faith Archives - Home With The Boys

Let Him Pick the Song {Five Minute Friday}

May 17, 2013 By Erin 7 Comments

It’s Five-Minute Friday with lovely Lisa-Jo!

Set a timer and just write. Don’t worry about making it just right or not.

For me? An exercise in letting go and letting words flow. Five minutes only. {yes, I do set a timer and it quacks like a duck at 5 minutes, which totally makes me smile}

Today’s prompt: Song.

And go…

I’ve been messing with my playlist for months and tomorrow we’ll see how it serves me. Each song has been handpicked because of its words or beat or peppiness {is that even a word?!} and tomorrow those songs will keep me company as I run 13.1 miles.

I went back and forth about planning the order of the songs or just hitting shuffle as I cross the start line. I know certain songs get me more fired up than others and maybe if I put them at just the right mile, it will be enough to help me meet my goal.

But The Hubby said the best thing to me last night when I asked him what he would be doing.

“I figure God can put together a better playlist order than I can.”

Amen, dude. So I will let Him direct my steps and direct the songs and trust that He knows just the song I need to hear and just the right time.

Shuffle

Isn’t that how it works in the every day for me as well? Let go. Trust Him. Let Him sing into my life. It’s always more perfect when it is in His timing and not my own.

The surprise of that perfect song when the legs ache or the miles drag on – I can’t wait to see what song He picks.

Stop.

*****

Team Samaritan's Purse OCC

Tomorrow, I will run my second half-marathon. I’m excited and nervous and just want it to be here already, but I’m especially honored to be running to raise money for Operation Christmas Child with Team Samaritan’s Purse! We’re almost halfway to the $500 goal, but the hours are dwindling! I would love your prayers for the race and any help you can provide to support Operation Christmas Child! Thank you for praying, donating, and sharing as you feel led!

And take a few minutes to read the song-filled words of many other writers linked up over at Five Minute Friday today!

Buffer

Filed Under: faith, five minute friday, music, running

My Life Isn’t Perfect

May 16, 2013 By Erin 8 Comments

There is a lot of talk everywhere I turn about being “real” with another and I am ALL about it. When the life you live in front of others is different than the life you ACTUALLY live, there’s a problem. Showing a “perfect” life to your friends and readers and co-workers may make you look better, but it won’t make people like you more. In fact, putting up a perfect facade will most likely push people away because no one can relate to perfect.

I have actually had people say the words, “Your life is so perfect,” to me before and it made me upset for two reasons.

My life is NOT perfect.
I don’t want it to ever come off like my life is perfect.

Here’s where I get into a dilemma.

I am an extrovert who likes people and sharing life and wants people to like me…

AND I want other women and moms and Christians to know that I struggle with the same things they do…

BUT I don’t want to come off as a complainer or downer…

AND I don’t think everyone needs to know ALL of the mud and slime I’m working through as I walk with Jesus…

So…

Where do I draw the line?

How do I “be real” with others, but not dwell on the yuck?

How do I show the world the countless ways Jesus has blessed me without coming off as having a “perfect,” unrelatable life?

And what about building up and protecting my family and friends with my words – does choosing to talk only positively about them make people think all is perfect?

This is what I’ve come to as my answer to this conundrum:

When I write here, there is no false front being put up. I’ve written about my struggle with yelling and shown you my dirty dishes. I’m keeping it real here.

But I also feel like this is my place to celebrate the blessings of God, especially our families, so that’s where my focus is going to be! I don’t write a whole lot of deep posts about the hard stuff because that’s just not me – just ask anyone who has met me in person! I LOVE a good, deep talk with friends {small talk is NOT my thing}, but I am generally a pretty positive person all round, so what you read here is what you get in real life.

I have plenty of days when my run didn’t go as well and the kids wouldn’t stop complaining about chores and the little one is STILL sick – those days DO happen. Just yesterday in fact.

