CELEBRATE your CHILDREN

Yesterday I was reflecting on all the Facebook posts I have been seeing from people I grew up with. Posts showcasing the many accomplishments of their children. I beamed with pride for them and felt so happy that they are raising great children. And then I began to wonder about the ones I haven't seen. Are they not on Facebook? Do they not like to post personal stories? Are their children not high flyers? And that last question stuck with me...how do the parents of the students who aren't coming first in class or in sports feel when they see the posts of their peers and their peers' children? Do they feel bad? Do they feel embarrassed? And I imagined that maybe there is at least a tinge of something opposite to a warm and fuzzy feeling. So I decided I want to encourage the parents of the children who are not first in anything.

Here's the thing, EVERYBODY is good at SOMETHING. Yet, because of how our educational system is set up, what your child is good at may not get a prize or an award. As the parent, a part of your job is to CELEBRATE what's good about your child, even if nobody else does. Is your child obedient, neat, honest, mannerly, energetic, affectionate, friendly, an avid reader? CELEBRATE that! Does your child finish what he/she starts? CELEBRATE that! Does your child love the Lord Jesus? CELEBRATE that!

As I continued in my thoughts, I remembered the funerals I have attended and the tributes I read and heard from the children and grand children of the deceased. The common thread in those tributes was the children talking about the way their mother or father believed in them, encouraged them, made them feel special no matter what. I have yet to hear anyone say that their parent bought them the latest toys or name brand clothes and put them in a mansion. It was the way they encouraged them to be the best person, the best at what they put their minds to, that stood out to them.

Therefore, I encourage you with this: If you are a parent of a school age child reading this right now, no matter your child's GPA, find at least ONE thing your child does well and CELEBRATE it. It doesn't have to be shared on social media, but make sure your child knows that you see his/her strength and you are excited and pleased about it. And also let your children know that you love them, just as they are. No matter the circumstances of their birth, or your current struggles, accept and love your children and let them know that with your words and actions.

In my line of work I have met students with great courage, team spirit, perseverance, strength in the face of adversity, outside the box thinking, dramatic ability, artistic intelligence, etc. I love to see students excel and I am proud of the high flyers. However, I am even prouder when I see the light bulb come on and a student fights his/her way from not meeting the mark to surpassing it. I love hearing teachers say, "wow, this student sure made a come around." We all want our children to do well. But let's keep in mind that "well" is relative. Everyone will not be a straight A student, everyone cannot finish first, but everyone can do their best. Encourage your children to do their best and then reward them when they do their best. [s/n: please STOP rewarding children for doing NOTHING. You're creating lazy individuals who feel entitled to get something for nothing.]

Parents, you can boost your child's self-esteem by affirming his/her strengths and helping to navigate the challenging areas. You've been blessed with a gift and how you treat that gift, makes a huge difference in your child's life and in our communities. Please, CELEBRATE your CHILDREN!

Purpose Promise Process

I wrote the article below yesterday for my church’s bulletin. I’ll give you the back story so you can see how God lines things up to fulfil purpose. On several occasions in the past I have looked at the weekly article in our bulletin and thought to myself, “I should write articles for the bulletin” but never followed up on it. Then on Monday, I volunteered to help out at the church because I am in transition and figured giving to God’s ministry is a great thing to do with my free time. It just so happened that my timing coincided with the Office Assistant’s vacation so I was able to fill her spot. Yesterday morning when I got to church the Lord placed a topic in my spirit that I figured would be my next blog post. However, I needed to complete some projects I was working on at the church so I didn’t have time to write the post. Well, a couple hours into the work day, my Pastor’s wife asked me to finalize the bulletin by finding an article to include. Then she said as an afterthought, “Or you can write an article if you wish.” I KNEW it was a God move and even though given what I was working on I felt I may not have time to write an article, I knew this was an opportunity being presented that could not be passed up. 

Of course I was able to write the article and finish everything I needed to finish by the end of the work day. And because God is so orderly, the topic He placed in my spirit earlier in the day tied into the scrpiture verse on the bulletin cover.

God hears ALL our prayers and knows ALL our desires. The desire to write an article for the church bulletin is at least two years old. God may seem late but He really isn’t. He takes His time to line things up so we know that it was ALL Him. This season is hard but it’s things like this that remind me that God is working on my behalf through each and every circumstance I face. Check out my very first church bulletin article below...

Purpose Promise Process

God has a purpose for all of His creation. Every animal, plant, and substance, has a God-determined purpose. It is the same with every man, woman, and child. We were created to glorify God in our relationship with Him and in our interaction with each other in the earth. We each have tasks and callings that God has purposed for us to fulfil during our lifetime. Regardless of family status, employment status, marital status, or church status, God had a purpose for you when He allowed you to be formed in your mother’s womb. Your presence here at such a time as this is not a mistake.

