Partners in Parenting

“I think God is a Planner!”

I am not the world’s greatest planner.  My calendar is planned out for 3 years on many things, but when it comes to organizing every detail of planning an event – I’m NOT the guy to do that.  I remember having a cookout years ago with the whole church and school staff at my house.  We were having hot dogs, hamburgers, and a dish to pass from everyone there.  I led the prayer before we ate, and God spoke to me during that prayer.  God spoke so clearly, it was amazing!  Here is what He said (remember, He said this as I was leading a prayer with about 60 people in my back yard):

God said, “Hey, Julian!  You forgot to get buns.”

I kept praying, but the reality was maybe that I was stalling to say amen and admit to forgetting buns.  I had all the ketchup, mustard, onions, relish, tomatoes, etc. for hot dogs and hamburgers, but no buns.  After praying, I admitted my mistake and everyone laughed (except my wife).  She felt bad for me.  She is a great planner of this stuff.  I am not.

As I look at creation, it is easy for me to see that God was planning way ahead of anything we could even imagine.  Look at the trees changing colors.  Consider the human body and everything we are just now discovering about his creation.  Think about salvation through Jesus who lived on the earth 2,000 years ago.  God is a planner, and this week, I came across something that really had meaning about the kind of planning He is still doing.  He is planning to provide us with opportunities to do good things for others as we live our lives.  Ephesians 2:10  “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Family Discussion Points!

Who is the BEST planner in your family?  Who loves to “fly by the seat of their pants?”

Where do you see people spend the most time planning for a certain event (party, wedding, graduation, etc.)?

Talk about what it means to plan for eternity with Jesus?  If you plan to have faith in Jesus your whole life, what gets high priority?

How does it feel to know God planned for you to do good works for other people?

Partners in Parenting

 “What Do You Notice?”

Last Thursday, we celebrated the Detroit Tigers beginning their playoff run.  Students and staff were allowed to wear jeans and Detroit Tigers shirts, hats, etc.  I do not have a Detroit Tigers shirt, so I decided to wear my orange shirt since that is one of the team colors.  Before long, I found Jacob Hardy wearing an orange shirt like mine (non-Tigers).

I said, “Nice shirt.”

He replied, “Thanks, you too!” 

And we started to laugh together.  So I decided to ask for a picture together because we both dressed in blue jeans, an orange shirt, and a Tigers hat.  We felt an incredible bond because we dressed exactly alike for Tigers Day!!!

I had someone take our picture on my phone.  Then, I showed Jacob the picture.  He started out smiling, then looked rather serious.  He turned to me with a “sarcastically sad” look on his face and said, “You should have worn darker jeans!”

Ha!  We laughed together before he bounded off to class.  But I did think about his comment a number of times during the day, and eventually, my thoughts landed on my family at home.  We are a group of 5 Petzolds who are very much alike, and yet, we are also slightly different in some ways, vastly different in other ways, and polar opposites in many other ways.  But every night, we all go to bed as a Petzold.  We are alike, but we are also different.  I think that is good most of the time, but noticing the differences and similarities helps us effectively “do life” together.  Just like in the church:  “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts: and though all its parts are many, they form one body.  So it is with Christ.”  I Corinthians 12:12

Family Discussion Points!

Talk about how your family is the same and how each person is different.

Who in your family makes weird noises when they get upset?  Where did they learn that from?  And does the rest of the family notice it?  Laugh a little bit with this one.  I know it happensJ

God made us all different.  That must be a great thing or He wouldn’t have done that!  Talk about why He would create people with different bodies, attitudes, passions, likes, dislikes, personalities, etc.

If you are really crazy, try to have everyone dress exactly alike and take a picture.  Then send it to me.  I’d love to see it!!!