And the negative was all I thought about, until God sent The Hubby and a good friend to basically say the same thing – “Yep. That stuff stinks. I hear you. But it was just one day. And a lot of things you are upset about are not in your control. And God still loves you and He is GOOD.” {my own paraphrase}

So that’s where I’m dwelling. Not in the perfect life, but in the perfect God.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things. ~Philippians 4:8

And if anyone approaches me with that dreaded line about a perfect life again, I know just what to say…

My life isn’t perfect, but my God is. I choose to dwell on His blessings, not my imperfections.

Buffer

Filed Under: faith, gratitude, Scripture

D6 Days: Your Invitation to FREE Family Encouragement!

May 2, 2013 By Erin 1 Comment

If you’ve hung around here for any length of time, you know family is important to me.

St Patty's Day Family

Holy cow, I love these guys.

Family is important to me because it’s important to God. He actually has quite a bit to say about the family throughout the Bible, but Deuteronomy 6:5-9 has always been my Biblical guidance for our family and home…

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

One of my greatest passions is learning how to bring our family closer to God and closer together and to encourage other families to do the same, which is why I was thrilled to learn about a ministry and conference focused the same thing.

I’m talking about the D6 Conference and Family Ministry! Have you heard of D6?

In just two short words the D6 Conference is about Generational Discipleship. When you take a look at Scripture, it’s impossible to separate discipleship from Family Ministry. As commanded in Deuteronomy 6 (D6), it is God’s “plan A” that the family becomes the center of spiritual formation (a.k.a. discipleship). The D6 Conference helps churches develop and sustain an integrated discipleship strategy that combines the relationship and influence of the church and the home.

The awesome thing is that D6 is not just about churches or just about families – their mission is to bring together these two God-given communities in order to raise the next generation to love the Lord! One of their newest resources, Connecting Church and Home by Tim Kimmel, is a fabulous look at this topic!

As far as the actual D6 Conference, it is on my short list of conferences I would LOVE to attend some day. D6 Dallas One Day, September 26, is a jam-packed day of speakers and breakouts, including Tim Kimmel himself! D6 Louisville, October 16-18, is a lengthier Family Ministry Expo, with amazing speakers such as James Dobson and Les & Leslie Parrott! If you’re interested in attending either conference, don’t hesitate to register because early bird pricing ends Monday, May 6th!

If you’re like me and don’t think you can actually make it to one of the conferences, you’ll be happy to know that you can enjoy some D6 goodness from your own home for FREE this weekend, starting today!

D6 Days is your chance to get exclusive video and audio content to encourage you as a parent and family ministry advocate! D6 has made four videos and six mp3s available to you for FREE through Sunday, May 5th! Here are the sessions…

Videos
- David Platt - The American Dream and the Gospel
- Brian Haynes - What is Family Ministry?
- Richard Ross - Reaching the Heart of the Next Generation
- Garnett Reid - Leaving a Legacy that Matters
Mp3s
- Ed Stetzer - Attitudes and Practices That Lead to Robust Spiritual Formation
- Michelle Anthony - The Transforming Power of Christ for a New Generation
- Rob Reinow - Transforming Youth and Children’s Ministry
- Sean McDowell - Equipping Young People With a Biblical Worldview
- Voddie Baucham - Equipping Parents to Do Their Work
- Beth Guckenberger - Equipping Women to Be Agents of Reconciliation

I think so many of these sound incredible, but I’m especially excited to see the David Platt and Garnett Reid videos and listen to Ed Stetzer speak! In fact, you can watch “Leaving a Legacy That Matters” with Garnett Reid RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!

If you decide to participate in D6 Days, make sure you connect with others who are doing the same on social media:

Follow @thed6conference on Twitter
Tweet with the hashtags #d62013 and #d6days
Like the D6 Conference on Facebook

And I would LOVE it if you would come back to this post to tell me about any videos you watch or talks you listen to! We can make this our own little D6 Days community discussion!

