Sharing: It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Emma has just had a birthday, and for her own birthday she bought a budgie for her sister! Last year she was given a tame budgie and then when our dog killed it the same sweet girl gave her another budgie! So it was a natural reaction to want to bless her sister as she had been blessed! I was really touched by her generosity, as she does not have a lot of money, she used her money that was given to her for Christmas!

My little boys are a bit more complicated, today they were having races up and down a ladder that was lying flat on the ground - they were sooooo cute as they were taking turn to come first. Only they lost track of whose turn it was to come first and there was a bit of a melt down and a squabble! It was a nice start at any rate and a good opportunity to talk about attitude etc!

My two middle boys and my middle girl gave generously today, without me even asking! I was sorting out the garage - a massive job that has not been completed since we moved here 3 years ago in a hurry after we had flooded. When I got inside after dark the kitchen cupboards had been beautifully tidied, dishes were done (minus a dishwasher, which is broken!), the floor mopped, dinner cooked, lawns mowed, washing done. Then tonight while I was putting little ones to bed the washing was hung out (3 or 4 loads!) and piles ( at least 3 or 4 loads) were folded  and packed away and dinner dishes done too (minus a dishwasher!) How impressive indeed!

I can't leave out my big kids who came home from Toowoomba fireworks with the most gorgeous horsie T-shirts for their little sister's birthday and candy floss too! How thoughtful and sweet! 

Oh how immensely blessed it is to train up these young ones and see them grow! Children are indeed a blessing and heritage!

Indelible impressions!

From Grace Gems again...

(William Bacon Stevens, "Parental Responsibility")

We aid and abet the spiritual death of our children, by our irreligious example--both in doing that which is positively wrong, and in neglecting to do what is as positively required. As young as our child is--it has learned to join together precept and practice. And if we are professors of religion, our child has put along side of this profession--our daily walk and conversation, and is perpetually drawing inferences from the one to the other, either for, or against, the truth which we profess.

Uncurbed tempers, ill-governed passions;
unbridled tongues, uncharitable words;
lack of meekness, and gentleness, and truth;
lack of sobriety of mind, and kindliness of heart;
the absence of that strict conscientiousness which should mark all our actions;
neglect of the Bible and of prayer;
disregard of the means of grace;
irrepressible worldliness, in ever dwelling upon "What shall we eat, and what shall we drink, and with what shall we be clothed?"
--are leaving indelible impressions upon the minds of our offspring! So that, copying our habits of thought, speech, and action--our child's character in its essential characteristics, may be formed for eternity; before its mind is able to receive the precepts which perhaps we occasionally teach.

How happy I am...

My children bless me everyday; each and every one of them is a delight and a joy. Each and every one of them was an answer to prayer, as I asked the Lord for them...God gave; each and every one is a blessing from God. How I thank my God for them!

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD:
The fruit of the womb is a reward.
  Like arrows in the hand of a warrior;
so are children of one's youth.
Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them:
They shall not be ashamed,
but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.
Psalm 127:3-5

Some of my Olive Shoots...

Psalm 127

Unless the Lord builds the house,

those who build it labor in vain.

Unless the Lord watches over the city,

the watchman stays awake in vain.

2 It is in vain that you rise up early

and go late to rest,

eating the bread of anxious toil;

for he gives to his beloved sleep.

3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,

the fruit of the womb a reward.

4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior

are the children of one's youth.

5 Blessed is the man

who fills his quiver with them!

He shall not be put to shame

when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

Psalm 128  

Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord,

who walks in his ways!

2 You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands;

you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.

3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine

within your house;

your children will be like olive shoots

around your table.

4 Behold, thus shall the man be blessed

who fears the Lord.

5 The Lord bless you from Zion!

May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem

all the days of your life!

6 May you see your children's children!

Peace be upon Israel!

 

Psalm 18:2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,

my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,

my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

Deteronomy6: 4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Divided: A brilliant free movie!

This brilliant movie is free 'till September 2011. Not to be missed - it is a powerful train of thought, in a world where our thinking is so wrong!

It addresses the whole issue of why children and youth fall away from Christianity in our age. It looks at both history and trends around the world but most of all looks at the Bible for answers. Are we taking our God given responsibility when it comes to our children?Do we let the children come to CHrist or do w shove them away?


Official Divided the Movie (HD Version) from NCFIC on Vimeo.



On a similar topic/theme, listen to this sermon by Voddie http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=5209234630

Holding

http://oneroofafrica.blogspot.com/2011/05/holding.html
http://oneroofafrica.blogspot.com/2011/04/poetry-friday-poetry-of-being-born.html

What do you do that is of value?

A hundred years from now, your great-grandchildren probably won't even know your name. No one will care about what awards you won or how much money you made. The only thing that will matter is what kind of children you left behind and their influence on subsequent generations! Jeff Foxworthy

Do you have an hour or two?

“Any child who can spend an hour or two a day, or more if he wants, with adults that he likes, who are interested in the world and like to talk about it, will on most days learn far more from their talk than he would learn in a week of school.”John Holt

 

Children, a blessing

Never underestimate the potential you have to touch a child's life! 

Yesterday I got a letter from a lovely young lady who is nearly 12 - I last saw her when she was 4. But as her Mom is one of my very best friends, we have stayed in touch over the years. I was very touched that she was so attached to me still after so many years. I have always loved this girl and her family and prayed for them, but never thought I was making any impact on her life. It totally blew me away that God could use the time we spent together all those years ago when she was so little, to instill in her how precious she is to me - and that she would remember this 8 years later!

What an awesome responsibility and joyfully rewarding love we have to give! What enormous potential we have as adults to touch children with God's love, to pray for them and be blessed by them as we enjoy them. Not only our own children, but our friends children and our children's friends and children in the community too. I hope that all the many children who have been a part of my life know that I still love them and pray for them! (even those who think I would scorn them for not walking with God as they have reached adulthood.)

Never hesitate to put all your love and effort into ever child God brings into your life. Truly it is worth every effort a millions times over, for the blessing those children will be to you.

Praying for our children

The other day a child did not want to do devotions with me for school and moaned about singing the same silly old hymns all the time. "Why don't you sing 890", he said, randomly pulling a number out of his head- here is the hymn 'he' had chosen... we sing it everyday now, it reflects my earnest daily prayers for my children!

Our children, Lord, in faith and prayer,
We now present to thee;
Let them Thy covenant mercies share,
And thy salvation see.

Such helpless babes thou didst embrace,
While dwelling here below;
To us and ours, O God of grace,
The same compassion show.

In early days their hearts secure
From worldly snares, we pray;
O let them to the end endure
In every righteous way.

Before them let their parents live
in godly faith and fear,
then Lord, to heaven their souls receive,
and bring their children there.

By Thoma Haweis 1733-1820

Louis Pasteur- on children

"When I approach a child he inspires in me two sentiments... tenderness for what he is and respect for what he may become. "