Praying To Have a Servant's Heart

By Jason, M.Ed., M.A.R., Headmaster

Loving Others in a Age of Self-Indulgence

"...not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers,
but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,
rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man." (Ephesians 6:6-7)

Sometimes I get frustrated with how much my children complain.  At times, it seems like no matter what we are doing or have done, they will find some problem or shortcoming and will launch into complaining and whining.  Then, this morning, I woke up, healthy and surrounded by my family, and I got out of bed, irritated at my sore back and the fact that it was Monday morning.  I was blessed to wake up in a nice home, and I walked downstairs grumbling in my mind because the kitchen wasn't perfectly clean.  Where do my children get this self-pitying, self-indulgent whining?  I guess I don't have to go very far to find that answer.

The problem with self-pitying complaining is that it focuses all of our attention on ourselves and keeps us from looking at and serving the real needs of others.  It is pretty tough to love God and love others when my focus is so strongly pulled toward my own "problems."  Growing up in the 70's, I remember well the old children's television theme song- "The most important person in the whole wide world is you and you hardly even know you."

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Praying For Respect

By Jason (Connecting to Impact)

Respect carries many different meanings depending on who or what group you’re talking to. To one, it may mean that a child never addresses an adult by their first name, but rather with Mr., Mrs., or Ms.  To another, it may mean consistent eye contact. Another might see a weak handshake as a sign or disrespect.

See what I mean? There are lots of definitions, but when we are teaching our children respect, I think we can focus on honoring others above themselves.

"Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king." (1 Peter 2:17)

I’m sure we’ve all witnessed kids who disrespectfully mock their parents to their face. It’s tremendously wrong. And if it begins there at home, the disrespect will expand to other authority figures and even God.

Respect is that important. Thankfully, my wife and I decided long ago that we would have each other’s backs and if we saw anything that looked disrespectful we would call our kids on it.

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Praying For Self-Control

By Nick (My Experience As...)

Because I want to!!!

As the parent of young children I am very aware of what self-control, or rather a lack of self-control, is all about. My oldest son, currently six, is a prime example. He will get into trouble for doing something he knows he shouldn’t. Being a good parent I sit down and talk with him. After all discipline is rooted in teaching and teaching is rooted in communication. 

We will talk about what he did and how it was wrong.  He will understand the reasons for why he should take a toy from someone or whatever the offense was. He’ll understand how it feels if someone does that to him and even feel sympathy for how he made the other person feel. Then we will get to “why?” 

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Praying For Faithfulness

By Jason, M.Ed., M.A.R., Headmaster

Oh, to be Faithful!

Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you;
    bind them around your neck;
    write them on the tablet of your heart.
So you will find favor and good success
   in the sight of God and man. - Proverbs 3:3-4

How do you measure the greatness of a man?  Some are great athletes; others are great geniuses.  One man can hold an audience spellbound with his amazing oratory skills, while another has built a successful company from an idea on a napkin to a billion dollars in revenue. 

I talk to a lot of parents in my line of work, and I enjoy asking them what goals and aspirations they have for their children.  Sometimes I'll phrase the question like this: "What kind of an adult do you hope your child will grow up to be?"  I get many different answers of course.  The most common response is that most parents want their children to be happy and successful.  What parent doesn't, right? I certainly don't want my three children to grow up to be miserable failures.  But what do our children need to remember to keep in front of them if they want to be truly successful, successful as God defines it?

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Holy Spirit, Hear My Voice

By Pat

Holy Spirit, fill my soul.
Place me under your control.
Let me feel amazing grace,
Always seeking Jesus' face.
 
Holy Spirit, let me speak
Words of courage to the weak,
Showing love in all I say,
Blessing others every day.

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