No Birthday, Christmas or Easter for you Young Man!!!

On this day in 1952, in the Peanuts comic strip, Lucy first held a football for Charlie Brown. We all know how that story ends. Lucy tells Charlie Brown to trust her that she will hold the ball while he kicks it. Everytime he does and everytime she moves the ball. She never kept her promise.

There is severe foundational fallout when we break our word to our children. If you declare a consequence that you do not follow through on or make a promise you do not keep, you are laying the groundwork for them to have future disregard for God's promises and consequences. Consider how key believing in God's promises is to your peace and faith. How often do you not do something for fear of God's chastisement? Fear of consequences is what keeps our society civil. Without it there is a disregard for authority and a dismissal of personal responsibility for behavior.

We have to be careful that as parents we don't fall into the trap of making idle threats. In Numbers 30:2 we are warned that we must follow through with our words. Think before your speak out against a behavior. (Prov 29:20) Think about 2 things: Can I follow through with the consequence, and is the consequence proportional to the bad behavior. Natural logical consequences are also more educational than arbitrary ones. For instance, if incesant TV watching is preventing a child from getting their homework or chores done then logically no TV is the consequence, instead of no dessert for a week. Both could be productive, but one is more logically linked to the problem than the other.

The same holds true for making a promise. Don't promise something to appease your child in the moment that you are not prepared to follow through on. We mustn't train our children to disregard our words. This later becomes the foundation of distrust for God's promises and consequences.

Saying what we mean is basically teaching our children that what we say should be trustworthy. People should be able to count on our word. The first thought out of them should be, "If she said she will do it I can count on it." Modeling being an honorable person that keeps your word/promises is the first step to teaching your child that important value.

While going through the week, listen to your children as they interact with you and others. Look for opportunities to correct them if they are promising something they can't keep. While following through with any promise or consequence, be sure to remind them of the importance of being trustworthy, that they will always be able to count on you to do what you say and tell them the truth.

Brenda

It isn't what you think!

We held a Business meeting for the church last night and our chairman, Dan Charlin, did the devotion. He relayed a story about a bird trapped in our sanctuary for a week. Despite efforts to encourage him to leave, it wasn't until he was weak from thirst and hunger and couldn't fly that they were able to guide him to where he belonged.

He talked about how God can use those moments of weakness to bring us to a point where we can receive help. He mentioned how when the bird first flew in there he must of thought he had found the biggest and best bird house in the world. It was warm and safe and looked really cool, but there was a foundational need it wasn't filling. There was no food or water.

What a wonderful analogy that can be used with your children in many ways.
Children covet things all the time: toys, popularity, money, clothes, awards, accolades, etc. However, often the value placed on most things is far greater than actually having it.

In addition, Satan makes the wrong things look very appealing only to pursuade you into a trap that can take you away from being fed by Christians and God. What an even more amazing analogy is that it was a church. Satan uses the things of God to cloud the ugly truth of their origin. People in cults will preach out of the Bible, only to distort and change it, creating confusion.

Another great use of this analogy is how stubborn the bird was to receive the truth or help. He had to reach a broken point to accept help. How many parents allow their children to ride out the consequences of their choices? (Minus anything that can actually physically harm them.) It is our job to warn them if they are about to fly into a situation that is not going to work. However, if they stubbornly refuse to listen to you, allow God an opportunity to teach them and bring them to a more humble place. Swooping in and saving your children from consequences robs them of valuable learning time. This is one of the hardiest things we do. But I bet that bird never flies into that sanctuary again!

Meditate on this analogy. Ask God to reveal to you other valuable lessons to learn from it and share it back with us. Read Matthew 5:6 and contemplate a tie there. Object lessons are the best way for children to learn. Tying life lessons into things they see in everyday life helps the Holy Spirit recall information to them.

Feel free to share any insight or object lessons you have used that I can share with others. We are a village. Let's help each other raise Godly children. Email them to the address below my name or comment back on this blog.

Blessings

Brenda
bherrera@rhcc.net