¹³ “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. ¹⁴ I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. ¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. ¹⁶ Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.” Psalm 139:13-16 (NKJV)

David says that God knew all his days before he was formed in his mother’s wombs and the same is true for all of us. Nothing that happens in our lives is a surprise to God. The ups and downs, twists and turns, triumphs and trials, are all orchestrated by our faithful Father to fulfil the plans He has for us. As Jeremiah told the people of Israel, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJV) This promise to the Israelites applies to all of God’s children, everyone who know Him as Saviour and Lord.

It is important to note that Jeremiah spoke this promise while the Israelites were still in captivity in Babylon. This shows that our circumstances should not cause us to lose sight of our purpose or lose hope in the promises of God. The process God takes us through is normally not easy. He prunes us (John 15:2) and takes us through the refiners fire (Malachi 3:3) to ensure that the good work He began in us is completed (Philippians 1:6).

When we face health issues, financial challenges, conflict on the job or at school, and relational discord, we should find comfort in knowing that every trial is divinely orchestrated to bring forth good fruit in our lives. God wants to develop our character, integrity, perseverance, and endurance. He wants to increase our faith, peace, and joy. When we go through challenges and see the hand of God move in our situations, we get to taste and see how good and faithful He is to protect, guide, and keep us in the midst of the storms of life.

Your purpose will be fulfilled as you go through the process required to mature and equip you to handle the manifestation of the promise. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28 (NKJV)

As we go through our process, we should always remember that in times of goodness and hardship, we are blessed. Blessings are promised to those who walk in the ways of the Lord. “Blessed is every one who fears the LORD, who walks in His ways.” Psalm 128:1 (NKJV) We should also remember that we may not be able to control the external forces that wage war for our soul, but we can control our internal responses to what is happening around us. Instead of worrying and being fearful and seeking to solve our problems on our own, we should seek the Lord earnestly and wait on Him to act on our behalf.

“As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. ² I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before him? ³ Day and night I have only tears for food, while my enemies continually taunt me, saying, “Where is this God of yours?” Psalm 42:1-3 (NLT) When fear and doubt creep up and the naysayers taunt us, let us conclude as the Psalmist concludes, “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God.” Psalm 42:11 (NKJV) Go courageously through your process as you walk in the promises of God and fulfil His purpose for your life.

Moses Motivation

When you live in a small community, there are certain things that alert you that you are not in the "big" city anymore. One such thing is that as you sit in church, it is very likely that the priest may, from the altar, call on you to come to the front to read the assigned Scripture passage. Well, that happened to me this morning and being the dutiful person I sometimes am, I obliged.

I had no idea what the Scripture was until I opened the bulletin and started reading. Then, I realized it was a LONG passage. I recently read on a Facebook friend's page that a teacher must love the sound of his/her own voice. I guess I am truly a teacher at heart because realizing I had to read a long passage was kinda thrilling. J However, as I read I got a thrill from the passage that went beyond the sound of my sing song voice. Half way through the passage I started to smile and about two-thirds through, I wanted to jump and shout! Instead, I outwardly restrained myself and just did somersaults in my spirit.

 
The Scripture passage I read was Exodus 1:8-2:10 and Moses is the main character. We all know the story of Moses. He's the guy from the Bible, the one who led the Israelites out of Egypt. But it wasn't that part of his life that inspired me this morning. This particular passage talks about the time during which Moses was born and his becoming a member of Pharaoh's family. The same Pharaoh who was scared because there were so many Israelites and he felt that the best way to limit their growth was to kill off all male babies.

[s/n: I think there is a similar spiritual attack on males today and that is why we are currently experiencing this 'shortage' of male leaders in every arena. But that is another post for another day]

Back to Moses...So, we know how Moses' story ends - he led the Israelites out of Egypt despite Pharaoh's resistance. But when we read the beginning of Exodus, we realize that at the beginning of Moses' story, there was a death sentence on his life. In fact, Moses' life was in jeopardy before he was conceived in his mother's womb. However, we also know through God's Word that the plans God has for us are also in place BEFORE we are formed in our mother's womb. What does that mean? BEFORE Pharaoh's death sentence, God had a plan to liberate His people and that plan involved Moses' parents conceiving a little boy who would not be killed, but would LIVE to carry out God's plans.

                                       

This was so exciting to me because it reminded me that all the seemingly random things that occur in my life have a purpose. I don't have the privilege of seeing my life from the end to the beginning, but God does. God has already established the plans for my life and even though I have many questions like "when" and "why" and "how" and "what the..." even now when I look back over my life, I already see purpose being fulfilled. I am sure Moses' mother had no idea what her little boy was to become when she decided that she must, at all cost, protect him from the men assigned to kill him. Likewise, Pharaoh's daughter had no clue that she was saving the future liberator of the Israelites. Moses did not even know that he was being groomed for this position. But God knew!
 
This passage has motivated and reminded me that as I go through this transition period and wrestle with my unanswered questions, it may seem like nothing is happening, but there is MUCH going on. Each day is a day of purpose. Every encounter with another human being, in person or via cyberspace, is an opportunity to give and receive knowledge, wisdom, inspiration, encouragement, or motivation. Life is not about the destination, but about making the most of every step of the journey.