Teaching Identity & Purpose from the Start

I had quite the funny experience with my three-year-old yesterday and I thought surely there is a blog for this moment. This morning when I woke up, I asked Holy Spirit what the title of the article should be, and I immediately heard, “what goes in must come out!” I burst into laughter thinking “very funny Jesus,” as the experience that I am about to share with you has to do with potty training. With 18-month-old twins and a baby on the way, I have been quite determined to make sure our oldest, Judah—who just turned 3—is fully potty trained before our little princess gets here. (Because let’s be honest FOUR children in diapers at once is A LOT!!!) Judah has done a great job in his learning process and has really been receptive to the reward system that we have used as a motivator. However, we have been facing the hurdle of getting him to go “big potty” (number two) on the toilet.

On August 1st, 2017 my husband and I miscarried and experienced the most unexplainable and painful hurt of losing a child. Going to the doctor for our confirmation appointment and never getting to see and hear a heartbeat was incomprehensible, especially after two healthy pregnancies.

After each meal as I take the twins down from their high chairs I find lots of food that missed their mouths and is hidden down in their seats or thrown on the floor. To clean up, I brush out all the food onto the floor and grab the broom to sweep it up. It NEVERS FAILS; the twins rush in to eat the food out of the dirt pile… For a while there, each time I’d get frustrated and say to them “DON’T EAT FROM THE DIRT PILE…

In a perfect world, my day would start with me rising before my husband to prepare for him a hot breakfast to have before work, us sitting down for a morning devotion, kissing him goodbye and then enjoying quiet time with the Father before the children wake up. NEWSFLASH!!! My mornings are more like this…

In our children’s ministry, it’s not uncommon to find ourselves praying for a sports injury or a brother or sister who’s home sick with a tummy ache. We teach our kids that God heals and they believe it because they’ve seen or experienced healing in their own lives and families.

Every good parent or caregiver wants to raise their children to be honest, mature, and caring. This post will help you to teach your children the power of building trust and empower them to be the most trustworthy, powerful, and responsible choice makers that they can be.

Have you ever watched your kids in amazement at their desire to find joy in any situation? It doesn’t matter if it’s a visit to the doctor’s office, a trip to the furniture store, waiting in an extremely long line, or sitting through a lesson on adjectives—our kids can find a way to find joy in the moment.

What do you do when you see someone you love, or even your child, go through something that seems to affect their very vision of themselves, and life? What do you say? What if it continues and there seems to be no end in sight?

Every parent understands the kids’ bedtime extravaganza. Night after night, what you think has the potential to be a brief bedtime routine, quickly turns into… an extravaganza. Somehow the energy levels, excitement, questions, special bed-time requests, water needs, trips to the bathroom, and conversations all come to a peak at bedtime.

Easter is quickly approaching this week, where we prepare our hearts for remembering Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins, as well as His resurrection that assures our hope in Him. As we rejoice in that hope, we also rejoice that we get to be a part of the celebration, and remember that His Good News is for all that would receive Him.