleep; hurricanes, earthquakes and shootings on the news; bullies at school; learning to read a bike and don't forget Halloween.  If you're a kid, life is scary.

I’ve seen all kinds of parenting posts about how to comfort kids and help them overcome their fears.   None of them were terrible.  Well, ok, I found the ones that suggested lying to your kids pretty horrifying.  But it seems to me that Christian parents have a whole different playbook for solving these kinds of problems. 

5 Ways to Combat Sinful Anxiety

There are two kinds of anxiety.  There’s the chemical imbalance kind; the kind that is medical, needs a doctor’s care and possibly some kind of medication.  I make no claims to know anything about that kind of anxiety, nor would I presume to tell someone who suffers from it what they should or should not do. The kind of anxiety I have is different.  It is the kind that worries about things I can’t change, fears failure, and dwells on “what ifs” that may never happen. This anxiety could be considered more or less serious, depending on how you look at it.  On the one hand, it is sin, and that makes it a grave problem. Jesus told us not to worry (Matthew 6:25-34), so when I do, I am disobeying him.  On the other hand, sin has a solution.  Not only has Jesus’s blood cleansed me, but the Bible has given me ways to deal with my irrational (and even rational) fears.  Here are some ways that we as women can handle our sinful anxieties before they become a snare to us.

7 Tips for Helping Kids Memorize Scripture

Back when we spent a month discussing spiritual disciplines on the blog, Helene had an excellent post about memorization.  At the time, I had not done very many memory verses with my children, partly because I just didn't think of it, and partly because I thought it would be too hard to do since they couldn't read yet. Well, as iron sharpens iron, Helene spurred me on to be more proactive in my childrens' Biblical education.  Do you know what I found out?  It isn't that hard.  Once again, I'm going to share tips for what worked for us, and I'd love for you to share with me what has worked for you!

Ch-ch-ch-changes

As much as I looked forward to summer vacation, we had a tough first week this year.  I realized quickly that loosy-goosey days were not going to work, so I established a schedule.  It was a hard transition. My school aged daughter was not used to doing so much housework.  My son was not used to having his sister home.  The toddler was not used to all the outside play.  

One thing I added to the schedule was a hefty amount (for them) of Bible time.   I decided that each week would have a memory verse, and we would talk about stories in the Bible related to the verse of the week. (Don't you love my fancy memory verse wall?)  Being the mean mom that I am, week number one was Ephesians 6:1. "Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right."  As the week went on, I knew I had chosen correctly.

Following Jesus: the Conclusion of the Matter

This week I was reading Mark and thinking about the many ways that we follow Jesus, the paths down which he leads us and the surprising twists and turns that path might take. Tripping along past his baptism  and temptation, I tumbled over this rather innocuous sentence: "As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, "Follow Me!" And he got up and followed Him." (Mark 2:14).

Jesus was not a Bible Basher

Middle school was a tough time for me.  In seventh grade, I had some friends who liked to pick on other kids, and I joined them.  Church camp the following summer was a pivotal time for me, as I realized that if I wanted to say I follow Jesus, I couldn't behave that way anymore.  Unfortunately, I let the pendulum swing too far, and my eighth grade year I was something of a self-righteous snot. 

Following Jesus in Recitation

I wonder when Jesus memorized all the scripture he knew?  When did you?