If you know someone who might be interested in being a part of D6 Days, pass this on to them now so they can view the content all weekend!

Which D6 Days session sounds the most intriguing to you?

Buffer

Filed Under: faith, family

Five Minute Friday: Broken

March 29, 2013 By Erin 11 Comments

I’m linking up with the Lisa-Jo’s Five-Minute Friday: five minutes of uninterrupted writing, no editing, no going back, just writing.

Today’s topic:

Broken.

I like a gloomy Good Friday.

Good Friday is supposed to be dark and cloudy and stormy. Something in my heart longs for the weather to reflect the somberness of the day.

A sky scattered with clouds and broken open with rain mirror my clouded thoughts and tears as I think on my Lord’s broken body – all done for me.

That broken body is the most valuable gift you or I have ever received, and yet it was wrapped in such darkness and sadness. The gifts we receive in the physical world are met with balloons and singing and happiness. If we received a broken gift for our birthday or Christmas, we would be appalled.

But Christ, broken for us, in the middle of the darkest day is the greatest gift and I want that same gloominess to bring my heart to a place of true gratitude.

Today, the sun is shining. The birds are chirping. It’s as if the whole world has forgotten the Great Sacrifice that happened thousands of years ago.

Not me. And probably not you either. It’s not the weather or nature’s job to reflect on the broken body of Christ today and live in intense gratitude for His great gift of salvation. It is yours and mine.

Today, as the rays of light are streaming in my window, my heart is thankful that God’s love shined so brightly from the cross that dark day.

My heart is broken at the pain and suffering He endured, but I am whole because of what He did. And what came after.

His brokenness lasted only a short time. It’s Friday, but Sunday is coming.

Read more thoughts on “Broken” at Lisa-Jo’s Five Minute Friday link-up today.

Buffer

Filed Under: Easter, faith, five minute friday

Connecting Church and Home

March 29, 2013 By Erin 8 Comments

I mentioned in my post on Tuesday that I’m hungry to know more about grace, and one of the reasons for my renewed interest as of late is a fantastic book I just finished.

Tim Kimmel is well-known for his book Grace-Based Parenting, which is sitting on my shelf waiting to be read {but has moved up significantly on my to-read list}. His newest book takes a look a bridging the gap between families and church ministry programs and finding a way to partner together.

You know my heart for families. I want to see families better connected to God and to one another. This is exactly the heart Kimmel shares in Connecting Church & Home, adding the church as another piece to the connection puzzle.

My passion for encouraging families developed in part from seeing so many parents leaving the spiritual growth of their children up to the church. Many parents don’t feel “qualified” and look to the church to do the spiritual teaching and discipleship for them. Kimmel addresses this very thing in the beginning of this book, so of course I was hooked on his every word from there on out…

Typical parents not only don’t feel they know what they’re doing when it comes to leading their kids spiritually, but they also assume the job it too complicated for it to ever be intuitive.

This quote made me so sad because I see it all over the place, as The Hubby and I spent many years as youth volunteers, in raising children alongside others, and even expressed by people I come in contact with here in the world of social media and blogging. Kimmel talks about this mindset creating a harmful dependency on the church to do the “heavy-lifting” of bringing kids to spiritual maturity. Dad & Mom assume they have nothing to offer their children in which the church wouldn’t do a better job. And in return, churches stop encouraging those same parents to be major players in the development of their own children’s faith, but instead “spoon-feed” them with just enough to go along with what the kids are learning in the children’s programming on Sundays.

There’s a lot of finger-pointing that could break out in all of this, but Kimmel wants to unite families and churches in the common goal of raising generations to love the Lord and live out grace {see, there’s that word again!}. This definition lays it all out…

A family is supposed to be “the domestic church.”…Dads and moms are supposed to be the pastors and pastorettes of a full-blown, albeit tiny, freestanding ecclesia. Their job is to do the work of the ministry throughout the week in their children’s lives and then make sure they bring their family to church on full rather than empty when Sunday comes around. The church (“a collection of domestic churches is supposed to come alongside mom and dad as an ally, mentor, and cheerleader…it’s supposed to be there to help families through the tougher seasons of life. So, the church does its normal teaching and training, but it’s supposed to be in complement to what’s happening at home, not in place of.

