September 26, 2011

Partners in Parenting

Great Job Being Illogical!

Yesterday, I was reading Luke Chapter 5:1-11 where Jesus calls His first disciples - Simon (later named Peter by Jesus), James, and John.  Jesus asked Simon to do something very illogical.  Here's a quick recap of the account: 

Simon's been fishing all night without catching anything.  In the morning, he comes in to clean his nets, but Jesus jumps into his boat and has him go out into the water a little way.  Jesus proceeds to use Simon's boat as a pulpit, if you will, to teach the people.  Then, Jesus tells Simon to go into deeper water and let down his nets.  Simon has a very logical response since he makes his living as a fisherman.  He says in vs. 5, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything..."  Now he finishes with a very illogical statement.  "...But because you say so, I will let down the nets." 

As I read this willingness to follow the command of Jesus on Simon's part, I was reminded of how living out my faith as a Christian is not always logical.  The world’s logic is NOT God's logic.  The world says "get even."  God says "forgive."  The world says "blame someone else."  God says "ask for forgiveness."  The world says, "you have to get ahead in life."  God says, "because of your faith, you already are 'ahead' in life now and for eternity."  As a parent, I get so caught up in the worldly logic that I dismiss the Godly logic.  I want to focus my life and my parenting efforts on being illogical to the world!

Family Discussion Points!

Give an example of worldly logic and Godly logic to the following scenarios:

                I just got pushed by a classmate at recess, so I...

                Someone sent me a mean text message, so I decided to...

Talk about forgiveness for when we follow the world's logic.  Everyone needs to know there is forgiveness with God.  God's love is that great!

Think of something illogically nice to do for someone else.  Do it!

September 19, 2011

Partners in Parenting

Mi Riting Ain't So Gud!

If you can decipher that title, you might be thinking, "What kind of knuckleheaded principal do we have around here."  The title is actually, "My writing is not very good."  That's if I write using proper English.  I share this with you, parents, because my eyes were opened to the writing habits of our kids the other day.  With Mr. Brown gone to outdoor education, I taught 7th Grade math on Wednesday through Friday.  The students had to write a story problem based on the information provided to them.  They did a great job with the math concept, but I had to do either minor or major editing to each student's three sentences.  I helped with capital letters, punctuation, run on sentences, inverted word order, misspelled words, etc.  I informed the class that writing is important for getting into college, but many times, it is also a requirement of getting into high school.  I also let them know that I sit on a committee that gives awards of over $125,000 each year to individuals who must write an application for the money.  The poor writers never get the money.  The texting world has given us all lots of freedom to condense our words to create meaning, so it must be textings fault, right?  Wrong!  Did any of you take shorthand in high school?  I did not, but all my brothers and sisters did.  They still had to write properly on their assignments whether they knew shorthand or not.  The truth is we are not requiring it, and the kids know it.  I want to have you join the teachers and me in helping our kids be successful in every way with better writing habits and abilities.  When they put their name on their writing, it should represent their thoughts well.  Even the apostle Paul recognized the importance of placing his name on his own writing in Colossians 4:18:  "I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand."

Family Discussion Points!

Have the whole family work together to edit this sentence (or is it two sentences): 

i want to really go to the store to buys some candie then i will ete it fast, and

i won't share none with my bruthers.

Work on this together, and see how you do based on the answer below.  The way I did it is not the only way to correct it. 

Discuss texting habits that transfer into our daily writing.  Where does it happen?

Discuss the difference between formal writing and just getting information down (grocery list is just information, letter writing is more formal)

These are all things we are teaching at school, and we'll continue to teach it.  Any help at home will be a benefit to the students.  Thanks.

     A possible answer:  I really want to go to the store to buy some candy.  I will eat it quickly, and I won't share any of the candy with my brothers. 

(underlined words denote a correction made - I also excluded the word "then" as it has no value in the sentence)

Monday, September 12, 2011

A Truly High Position!

