1 Chronicles 16:11 – #dad

Search for the LORD and for his strength; continually seek him. 1 Chronicles‬ ‭16‬:‭11‬ NLT

Yesterday I was mowing my lawn, and looked up to the front door of the house. There I saw my toddler and my dog with their noses pressed against the glass. Mom was inside. Big brother was inside. But these two had a shared, singular focus: dada.

Our MSM minister Taylor Start did an excellent job presenting the challenge to our MS students this weekend to change their hashtag to #God, so this image really set in for me. My son and my dog, if they had a hashtag that encompassed their lives, right now it would read #dad.

In this moment, the challenge of parenting was again beautifully clear: if I want the label on my kids’ lives to be #God, then the only way I can achieve that is to make sure that’s the label they, and everyone else, would put on me.

So what about you? What’s your hashtag? If you asked everyone around you to label you with one word, what would you hear?

I bet you got a good sense of a few words. I did when thinking about it. Are you happy with those results? What are you going to do about it?

Luke 2:52 – Grow and Guide

Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all the people. Luke 2:52 NLT

Spiritual growth is the number one thing the parents of our middle and high school youth asked for help with when we surveyed them this spring. It seems so obvious: they’ve invested more the a decade of their lives, and their students are well on their way to doing life on their own. They don’t get to put their child’s hand on the plow to guide their growth the way they could when they were younger.

To do anything well, you need to start with the end in mind. These parents want for their kids what we all strive for: living a cross-shaped life. How better than to emulate how Jesus grew during this under-reported prized of His life? You can see here, before Jesus clarified for us that loving each other is as important as loving God, how He lived it. Jesus grew in wisdom, which gave Him solid standing both with God and others, and the favor it created made it easier for Jesus to interact with everyone around Him.

You parents know that “more is caught [by] than taught” to your kids. You can’t expect your kids to do this without seeing a real life example in you. And chances are you’re a bit behind where Jesus was at your age. Good news: you’re still alive. You can start today. If things in your life aren’t helping you grow your wisdom, stature, and favor, crush them! Your kids will always seem to follow the worst of your example at the expense of the best of your instruction.

To paraphrase Ghandi, be the change you want to see in your kids’ lives.

1 Thessalonians 2:11 – Kids and Coworkers

And you know that we treated each of you as a father treats his own children. 1 Thessalonians 2:11 NLT

For you parents, this makes a lot of sense. You can read just this sentence without context and still have a general idea of what Paul is trying to explain here. You don’t treat anyone else the way you treat your children. Your love for your children is deeper than the ocean and, conversely, your expectations for them reach to the heavens.

While the love for your neighbor may not come as readily, we all develop expectations for the people with whom we regularly interact. This is where it can be helpful for you to think of your children in your interactions with other people. You may have had high hopes for their life before they were born, but those things weren’t concrete. Your love was the stronghold, the foundation, you had from the outset that saw you through sleepless nights and thankless days.

Once your kids grow, your expectations become more concrete and more challenging. I didn’t expect my son to get dressed on his own at six months but, now that he’s more than capable, it’s a realistic expectation that he can do it. He’s still three, so he doesn’t always meet this expectation. How do you handle that?

I bet you’d give your son more grace and leniency than your coworkers. After all, whatever the latest expectation they’ve let you down on was reasonable, wasn’t it? Yes to the latter, but Paul says no to the former. You can get the job done with high expectations, but you can only foster a relationship into which you can introduce Jesus to the people around you if you extend the same mercy and grace to them as you would your three year old. Or the same mercy and grace God has extended to you. You know, which ever is more likely to make the point.

1 Kings 19:12 – Whisper

And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. 1 Kings 19:12 NLT

It amazes me how much kids learn. About the only thing that amazes me more is how much we have to learn as parents. As we learn to parent, we learn about God by trying to be like Him. After all, He is our Father. (Luuuke, I AM. Hahaha, sorry.)

Image courtesy Bobbi

I bet 90% of you are thinking, “he’s gonna go with ‘not everybody gets it right.'” Not so fast, my friend! Before I go the obvious route, which you are correct — I am going — it never hurts to be reminded the importance of a healthy fear of God. Elijah saw mountains torn apart by wind, followed by an earthquake, followed by what I would assume was a raging fire, and knew God wasn’t in those things. Elijah knew to fear God. In his respectful fear of God, he was able to stand before when the storm passed and God came as a whisper.

So, too, with your parenting. If you howl like wind, or explode like an earthquake, or rage like a fire, your kids won’t be impressed. They may fear you now, but they won’t respect you later. You must learn to whisper.

I struggle with this. “Greatly” would be putting it mildly. I’m learning to whisper. And I’m learning again how quickly kids learn. I’m learning how to show my sons who God is. And I’m learning again how eager they are to please us. Are you taking the time to whisper? Are you taking the time to listen for God’s whisper so you may please Him?

This week, I’m sensing I need to connect deeper with God via creation. If you have something in creation you connect deeply with God through, please let me know so I can learn with you.