A MOTHER WAS making pancakes for her two young sons, Kevin and Ryan. When the boys began to argue about who got the first pancake, Mom saw the chance for a moral lesson.
"If Jesus were sitting here, he would say, ‘Let my brother have the first pancake. I can wait.’"
So Kevin turned to his younger brother and said, "Ryan, you be Jesus."
Posted by Debi
With the emphasis this week on helping our children to memorize scripture, we thought it would be nice for you to hear from some of our Route 66 Club members. This is in no way an attempt to make you feel guilty if you were unable to join us this year (remember what we’re learning from Paul in the book of Galatians!), but it is to encourage you that God’s Word is our most precious gift. Instilling this in our children when they are young is something they will hold onto as they mature. What a blessed foundation!
Posted Debi for the Route 66 Club
"Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him! For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm." Psalm 33:8-9
"Grace is the good pleasure of God that inclines Him to bestow benefits upon the undeserving."
"If nothing in us can win thy love, nothing in the universe can prevent Thee from loving us." A.W. Tozer
Lord God, by the power of your spoken word you created the earth. Lord you have sustained it by your great power every day since then. Nothing is too hard for you. You are a mighty God, mighty to save. It’s amazing to me that you incline your ear and wait to be gracious to us. Lord thank you for this love that I do not understand. It’s too wonderful to behold. I pray that your attributes, your character would inform how I live my life. Lord, grace and love have been lavished on me. I pray that the overflow from my life would be of Christ’s love. I pray that my actions would be marked by the Spirit. I pray that you would continue to cleanse me of selfish motives, selfish ambition, and pride. Lord I need your grace and your help to say anything loving. Oh Lord please help me to treasure every single moment with my children. What a gift they are. I pray for strength in training them today. Lord let me not grow weary in doing good. I offer up my day, my priorities, and my desires to you and I pray that today I would bring glory to Your name. Amen
Posted by Taraleigh
Well, last week was a strange one for us. My husband ended up in the hospital for 4 days (not exactly how we expected to spend our week – or our 9th anniversary, for that matter). Boy was I exhausted! Being at the hospital all day coming home to sleep for a few hours, then back to the hospital early the next day proved to be quite hard on my pregnant body! Thankfully, my children were being cared for by my parents (two hours away). So I only had to focus on my sick hubby (and keeping myself from getting sick in the process). By the third day, I was completely worn out. I wanted so badly to be strong for my husband, yet I hardly had any strength.
I cried out to the Lord for help. Realizing that I am always this desperate for His help, yet I am not always aware of it. Through encouragement from others, I was reminded that His grace is sufficient. That phrase just echoed in my heart as I sat in the hospital and as I drove home late at night (trying to stay awake to drive!)
Here is the neat part, once I finally looked up that Scripture, I read the rest of it -
2 Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
What a wonderful reminder – His power is made perfect in our weakness! Let me tell you, I have been weak, but He has been strong and has given the strength that I needed to press on.
I think this is a verse that I will be committing to memory so I can apply it in those daily moments of weakness!
Posted by Stephanie
If you weren’t at our September Moms Meeting, make sure you see the post of the adorable little girl quoting the 23rd Psalm.
And if you’d like to participate in our "Scripture memorization with your kids" here are the guidelines:
What a fun way to begin (or continue) your child’s love for hiding God’s word in their heart!
Posted by Sheree
My children had plenty of grandparents to love, both nearby and at a distance, but God gave my children another special gift. Her name was Mrs. Schrum, and she lived next door to us for twelve years. She was there as each of my children were born and couldn’t wait to come over and hug them and admire the newest addition to our growing family.
My children loved walking over to her house to ring her doorbell because they knew that cookies and Sprite would be waiting for them. She would sit them on her bar stools and listen as they told her about what was happening in their little worlds. She didn’t drive, so each week she would go with my children and me to the grocery store. We would part ways once inside, but every time my children saw her round the corner they would smile and wave. Sometimes she would let one of them ride in her shopping cart in order to give me a much needed break.
She loved gardening, spring cleaning her house and hanging her sheets out on the line to dry. She would come over on summer afternoons and talk with me while my children played in their kiddie pool. Ours was a special friendship, and I miss those days of sharing the joys of motherhood with this godly woman. She lived her life simply and sacrificially, and my children found in her the love of an adopted grandmother.
So if your children are lacking a grandmother of their very own, maybe there’s one you can adopt. Who knows? She might just live next door!
Posted by Debi
Grandparents have always been important in my life. I have the privilege of having all 4 of my grandparents still living. Each set of grandparents has been married over 50 years and have served the Lord longer than that! Even though we don’t get to see them often, and they live over 900 miles away, my children have grown to LOVE their great-grandparents!
Often, my oldest will just say (out of the blue), "Mom, I miss Granddad and Grandma and Mamaw and Papaw!" I try to take that opportunity to just respond by allowing them to make a phone call on my cell phone (which the boys get excited about)! My Grandparents LOVE getting a mid-day call from the boys or a message on their machine. It has been a way to encourage that bond to continue to grow.
One of the neatest memories my boys have is going fishing with Granddad Gilland. My Granddad loves to fish! I grew up fishing in his lake and now my boys get to do the same thing! Granddad helped Caleb catch his first fish and refers to him as his "Fishin’ Buddy." That created a link that spanned the generations. We are planning a visit at Christmas-time and already my children are buzzing with excitement about seeing all the Great-Grandparents!
I hope that my children are able to learn from my grandparents and that they are encouraged by generations of family members that have loved and served God. What a treasure!
Posted by Stephanie
Neither of my parents are Christians. I have and continue to share the Gospel with them in numerous ways, pray for them and cry out to God for their souls. And God, in all His mercy and kindness has given me someone to share the burden with me for the salvation of my parents-my son.
