25 ways men can be servant leaders.

The call to be a servant-leader is tough. No one gets it all right, and certainly no one gets most of it right overnight. It’s a life plan — a way of living you grow into with practice and time. Here are 25 suggestions, men, for being a servant-leader in your home.

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A plea from Daisy’s mom to all parents!

A plea to parents from Kate Merrick, whose 8-year-old daughter Daisy is now with Jesus:

Love your babies, your husbands, mothers, sisters.

Love each day like it’s your last.

All you mamas out there, you have been entrusted with the precious gift of a human life who depends on you.

Enjoy your gift.

Breathe in the scent of your child’s hair, breath.

Let them cook with you and make a mess of the kitchen.

Play hide and seek with them, build sand castles with them, take them on picnics, read to them!

Listen to them, value and respect them, never shame them.

Your words they will carry with them their whole life and you have the power to give them wings or stunt their growth.

Motherhood can be tough but it’s worth it.

It can be exhausting, boring, tedious, but never for long.

You blink and they’re grown.

It has been my honor and privilege to love Daisy these last 8 years.

I’m thankful for every minute; the joyful and the terrible alike.

 

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Gospel-centered mothering

Short but helpful article here which shares three areas moms can kind of a do a “quick check” on mothering in between more significant times of evaluation and planning. Gospel-centered mothering certainly involves more than these three things, but not less.

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Weak mothers are good mothers

Christine Hoover writes about her struggle with being a good mother. She concludes,

A good mother is not one who bakes intricate treats, who schools a certain way, who manages her household within an inch of its life, or who has her children in a million wonderful activities. A good mother is one that acknowledges her need for the power of God to train and teach and change the hearts of her children.

The most important thing I can do for my children each day is to trust God and acknowledge my weakness, not rely on myself. He will take my meager offering and turn it into a miracle.

Read how she describes her struggle–one that I’m guessing many mothers reading this post can relate to.

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Should you raise your children without God?

A CNN iReport titled “Why I Raise My Children Without God” has been making some waves, so I thought I’d choose a portion of it for this week’s challenge. We’ve already covered some of the objections in the article about evil (most of the objections in the article come down to the problem of evil) and prayer, so I went with the one on morality: 

God Does Not Teach Children to Be Good: A child should make moral choices for the right reasons. Telling him that he must behave because God is watching means that his morality will be externally focused rather than internally structured. It’s like telling a child to behave or Santa won’t bring presents. When we take God out of the picture, we place responsibility of doing the right thing onto the shoulders of our children. No, they won’t go to heaven or rule their own planets when they die, but they can sleep better at night. They will make their family proud. They will feel better about who they are. They will be decent people.

Does an “internally focused” morality create better people than one that’s enforced by God? What do you think?  Here’s one  video response.

–Stand to Reason

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Counseling wives and mothers who feel like failures

Nicole imagines a conversation that goes like this:

“I feel like such a failure. I’m a horrible mom and a terrible wife. I’m exhausted, depressed, and overwhelmed.”

Then she turns to you and asks:

Sound like a mom you know? How would you counsel this woman? What gospel-centered words would you give her? Maybe you are that mom. As your soul’s counselor, how do you apply the gospel?

I’d encourage ladies to read “Gospel-Centered Counsel for Moms” and learn how to”discern the specific gospel-truth that applies to a particular discouraged mom in her unique situation.”

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Parenting young children

Here are 24 encouragements, with examples and explanations, on parenting young kids, from Pastor Steve McCoy:

1. Believe Kids Are A Blessing
2. Read The Jesus Storybook Bible To Them
3. Pray With Your Kids Concerning Taking Risks
4. Teach *First Time Obedience*
5. Give Rules For Respectful Disagreement
6. Give Rules For Respectful Interruption
7. Give Rules For Being Respectful in Public
8. The Five Minute Rule (Warning)
9. Pre-Event Preparation/Conversation
10. Titles of Respect for Adults (No First Names)
11. Use Timers
12. Sharing Is Not Requested, It’s Essential
13. Boys Treat Girls Differently Than Boys
14. Play Rough & Teach Kids To Get Over It
15. Kids Sit With You In Church
16. Ask Your Kids To Forgive You
17. Kiss Your Spouse In Front Of Them
18. Talking Back To Mom Is Talking Back To My Wife
19. Hugs & Kisses To Friends
20. Disagree In Front Of Your Kids
21. Keep/Give Away
22. Teach Your Kids To Sing
23. Teach Your Kids God Loves Them More Than You
24. Get In The Pool

Read the whole thing for a short explanation of each point.

HT: JT

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Parenting and family: three great resources for really cheap

Instructing a Child’s Heart

Tedd andMargy Tripp

Kindle Price: $1.99

Shepherding a Child’s Hear

Tedd Tripp

Kindle Price: $1.99

Broken-Down House

Paul David Tripp

Kindle Price: $1.99

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3 examples of a dad’s legacy

Beverly continues to be impacted year later by the memory of watching her dad chop down an idol in their backyard.

Barry shares a letter that one father, grand-father, and great-grandfather wrote which he intended to be read at his funeral.  Very moving.

Kathy shares moving memories of her father: a reminder that it is never too late to start changing, men (and ladies too).

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How we might pray for our children

Andy Naselli shares this guest post by J. D. and Kim Crowley

[The Crowleys have six children, and J. D. is a pioneer missionary-linguist in Cambodia. I met J. D. several years ago and served with him for two weeks teaching other men and women.]

Faith

1. Grant them a heart of repentance from sin.
2. Give them faith in Christ from an early age.
3. Fill them with your Holy Spirit, and may they bear the fruit of the Spirit.
4. Lead them to be baptized into your church.
5. Make them members of a strong church with godly elders.
6. Give them spiritual gifts for use in the church, and help them faithfully use them.
7. Lead them always to increase in holiness.
8. Keep them within the orthodox faith of Christ and the apostles.
9. Protect them from false teachers and false teaching.
10. Make them fruitful proclaimers of the gospel, filled with love for all.
11. Make them humbly committed to daily prayer.
12. Give them hunger for daily Bible reading.
13. Fill them with love and forbearance toward others.
14. Help them endure trials with faith and joy.
15. Help them guard their conscience.
16. May their lives be like the sun that rises stronger and stronger until the full of day.

Wisdom

1. Give them hearts that constantly overflow with thankfulness.
2. Make them peacemakers.
3. Give them a vocation/skill/work that provides for their family and is useful to society.
4. Give them a sense of purpose and joy in their life work.
5. Rescue them from the fear of man.
6. Provide for them a good education.
7. Help them apply themselves diligently to their studies and other work.
8. Rescue them from laziness and dishonesty.

Influences and Relationships

1. May they be quick to forgive.
2. Give them godly friends all their lives who will influence them to love God.
3. Give them godly influences from “uncles and aunts” and “substitute parents,” especially as our influence wanes.
4. Don’t let them go through a time of teenage rebellion.
5. Help them remain pure and enter marriage as virgins.
6. May they marry only strong believers.
7. Save, sanctify, and bless their future spouse.
8. Keep divorce away from their lives and their children’s lives for many generations.
9. Give them the gift of children and the grace to raise them up in the faith of Christ.
10. If they are to remain single, make them unusually fruitful for God’s kingdom.
11. Protect them from predators.
12. Protect them from deviant sexual desires.

Physical

1. Heal and protect them from sicknesses and diseases.
2. Protect them from accidents.
3. Give their country peace in their lifetime.

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