As many of you know I am a coffee drinker. I love waking up to a cup of coffee in the morning. Adam and I love going to coffee shops and playing cards or reading when we have an afternoon or evening free. Every Saturday morning I meet with our high school girls at a coffee shop and we share life together. This past Saturday morning while I was spending time with the girls I looked over and saw a precious sight. A couple of tables over there was a dad and his daughter who looked like she was 3 or 4. They were sitting at a small table spending some time together drinking coffee and hot chocolate. The dad looked like he was working while his daughter was coloring a picture. Every once in a while I would notice the dad look up at his daughter, praise her for her beautiful picture, and then go back to what he was doing. Every time the daughter was praised by her father she just beamed with joy. She was completely content to be there with her father. I was so caught up by this sight that I took a picture on my phone of those moments (if you want to see it come ask me and I will show you) - it really touched my heart.

There are so many spiritual lines you can draw from a seeing something like that. But I want take a different perspective on it. As a parent, you have this amazing influence on your child by your actions and words. Take advantage of the time that you have with your child, and the words that you say to your child. You have this amazing opportunity to speak Truth into your child daily. Lean into your child this week - show them how much you love them.

Parent Time

This past Sunday we were teaching our kids about Dorcas. Through this story we wanted them to recognize that they have talents and abilities that can be used to help others. This week I encourage you to talk with your child about what they are good at and what they like to do. Figure out together how they can use that to make a difference in someone's life.

All month we have been teaching our kids that they were made for a purpose and with that purpose they can make a difference. Take time to speak encouragement into your child's life each morning before the day begins.

Family Value #5

Widen the Circle
"Hear, O Israel..." - Deuteronomy 6:4

In this passage (Deut. 6:4-9) Moses starts the entire thing off with addressing all of Israel. Then he goes into raising up this next generation. He was talking to every parent and every leader. It is so important that we allow other adults to work in our kids lives as well. Adults who are saying the same thing that you, as parents, are trying to say to your kids. To widen the circle of influence in your kids lives.

If we are really honest we know that our kids will seek out another adult's validation on their own OR as a parent you can be a part of that process and we can pursue strategic relationships for them. Relationships that we know are healthy for them with adults that can be mentors for them.

When you are widening the circle for your kids, the goal is to have other trusted adults in the lives of your children before they need them so they will be there when they do need them. Moses was passionate about passing these values along to the entire community because he knew that it would take multiple influences to guard the faith of a generation.

Energy

As a staff we are reading Think Orange by Reggie Joiner. It has created some really great discussions about the family, the church and how we can combine our influences to make a greater impact on the next generation.

Today a question came up about families that we were unable to answer, I am hoping that you can help us out.

As a family, where do you get your energy from?

Parent Time

This entire month the kids are learning about the virtue: Individuality - discovering who you are meant to be so you can make a difference. The theme is "body building" - helping the kids discover their part of the "body" so that they can make a difference.

This past week we talked about the heart and how important it is to have a healthy heart. Just like it is important to have a physically healthy heart, it is also important to have a spiritually healthy heart. We tied that into the story about Epaphroditus from Philippians 2:25-30. Epaphroditus was a messenger, a brother, a worker, and a soldier. It was about how he knew how to have a spiritually healthy heart through serving with Paul.

During one of your rhythms this week (Bedtime, Drivetime, Morningtime or Mealtime) talk with your kids about what makes people physically healthy. Then talk with your kids about what makes people spiritually healthy.

Let me know some of the ideas that you and your kids came up with.

Family Value #4

Create A Rhythm
"Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."
~ Deuteronomy 6:7-9

Moses is explaining to his people that these commandments, God's Truth, needs to be everywhere we go. We need to talk about it with our children during the natural rhythms of our day - morning time (when you get up), meal time (when you sit at home), bed time (when you lie down), and drive time (when you walk along the road). Moses recognized the importance of not compartmentalizing the faith - to make sure that the next generation knows that this thing called faith is something that is lived out every day.

What I absolutely love about these rhythms is that they are a part of what we do every day. If you can choose just one of these times that you have with your kids and talk with them about what they learned on Sunday, pray with them, or ask your child where they saw God that day - that would be awesome. Use the Fridge Door cards and God Time cards that the kids bring home for KidZone to help begin some of these conversations.

When you spend intentional and consistent time with your family your relationships will be healthier and your children will have opportunities to talk with you about things that are going on in their lives. Your family already has a daily pattern of how you do things. Find the beat of your family and you will see over time that those moments with your children are opportunities to celebrate God's story.

Parent Time

This past Sunday the kids learned about Onesimus (Philemon 1:1,8-21). This was one character in the Bible that I did not know that much about. Basically, Paul is writing a letter to Philemon about Onesimus and how Onesimus has changed because he became a believer in Christ. The bottom line for the week is: When you belong to God, you can make a difference. When we turn our lives over to God, He makes a difference in us and in turn we can make a difference in others.

Some time this week within the natural rhythm of your family (meal time, drive time, morning time or bed time) take some time with your child(ren) to write out some characteristics of God. Pick one that stands out to you and write it on a piece of paper. Decorate it together and focus on that characteristic of God all week. Find ways to allow God to use that characteristic in you and your children this week. If you see your child displaying that characteristic point it out them. They will be able to see how God is being displayed through them.

October

Individuality - Discovering who you are meant to be so you can make a difference.

This month your children will be learning about the virtue Individuality. These are the 3 main ideas that we will be going over during our KidZone hour:

1)God is one-of-a-kind Himself. There is no one like Him.
2)He wants us to be who He made us to be, making a difference in our individual ways. As we follow Him, He'll make an even greater difference through us.
3)When we use what we have now instead of waiting around to be stronger, smarter, or more talented, there's no end to the difference God can make through us.

Rainy Days

Have you every tried making anything completely from scratch and was not sure how it would turn out? I am not a "make from scratch" type of person. In fact, in my house my husband is the one who does most of the cooking :). I never really had an interest in cooking, especially something from scratch.

There is something about rainy days that I absolutely love. It is like they give you permission to stay inside and do something fun. They have a way of making a cup of tea and a good book so relaxing. Or finding that puzzle you have in the depths of your closet and deciding to put it together. Yesterday it was raining all day, we had the day off and nothing really huge planned for the afternoon. We decided to experiment by making apple sauce. It may seem like a simple thing to you - but coming from someone who can not even make Jello - it was a big endeavor for me.

We cut up the apples, put them in our crock pot, added some cinnamon and we let it cook for the entire day. When we came home last night we had homemade apple sauce :).

Rainy days... they have this way of making me try something new. What about you? What is something that you and your family like to do on rainy days?