This past weekend, I took my son, Logan (age 7 if you don't know him) up north to my in-laws cabin to go fishing.  It was just the two of us on an overnight trip.  Pretty special time for both of us!  I had been fishing on Houghton Lake previously this summer and found a few holes that produces plenty of good-sized walleye, bluegills, and even a smallmouth bass.  We were pretty excited as we cruised across the lake in the cool of the morning.  Before long, we were rather hot under the clear sky with not a single fish in the boat.  We tried moving to other spots, but we still couldn't get a fish to bite.  Finally, Logan saw my bobber dip into the water indicating a bite.  He grabbed my pole and pulled in a small perch.  We were excited to have at least caught one fish, and I kept waiting for him to want to be done fishing.  He didn't ask to stop, and he seemed to completely enjoy the time alone on the boat.  He was happy, but I was a bit frustrated.  I wanted to find some fish for him, and I wanted him to find our trip "successful" as fishermen.  After four hours, we headed back to the cabin.  As we pulled up to the dock, Logan's words hit me pretty hard:  "It was a great day fishing, and at least I caught one."  I  realized at that moment that the real value was being father and son, not great fishermen.  He focused on being together as I tried to find him some fish.  We talked, joked, laughed, taught, learned, dared, and wondered together on that boat.  I was humbled as a fisherman, but I was reminded of my high position as Logan's dad.  Being a dad is a much higher position in life than a good fisherman.  That's true for all parents.  That's also true for all Christians with our Heavenly Father.  James 1:9 reminded me of this:  "The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position."  (NOTE:  This refers to our status as Christians having a high position due to our acknowledgement of our sin and forgiveness.)

Family Discussion Points!

Talk together about humbling events in your life:  losing a job, getting cut from a team, getting a poor grade, getting embarrassed, etc.

Think of as many "high positions" as you can in worldly terms:  president, boss, etc.

Think of as many "high positions" as you can in Godly terms:  forgiven sinner, child, Father, Mother, Friend, etc.

Talk about how to remind each other as a family of what is important and what is not.

Partners in Parenting, September 1, 2011

Beautiful and Ugly!

In case you didn't know, we moved into a home about a mile away from school this summer.  One of the features of the home is that it is beautifully landscaped.  There are a variety of flowers, bushes, vines, and other pretty things I can't even categorize.  There were no weeds, everything was mulched nicely, potted plants had been watered, etc. As I looked at the house the beauty of the landscape caught my attention, but then I went behind the shed in the backyard to have my attention "caught" in a whole different way.  There is a space back there with weeds over my head.  There were vine-like weeds along the ground, climbing the fence, and seeking to intrude on the landscape.  It was a mess.  But it couldn't be seen unless you walk back there.  I thought about how our lives are kind of like that - we look real good to the outside world, but we have this mess inside us as we take a deeper look at things.  The mess is sin, and messes need to be cleaned up.  God cleaned up the sin in us by sending Jesus to make us clean again through His death and resurrection.  Romans 8:1,2 reminds us, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death."  Maybe have your kids help you pick weeds from your landscape this weekend and remind them that they are getting rid of the bad stuff (sin) just like Christ has done for them - and you!

Family Discussion Points!

Talk about the reality that we are all sinful, but perfect before God due to Jesus' forgiving us of everything.  (Big concept, but very true)

Parents, share some major messes you got into when you were a child.  It's OK for them to know you messed up too.

Plan a time when you will work together as a family picking weeds out of your landscape making it beautiful in order to identify with Christ making us clean.

Partners in Parenting, April 11, 2011

Prepare NOW!

Life happens and comes at each of us at an incredible pace.  So much is happening so quickly that it is easy to forget about planning and preparedness.  I know we should have a fire escape plan, but we don't right now.  In essence, we aren't prepared.  We are told to prepare now for our kids college, retirement, emergency expenses, and all kinds of things.  However, it is all too easy to take life as it comes and prepare very little for the future.  In reading the Bible to the students each morning during announcements, I've been sharing Matthew 26 a few verses at a time.  It  has always struck me as odd that Jesus actually told Peter he'd deny him three times (Matthew 26:34), and he did it just a few hours later - after he said he'd never fall away, then said he'd die with Jesus if he had to.  Whoops!  Peter drew his sword and cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest without thinking about what Jesus had just said would happen.  What?  I think Peter's impulsivity and lack of preparedness for the events surrounding Jesus last days caused him to act hastily because he was not prepared to act properly.  Oh, how I can understand that in my own life.