Even before Matthew became a Christian, the Lord gave him a burden for the souls of his grandparents. He would pray for them and many times be brought to tears by thoughts of their eternal future. These thoughts continued during the years and would come up at random times. Yet the most amazing and provoking thing happened at the time of his conversion.
How can you describe the time when you pray with your child to receive Christ, what could be more of an honor and privilege? Well, we had just finished praying with him and suddenly he burst into tears. And I mean he was sobbing. When we could finally calm him enough to understand what was wrong, he began to explain. The realization of his salvation only made more real to him the truth about his grandparents. He just could not bear the thought of them going to hell, and he was willing to sacrifice his own salvation (not that it is possible) for the sake of theirs. Only God could do that in a child’s heart, only our Savior could give him such a vision and concern for the only thing which really matters.
I have long believed that the Lord was going to use my son to bring my parents to Him. That experience only confirmed that thought for me. Many times I doubt and wonder, but He continues to use the faith of a child to increase my faith. So, don’t be afraid to share with your children the true state of the souls of their grandparents. You never know how He is going to use that and what a tremendous blessing it will be for all.
Posted by Elyse
I arrived to the meeting eager to be with the church — AND to see Kayla. As I recognized the stroller coming around the corner my heart lept. Was she the most adorable little girl in the world? (Hmm…didn’t I think the same thing the Sunday before?) Before she was born I had no idea what being Granma would mean. I was unprepared for the way my heart would swell whenever I saw her. The longing I would have to hold her. The utter joy I would experience at even the thought of her coming over.
You see, my children had Nannie. My mom was the world’s best grandmother. She loved her grandchildren with sacrificial passion and visible adoration. To me she has been the model to follow. I wondered if I would ever be to my grandchildren what she was to hers. Surely not. You see, there was something very special about Nannie. No one could ever fill those shoes.
My kids’ faces lit up and their eyes sparkled at the mention of Nannie. To me, it was the "Nannie look." Before she moved in with us for her final years, whenever she would come over or we’d go to Uncle Jon’s house to visit her, they would hurry to be the first to greet her. Their faces would shine with love and joy. I cherished the look every time I saw it…and I saw it a lot.
Kayla — my first grandchild — changed Sunday mornings for me. Sunday has been my favorite day of the week since childhood. But now there was an added bonus. Each week I couldn’t wait to get to the meeting to see her…to hold her…to see what dress and hair barrette she was wearing. We always arrive to the meeting before our married kids so that morning I was there waiting as I had every Sunday morning for more than a year. Then I saw her. But I wasn’t prepared for what happened. She saw ME! Wait…and did I see "the look?" Her eyes were sparkling and when Mommy took her out of the stroller she started running toward me with outstretched arms as fast as her little barely-walking legs would let her. For some months prior I could tell I was becoming special. "She loves me back," I would think at times, but this was different. It was the look!
Even writing this brings tears to my eyes. I’m not Nannie. Those shoes remain too big to fill. But as I reached to grab and hug my beaming little granddaughter that morning I felt my heart would burst. Could she love me the way my children loved Nannie? Would she anticipate seeing and spending time with me the way they had with her? Would she wiggle and shiver and smile from ear to ear when Mommy tells her she’s going to Granma’s to spend the night?
Since then I’ve seen "the look" on more little faces. Now I have several little ones who catch my eye on Sunday morning and make their way to greet Granma. Recently Josh, my oldest son and father of two, told me he sees his JJ coming to love me the way he loved Nannie. Wow. So it’s not my imagination!!
Young moms, I know a secret. Some of my grandchildren greet me with such warmth because they were trained to. Perhaps your children are naturally warm and friendly and don’t need to be trained to greet their grandparents (or others). But some of them probably need consistent training and role playing from Mom and Dad. It doesn’t matter if they have to be trained or if warmly greeting others comes naturally. I love the greetings, even when I know they’ve been shown how and reminded to greet Granma. I respect my kids for doing such a great job training their children to greet me and others with warmth and respect.
Grandchild number 7 is on the way. People are joking about us having to eventually rent a public facility to celebrate Christmas together once all 7 of our children are married and are having children of their own. Oh, here come the tears again. That means, Lord willing, I’ll enjoy more and more of the look.
How can I thank you, Lord?
Posted by Sheree
Its is so funny that we are doing this series right now on grandparents.
When my husband and I were first married we were easily able to make the 600 mile trip to visit family. As the years went by and children were added to our family the visits became fewer. I am grateful that my In-laws take the time and sacrifice to still come and visit us. They have responsibilities where they live, but they are happy to lay aside for a visit for someones birthday or just because.
They actually made the trek down here this weekend. Already we have had a blast catching up and spending time together. They were only here about five minutes last night after driving 600 miles before they were sitting on the floor reading books and laughing and giggling. My mother-in-law even got up with a sick baby last night and cleaned up a messy crib over and over in the middle of the night.
I am very affected this morning by their sacrifice. Not only do they make the trip down here, but every moment is spent making memories and soaking in all the grandkid’s time they can. Passing on different stories, talking about how the Lord worked in their lives ~ even telling the kids, "I remember when your daddy learned that Bible verse for Sunday school." They could have sat back once their son was married and just benefited from the investment they made in him, but no ~ they are now investing into two generations.
I want to honor Pop and Sugar today, because really I feel like I am the one who benefits the most from the many years they poured into my husband and now continuing on by praying for and spending as much time as they can with our children. What a blessing to have wise, godly grandparents to give great advice, to pray for you, to love your children. I am truly grateful for the gift they both are.
Posted by Taraleigh