Okay, so I know that was a really long quote, but THAT is the heart of this book and I underlined that over and over and said, “AMEN!” out loud when I read it.

And as Kimmel goes on in the book about how to make this partnership work with grace as the unifying theme, I underlined probably half of the book. I love how he lays out WHY it needs to work and a basic framework of HOW to make it happen, including real-life examples of parents and churches living it out.

Parents and ministry leaders alike are in need of this message – it’s meant for a wide audience because the issue impacts a LOT of people! The book isn’t very long so you can read through it pretty quickly, but there is a lot of meat that you will want to go back over once you finish, from the role of grace in families and churches to an awesome “paper napkin family ministry” layout you will want to reread many times.

Connecting Church & Home was released in partnership with two great ministries focused on families – Family Matters and D6 Family. Make sure you check them both out for tons of great resources on this same topic!

I’ll leave you with one last favorite quote from the book…

Strong Churches Graphic Tim Kimmel

How do you see your church coming alongside families right now? How would you like to see that family-church partnership grow or change?

*I was provided this book to review. I was not compensated in any way for this review and all opinions are 100% my own.

**This post contains affiliate links.

Buffer

Filed Under: book review, faith, family, parenting, reviews

Easter Week with the Jesus Storybook Bible

March 23, 2013 By Erin 10 Comments

{As I’m posting this, the Kindle version of the Jesus Storybook Bible is still only $1.99! Please double-check before you buy as prices change without notice!}

Yes, we also use our most beloved story Bible for Easter as well!

We read through just five stories for this Easter week with the Jesus Storybook Bible, but they are just the right ones to focus our hearts in the right place – Jesus!

I have included a few VERY simple activities & discussion ideas to go along with each reading. Including reading time, you’ll be done in 30 minutes or less each day. There is a printable outline of the week for you to keep as a handy reference as well!

*****

Here is our plan for the week:

{Click on the image to print}

Tuesday – Read “Washed with tears”

{A sinful woman anoints Jesus, from Mark 14, Luke 7, and John 12}

The story of the sinful woman washing Jesus’ feet is just the best place to start this week. After reading, we will take time to recognize our sinful nature and get on our knees before Jesus to confess those sins and ask for His forgiveness. Our sin is what put Him on the cross, and repenting of that sin at the beginning of this week is cleansing.

Wednesday – Read “The Servant King”

{The Last Supper, from Mark 14 and John 13-14}

Many people do a foot-washing ceremony on Thursday to go a long with the Last Supper, but we will do ours on Wednesday along with this reading.

Thursday – Read “A dark night in the garden”

{The Garden of Gethsemane, from Luke 22, Mark 14, John 18}

If possible, read this story in the dark or by candlelight to symbolize the dark garden where Jesus prayed and was betrayed.

Friday – Read “The sun stops shining”

{The Crucifixion, from Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, John 19}

I really want our boys to understand that Jesus’ death on the cross meant for our relationship with God and the tearing of the temple cloth is what stuck out to me. I want them to know talking to God is not just for adults and pastors and priests – Jesus made a way for us to go right to throne of God. I am going to use a red piece of cloth {to symbolize Jesus’ blood AND the temple curtain} and have the boys help me tear it after we read this story.

Saturday – No reading

I chose to not have a reading on Saturday for a couple of reasons. First of all, in the Jesus Storybook Bible, there is no story between the crucifixion and the resurrection! Secondly, the days in between Jesus’ death were filled with uncertainty for his disciples. They were alone with their thoughts, their leader and friend having left them in a horrible way. Saturday will be our day of reflection – a day alone with our thoughts and a day to thank Him for His sacrifice.

