Gifts for the Kids
By A. Allan Martin
1,369
From the moment Alexa was born, my wife Deirdre has faithfully prayed for her every day of her life. That is no exaggeration. That's a total of one thousand, three hundred, sixty-nine weeks of prayers specifically over our daughter. I count it as the greatest gift Alexa could ever receive.
Author Reggie Joiner posits there are 936 weeks between birth and graduation and encourages us to not waste any of them, because time with our children is a gift.
Likely your family has returned to “Back-to-School” mode, and as you consider the greatest gift you might give your children this season, I want to encourage you to pray over your kids, including your adult children [maybe especially for your young adult children].
CAUGHT VERSUS TAUGHT
The vast majority of time spent during those 936 weeks is with you, dear pastor and pastor’s spouse. And no matter how important we know school and church, friends and playmates, teachers and pastors are, they pale in comparison to the influence of a parent/guardian over their child. Much of what your child will retain in personality, character, values, and virtues will come most directly from being with you and watching you. Although it may sound daunting, it is one of the greatest gifts you can give them.
So I would like to encourage you to decide today what value you will place on relationships. What role faith will play in your life. How you will cultivate your own and your family’s relationship with Jesus and His Church. Decide today what grace will look like in your home, how forgiveness will be experienced after disagreements, how justice and mercy will be expressed by you and those under your roof.
GIVE & TAKE
Finally, I would like to encourage you to help your family see the weekends as a time of "give and take."
Give: Plan, as a family, and intend to serve/give generously as volunteers through your Church. Cultivating a heart for service is not only Biblical, but it is also a character value that will serve your children well throughout their lives. During the week and on the weekends, make church a place where you can serve alongside each other in meaningful and self-sacrificing ways.
Take: Make time to offer worship to GOD together. Take intentional steps to cull out from the demands of the week, sacred spaces for your family to focus on Jesus and learn to worship together. Take the time, as a family, and make the effort to rest, rejuvenate, restore, and recalibrate in the presence of your Savior. Yes this includes engaging Sabbath worship together, but it also means not allowing the school-work-sports-music-birthday-party-tutoring-recital schedule to eclipse time with the One who makes it all possible. Take time with Jesus together.
Just some ideas:
Sabbath morning set aside time early to spend time in family prayer.
As a family, find a community service activity to do monthly or weekly.
Have at least one meal together, and take that time to share what each of you are grateful for.
Plan to participate in a worship service together, serving the congregation as a family.
Make a tradition of closing or opening the Sabbath together. Develop some family tradition that is meaningful to every member.
936
May this week be one in which you give your children, give your family, and give yourself some of the greatest gifts ever.
A. Allan Martin, PhD is the teaching pastor of Younger Generation Church [ygchurch.com], the vibrant young adult ministry of the Arlington Seventh-day Adventist Church in Arlington, Texas.
Here’s a prayer guide from Jodie Berndt, that's convenient and easy to use: OF PRAYER FOR YOUR CHILDREN | Jodie Berndt
