Partners in Parenting

“Who Did It?”

• Mud on the kitchen floor someone tracked into the house
• The rug by the shower door is soaked from someone who got out without drying off
• The refrigerator door was left open all day by just a crack
• A basketball was left outside overnight
• The lights in the basement were left on
• My tools in the garage were used and not put away

Here’s a short list of things that might happen in any home as parents wonder “who did it” while raising their kids.  Parents, don’t want to jump to conclusions about who is guilty, but the older a child gets, the easier it is to know if he/she are the ones “who did it” without even having to ask.

Well, here is a question for your family to discuss, then seek the answer in scripture:  Who raised Jesus from the dead?  Was it Jesus himself?  Angels?  God?  The Holy Spirit?  Hmm.  Who actually did it?? 

Just like at home when you aren’t sure who did something, you have to do some investigating.  The place to investigate this is in the Bible.  The ONE and ONLY source of absolute truth that we have in the world today!

Family Discussion Points!

Let everyone in the family share who they think raised Jesus from the dead.  Let it be a discussion.  Ask why people think what they think.

Then, get out your Bible and look up Acts 2:32 and Acts 4:10 to find the answer!!

Partners in Parenting

“Sleep Deprivation!”

I had the opportunity to travel to Florida with my family over Spring Break this year.  We left after school on Friday and drove straight through until late afternoon on Saturday.  After our vacation, we left Florida at 10:30pm Friday and drove straight through until Saturday afternoon.  We had two trips.  Both involved driving for 18+ hours in a row with occasional stops for food and gasoline.  I had two very different experiences. 

On the drive down to Florida, I was fine until about 3:30am.  Jen drove until about 6:30am while I slept.  We stopped for breakfast, and I just never felt very good.  I thought I was “walking in a cloud” the whole time.  I drove a bit more, but I couldn’t make it.  I was just too tired to function behind the wheel.  Jen drove again.  Eventually, I had enough sleep and was able to drive the rest of the way.

On the drive back home, I only slept one hour while Jen drove.  I drove the rest of the way without any sleepiness or problems.

Why so different?????  Well, I really think that I began the trip to Florida tired from all the planning, packing, etc. to get ready to go on vacation.  On the way home, I was coming off six good days of rest and relaxation (I honestly don’t recall ever sleeping in so late in my entire life as on this vacation).  I was rested for the return trip.

Sleep deprivation is a serious problem.  It can do things to people…change them…conquer them…destroy them…magnify their weaknesses…break them down!  Yes, sleep deprivation is serious.  Consider the disciples in the garden who were Jesus’ closest disciples (Peter, James, and John).  They were chosen to support Jesus in his deepest hour of need for prayer, and they fell asleep.  He woke them up, but three times they fell asleep.  Jesus loved them, but their sleep deprivation conquered them.  “When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy.”  Matthew 26:43  I don’t think any of them WANTED to abandon Jesus, but they did.  Adequate sleep is good for people.  That’s probably why God used the 7^th day of creation to rest – to show us our need for it!

Family Discussion Points!

Talk about what happens to people in your family when they don’t get enough sleep (anyone get crabby??).

Besides sleep, have each person name another thing they don’t want to be deprived of having (TV, food, water, faith).  Why did you answer like you did?

Do you need to change your bedtime to be sure you are getting enough rest?  Do you need to find time to “rest” from the busyness of life to rest in the presence of God and His Word?

Partners in Parenting

“Identifying the Source!”

This morning, I woke up hearing two “chirps” that sounded distant and muffled, but I could clearly hear them.  I began to investigate the one that I was pretty sure I knew.  I let the dog out, stood in the doorway for five seconds, and, “Yep, I nailed that one! It is a robin waking up the neighborhood.”  It only sounded muffled because I was inside the house.

Now for the other sound…  It was a faint chirp that sounded like a smoke alarm battery going dead, or an appliance alarm, or a cell phone going dead, or a malfunction of some kind of electrical item?????  It chirped about every 30 seconds.  I walked all over the house listening for the source of the chirp, but I couldn’t find it.  I stood by every smoke detector and listened, but the chirp would come from another location.  I just couldn’t nail down the exact location (and I’d been at it for over 10 minutes).  I had some papers to file down in the basement so I went down to the file cabinet.  There it was…but louder than before.  Hah, I was going to solve the mystery.  Well, I finally did.  It was the carbon monoxide detector that I keep in the furnace room.  The batteries were going dead, and that was my notification.  I finally identified the source, but it took quite some time.

This whole situation reminded me of how easy and hard it can be to identify sin.  I had no problem recognizing the chirp of a bird which was outside, but I had trouble recognizing the chirp of the alarm that was inside.  Kind of like how I can sometimes find the sin in others much more easily than I can find the sin in myself.  Seeing other people’s faults and sins is like identifying the robin this morning (easy), but seeing my own faults is like identifying the source of the chirp inside the house (difficult).  During Lent, we are to focus on our sinfulness, not others sinfulness, in expectation of the forgiveness that each of us freely receives each day.

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?”  Matthew 7:3

Family Discussion Points!

Whistle a song or make a sound, and play a game trying to identify the song or sound!

Why do we tend to see other people’s sin instead of our own?

Can each family member mention a sin they struggle with?  (not obeying right away, talking too much, not showing love and care for others, dishonesty, etc.) --- that’s HARD!