Sunday – Read “God’s wonderful surprise”

{The Resurrection, from Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20}

Forget waking up early to open up Christmas presents – THIS is the best gift to unwrap early in the morning! Easter Sunday is not a day to sleep in! Wake up early with plenty of time before your church service to read about the surprise God had in store and celebrate as a family! Sing, make noise, shout for joy – make it a party like none other because JESUS IS ALIVE!

*****

There are a lot of plans and activities available for this season, so don’t add this to your week if you already have a plan and it is going to stress you out to add more! Usually around these holidays, LESS is actually better! But if you were looking for something simple and powerful to do with your family for Easter this year, I hope this is a blessing to you!

*This post contains affiliate links.

Buffer

Filed Under: Easter, faith, lent, printable

A God-Sized Dreamer’s Loaded Question

March 12, 2013 By Erin 6 Comments

It’s Tuesday, which means it is God-sized dream day around here. This week Holley asked us quite the loaded question…

What do you really want more of in your life?

See what I mean?

That is one big question to ask a God-sized dreamer. I really thought it would be hard to pin down what exactly I want more of in my life, other than more time in my day, more sleep, and more chocolate. Can you ever really have enough of any of those?

Seriously, as I sat and pondered the “more” that I most wanted in my life, I was taken back to a conversation I had with Stacey, my dear friend and God-sized dream buddy.

I am a mama of three young boys, and in reality, I will busy for years to come with them. This is truth even if I don’t take on any other commitments. Being a wife and mom are “all-in” callings and I’m good with that.

I could say I want more “me” time or more family time or more writing time, but that’s not really it. It all boils down to one sentence Stacey threw out at me {we both process verbally – there were a lot of words out there!}:

“I want to invest my time, not spend it.”

BAM. I’m not even kidding when I say that word “invest” just struck me like a bolt of lightning.

And that was my more right there.

I want to be MORE INVESTED in the things that matter, the places God has put me, the people He has surrounding me.

I tend to bounce from thing to thing a lot {maybe a little ADD?!} and that leads to a lot of unfinished projects, unpursued dreams, and unfulfilled feelings. Sometimes it feels like I never have enough time for anything, but it’s more about HOW I’m investing the time I do have – not wasting or spending or wishing away the hours.

Investing in the people and places and projects of now of course means saying no to other good things, but I’m not looking at it that way. I’m looking at being MORE INVESTED as bringing me MORE of what God has for my life. And really, that’s just the best there is.

I also know that when I shared my dream back in January, feeling all small and sheepish, God took what felt like a tiny dream and start pumping it up, little by little. The place He is taking that dream will require much MORE INVESTMENT in Him, in my family, and in my writing. In that order. Or it just won’t work.

Jesus shares the parable of the three servants both in Matthew 25 and Luke 19. They are each given money to invest by their master while he is gone. The first two servants invested well and added to the money entrusted to them, so they were rewarded by the master. The last servant held on to the money due to fear and had nothing more to show for it. He lost even what had been give to him. The parable wraps up this way:

To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. ~Matthew 25:29

Use well what I’ve been given and MORE will be given. That’s what investment is all about. And in the Kingdom of God, the rewards are for eternity.

Now it’s your turn to answer this loaded question…

More God-Sized Dreams

Read the posts of more God-sized dreamers and link up your own at Holley’s place today!

And if you need a little guidance {or a cheerleader!} on your God-sized dream journey, you must get Holley’s new book, You’re Made for a God-Sized Dream: Opening the Door to All God Has for You. Yes, I said MUST. You can thank me later.

*This post contains affiliate links.

Buffer

Filed Under: faith, family, God-sized Dreams

When You Don’t Know What to Pray For Your Family {Resource List}

February 23, 2013 By Erin 4 Comments

Family Prayer Resources

Praying for my family is a great privilege and responsibility, but I’m going to be honest with you right now: it can be totally overwhelming to me.