I think it is important to help our children prepare now for how they will respond when difficult events happen.  If we don't, they may respond hastily like Peter did at that time and make some mistakes.  If we do, they may be better equipped to act properly instead of falling into temptation.  Prepare your kids now for things like:  standing up for someone being treated poorly, being honest at all times, rejecting drugs, alcohol, tobacco, etc., showing respect to all people, witnessing to those who don't believe, etc.

NOTE:  Kind of funny that I should write about being prepared when I did not adequately plan ahead to have this written prior to today like I should have! 

Family Discussion Points!

Parents, share when you opened your first savings account to be prepared for the future.

Everyone share something you want to buy in the future.  Then, how will you prepare now in order to make that purchase.

Talk about a time or two when you weren't prepared to do the right thing and you acted in haste (this can be as simple as being mean to someone out of anger to much more severe things like personal safety).  You may want to talk to different age kids separately as the issues are very different.

Partners in Parenting, April 4, 2011

What does the future hold?

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to drive around in Chevrolet's new Volt - an electric car.  It was amazing to experience normal acceleration, handling, and overall feel of a car - without the sound of an engine.  It was a incredible experience.  Coincidentally, one of my children asked me on Saturday what kind of computer I had when I was a kid.  Funny question because I didn't.  I remember when my school got an Apple IIe for the school when I was in 5th grade.  One computer for the whole school was a technological breakthrough.  Now, many people carry their computers, planners, phones, etc. in their hand.  Where is all this stuff going for our kids?  What will their world be like?  Who knows?  So what are we to do as parents.  I really believe that the best thing we can do is prepare them for a changing world with a deep relationship with the one thing that will not change - Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ will not change regardless of technological advances or other changes coming our way.  We simply cannot see the future completely unless we look at our eternal future.  That is all that is secure through faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior.  "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." Hebrews 13:8  What does the future hold?  It holds Jesus Christ for all who believe.

Family Discussion Points!

Parents, tell a story to your kids about the first computer experience you ever had.

Kids, share with your parents what you think your life would be like without computers.  Then parents, let them know how different everything would really be for our present life.

Imagine what will happen with computers in the next 5, 10, 20 years.

Will Jesus Christ change in that time?

Partners in Parenting, March 28, 2011

Protect Your Kids!

Last Wednesday, I drove to Cincinnati, Ohio for the Lutheran Education Association Convocation with three of our teachers.  Just about 20 miles north of Cincinnati, it began to rain as we entered into a storm.  I heard a few high pitched sounds on the windshield, and I began to wonder if it was hailing or just raining huge raindrops.  After going a few miles, it became obvious that it was hail.  Then, hail began to fall so hard that you couldn't hear anything inside the van.  It was absolutely deafening!!  I've enclosed a picture of what it looked like in about 20 seconds.  I took the picture in order to have proof of the hail in case there was some kind of damage to the van.  Thankfully, there was not.  Incredible experience!  I thought that evening about how we were protected inside the confines of that van.  I thought about having to stand in that hail storm and absorb the blows from each small piece of hail.  They were small, but the barrage would have been devastating.  I then thought about how parents have to protect their kids from the "barrages" of the culture in which they live.  Parents, do you protect your kids from inappropriate movies, TV shows, music, foods, drinks, and here's a huge one - THOUGHTS.  I know I do a better job of protecting my own children from all those things listed above, but it is the thoughts that infiltrate their mind that I seem to forget.  As parents, let's be vigilant in protecting our kids on all fronts!

Jesus prayed for his disciples protection against the world and Satan that they would be facing in the days ahead in John 17:14, 15:  "I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.  My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one."  The van protected us on our trip to Cincinnati in a severe storm.  God protects us on our trip through life in the challenges of being His children.  Parents, protect your kids as God protects you.

Family Discussion Points!

Share a time of being in a storm.  Where did you go to seek cover?

Share some things in our culture that are not good for us (certain movies, video games, music, etc.)

Talk about God's protection in our lives through making good choices that are consistent with His word.  Also share His unending love when we make the wrong choices.