Already Gone: part 4

What can I do to see that my children remain in church?

Number Three:


It is important to have a famiy vision statement. When you think of your children 5, 10, 20 years from now, what do you envision them doing? I am not talking about picking out their jobs for them. :)

What kind of character qualities do you desire to see flowing from their heart? Are they qualities you would be proud of or ashamed of? More than that, are they qualities that would exalt Christ?

My desire is to see my children in love with Jesus and boldly proclaiming His Name above any other! When Jesus is their focus: they will love others, serve others, be people of character. Other than that, I do not care what type of house they live in, what their specific job is. If they are following God with their whole heart in obedience, the things of this world will hold little value.

Don't get me wrong, I want nice things for my children, but the things of God will not fade away. The things of this world do fade away and do not have eternal value.

Some of the things our children become are in our hands. (I understand they have free will.) What do we expose them to, model before them, etc? What are we intentional about teaching them?

Are we as intentional about teaching them how to have a quite time as we are other things?
To me, this is the best thing we can do for our children.

Side note: If you are a homeschooling family, this can be added into your school day.
Choose a passage, get your child to read it from a Bible on their level. You write a few questions (or use The Dig), get them to answer the questions. You can guide them into how to write a sentence. Obviously using age/grade appropriate instruction here. Get them to write it. It's ok if you have to write the sentence on the board of a piece of paper for them to copy. They are still learning how to write a sentence and they are practicing their handwriting.

What is a vision statement?

A vision statement is simply knowing where you want to go.
What is important to you?
How will you get there? What do I need to say yes to and what do I say no to?
Take action! Lot's of ACTION!
What types of influences do we allow and not allow (this could be all kinds of things, not just people).

If we do not write the vision, we can lose the vision when things get tough. It will require time and effort to get there. It doesn't happen on it's own.

It is important when writing the vision statement, that we do not outline the life WE want for our children. The vision needs to be direct, but allows for your children to be who God created them to be. The vision keeps us parents in line and draws boundaries where necessary. Our children need our guidance!

God entrusted us with the gift of children. Now He will lead us through this awesome journey!

I just read a quote that said, "You can not choose Christ for your kids, but you can pray that they do!" So true! But I also, want to be purposeful in training them and praying they have a desire to live for Him!