Some days I don’t even know where to begin and some days I could pray for hours and hours for my husband and each of the boys!

I am so thankful for several prayers resources that help guide me as I pray for each member of my family, and I want to share my favorites with you today!

Family Prayer Resources I Love

For the whole family:

The Bible – sometimes a Bible verse is all I really need! There are no shortage of Bible verses to pray for your family!
Daily prayers for both husband and children from Kat at Inspired to Action – You can find these both on Twitter and Facebook.

For my husband and our marriage:

Praying God’s Word for Your Husband by Kathi Lipp {read my review here}
The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian
Daily prayer emails from The Unveiled Wife

For boys:

Warrior Prayers – The ebook is fabulous, and there are new prayers posted every day on the MOB Society Facebook page!

For kids in general:

Upside-Down Prayers for Parents {read this with our “book club” in March}
The Power of a Praying Parent by Stormie Omartian
Praying God’s Word for Your Kids by Amanda White {FREE when you subscribe to her blog!}

*****

Along with my favorites, I’m excited to tell you about a bunch of mama praying resources shared by the fabulous moms at our Upside-Down Prayers for Parents Twitter party the other night! Some of those shared I already listed above, so I just added the new ones below! I cannot wait to check these out and I hope you will add any of your favorites in the comments!

Praying Like Paul by Jonathan Graf
Busy Mom’s Guide to Prayer by Lisa Whelchel
Prayers That Avail Much for Mothers by Germaine Copeland
God’s Word, Your Voice series by Becky Van Volkinburg
Amanda’s Pray for Your Kids Pinterest board

*****

Where do you turn for guidance to pray for your family? What would you add to the list above?

Buffer

Filed Under: faith, family, motherhood, prayer

Upside-Down Prayers for Parents is Here!

February 19, 2013 By Erin 11 Comments

Today is a very exciting day! One of the books I’ve been wanting YOU to read is being released today and I have all sorts of fun stuff to share with you to go along with its launch!

Upside-Down Prayers for Parents: Thirty-One Daring Devotions for Entrusting Your Child–and Yourself–to God is the newest release from one of the loveliest, most personable authors on the planet, Lisa T. Bergren. I love her children’s books. I love her novels. But this is my favorite book by her and I think it will grab you as well.

It’s all about praying brave prayers for your children – prayers that put them in God’s hands and not tightly in your own. It will take guts to pray through this book for your children, but as Jen Hatmaker says, “Brave moms raise brave kids.” That’s exactly why this book changed my prayers for the boys in a very good way.

I feel extremely honored {and super giddy, to tell you the truth} to have my endorsement included in the front of the book. Yep, right there along with Tricia Goyer and Karen Ehman and Barbara Rainey…totally out of my league, but thankful to be able to share how important this book is to me!

Also included in the endorsements is one of my dear blogging best friends, Amanda, and we have lots of fun and community planned to go along with this book. We want YOU to join us in praying through this book for your kids!

First of all, we’re having a little shindig over on Twitter this Thursday night, February 21st to celebrate the launch! Join us on Twitter from 8:00 to 9:00 p.m. CST by tweeting with the hashtag #UDPrayers and be entered to win one of ten copies of the book being given away that night! Make sure you are following Lisa {@LisaTBergren}, Amanda {@oohamanda}, and myself {@homewiththeboys} to catch all of the questions and giveaways!

Secondly, Amanda and I are hosting a Facebook book club of sorts so we can all pray through the book together in the month of March!

Upside Down Prayers Book Club

It will be super easy to join in! Just make sure you do the following…

1. Buy the book! WaterBrook is offering the book to you for 30% off and free shipping – snag this deal now so you’re ready when March 1st rolls around! Click here to order and use the code LEADER30 when you check out! It should be even cheaper than buying from Amazon!

