Sowing Seeds | Helping Your Children Find Their Way

SOWING SEEDS

Helping Your Children Find Their Way

In our quest for a healthy family, we can turn in lots of different directions. Social media, WebMD, blogs and articles offer advice at every turn as they constantly compete for our attention. We have moved from the “Information Generation” to the “Information Overload Generation”! Still we ask:

• How can we better engage our children in each phase of their lives?

• How can we steer them in the right direction?

• For that matter, what IS the right direction?

Our church staff wants to partner with you to find the answers to these questions.

Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the door frames of your houses on your gates.

– Deuteronomy 11:18-20

God wants us to saturate our homes and surround our children in His word. That will help send them in the right direction.

A Divine Direction

As a parent, you are called to “Train up a child in the way he should go.” (Proverbs 22:6) That “way” or direction is towards the Heavenly Father. Being your child’s primary faith trainer can be a bit daunting! How do we fulfill that calling?

Certainly, taking children to Sunday School and church events can help, but if we want them to truly move in the direction of the Divine Parent, we must remember “leading them” is much more effective

than “sending them”. If we want our children to head in God’s direction, we should be heading there ourselves. And we should do so consistently.

A Daily Direction

Did you know that there are only about 936 weeks from the day a child is born until the day he or she graduates high school? We have a very small window to get our job done! God wants his people to make Him a priority. To prioritize God means our daily lives reflect His instruction and His truth.

Our kids need to be instructed how to live like God desires in everyday ways - EVERY DAY. As parents, we intentionally seize those teachable moments, reminding ourselves that time is fleeting!

A Development-Focused Direction

Research tells us that children learn differently in different stages of development. Knowing how a child thinks and processes information helps us to get the message across in a clear way. And getting the message across clearly is vital to a child’s understanding and retention.

In his book Don’t Miss It, author Reggie Joiner defines particular time frames in the lives of children when parents can “leverage distinctive opportunities to influence their future.” Certainly, explaining the truths of God in ways a child “gets” provides the best results.

A Dedicated Direction

As a parent, your calling is to lead your child toward God. As a church staff, our calling is to help you fulfill your calling! We want to do all we can to equip and champion you to guide your child’s spiritual growth. We want to help you help your child as he or she transitions through various phases. We want to partner with you as you engage your child in conversations about following Jesus and what it means to live and love like He does.

As you dedicate yourself to lead your child to dedicate his or her life to Christ, we want you to know we are steadfast in walking beside you.

TWO STEPS FORWARD…

Parenting is challenging and often exhausting! That’s truer today than it ever has been. We want to thank you for taking the job seriously. Allow us to be able to help you lead your child in the right direction.

We suggest these two steps:

1. Contact your child’s ministry leader(s) identified below. Connect with them so they can help you connect with others who are investing in your child each one of those 936 weeks. They can give you resources, while you can give them greater insight into your child!

2. October 2, 2019 we will be hosting a event called Family Night. We will be unpacking a bit of Reggie Joiner’s findings in a way that will be helpful to you. No matter the age of your child, our Family Night will be a great opportunity to invest in your child and their future!

Every phase is crucial and what you do matters. Let’s celebrate together! Our children's time is time we can't afford to miss.