2. Start reading! You’ll obviously want to read Amanda and I’s endorsements, right?! Oh, and maybe check out the introduction from Lisa before March 1st as well

3. Join the conversation on Facebook March 1st! Upside-Down Prayers has 31 chapters – one for each day of March! Read Chapter 1 on March 1st, then hop over to my Facebook page and Amanda’s to chime in on our discussion and find other goodies, such as Scripture to share and the occasional comment from Lisa herself!

4. Lather, rinse, repeat #3 for the rest of the month!

Oh, we so hope you will join us on this journey of laying bold prayer requests for our children at the feet of Jesus!

And lastly today, as special treat, I have a little interview with Lisa herself about praying for our kids! I was so blessed by her answers and hope you are as well!

Q: How have your prayers for your children changed over the years?

Lisa: When they were small, I think my prayers were more centered on basic physical and emotionalwell being–let them thrive, get over this illness, etc. And on me too–show me how to be patient when I’m at the end of my rope, Lord…Mold me into a better example for these little ones…

But now that they’re older (17, 14, and 9) I find myself more focused on that spiritual well being that this book, Upside-Down Prayers for Parents, really goes after. I want them to truly be brave and courageous for Christ, fully submitted and trusting in the One who loves them most. And part of that is my own journey of submission to our Savior…I’ve finally gotten far enough that I’m willing to relinquish any pseudo-control I have over my kids’ lives, and trust them to God. I want them to be rich, deep disciples, rich in the faith, and that means trusting that God will sustain them even through the tough stuff of life. Just as I trust him to hold me.

Q: What kinds of things do you pray for WITH your kids?

Lisa: We’re getting better about going right to God about things we’re wrestling with. It was awkward at first, but now I’m better at saying, “Let’s pray about that right now,” and then doing it with them. It’s tempting to say, “we should pray about that,” and then move on, but it’s really important to model for our kids how to pray “about that.” So we’ve prayed about kids that are causing problems for them, kids struggling with something, my own child’s struggle, direction, healing, peace, even the need for sleep when faced with insomnia. It’s all fair game!

Sometimes the older one will say, “not now,” and I honor that space she needs. But it’s a good example of starting early. As they get older, they might get less and less open to this idea. But if it’s always been a part of their experience (which it wasn’t in my eldest’s), it’s harder to introduce. My Middlest and Youngest will be less adverse to it, I think, because it feels more natural. We’ll see!

Q: What is your best advice for parents of little ones overwhelmed with where to start in praying for their kids?

Lisa: Start small. Prayers they memorize are a good start. But each night, add in one special sentence that tackles something that happened that day, someone that touched both your lives. You can show them how to make God relevant and present in the real conversation of prayer, in the space of 30 seconds!

Good stuff right there, isn’t it?!

A HUGE thank you to Lisa for bringing me along for this journey of prayer discovery! I can’t wait for all of you to join the adventure as well! We’ll see you at the Twitter party THIS Thursday, February 21st, and on Facebook starting March 1st!

Buffer

Filed Under: book club, book review, faith, motherhood, parenting, prayer

Day & Night Cookies

February 3, 2013 By Erin 1 Comment

When Big J was three, I started doing some preschool at home with him, and we started off each day with a Bible story, beginning at the beginning!

One particular day, we were talking about how God created day and night and focused on the colors black and white.

He needed something to keep him occupied and he loved baking with me {still does occasionally}, so we came up with this fun little recipe!

We took my mom’s classic chocolate chip cookie recipe and mixed it up a little to make “Day and Night Cookies.” I threw in a little bit of this and that I found in the cupboard. We were both quite pleased with the yummy results!

Day Night Cookies Oven

The “mix-in” proportions can be changed to suit your tastes – more Heath in my case! Raisins could also make a great “night” option.

Big J had fun finding the black and white pieces as he ate the cookies. And looking back over this recipe, I think I’m ready to pop another batch in the oven!

Day Night Cookies