I learn alot of really good stuff from my daughters. I really honestly believe it would be impossible for me to love them more. They are truly sweet girls.
Every once in a while though I learn a little from them when they are not at their absolute best. When some of their worst comes peaking through.
Like complaining.
I’m sure that most every one of you who is a parent has tried to do something special for your children only to have them complain about it. Say you are taking one of your children out to eat and they are disappointed that they can only order certain items on the menu. Or how about when you have taken them to the playground and have to leave after a while.
When things like that happen it reminds me that it’s easy to miss out on all the good you are experiencing because you are so focused one particular good that you are not. It also challenges me, frankly, that one of the most important ways I can honor God is by seeking to truly enjoy the things He’s given me.
I love it when my girls are thankful and when they all out enjoy what I’m trying to do for them. I don’t look at their enjoyment and think, oh that’s too much. When they are truly enjoying something that is good for them and when that enjoyment leads them to be grateful, I LOVE THAT!
And you know, I’m not doing an exposition of Scripture here so take it for what it’s worth, but I think it would be easy to make a biblical argument that so does God. A biblical argument that God loves it when we enjoy the good gifts – and I’m talking all out enjoy the good gifts He’s given us – when that enjoyment leads us to gratitude.
(One example that comes to mind is 1 Timothy 4:4 and 5)
That said, I’m making it a goal to enjoy life this year. And I mean, all out enjoy it for the glory of God…giving thanks to Him in all things.
3 responses so far ↓
God Change » Enjoy… // August 7, 2006 at 5:25 pm |
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Peter & Carmina van Arkens // August 28, 2006 at 8:08 am |
I often hear parents complain about their children’s “terrible two’s” and how things are so very difficult for sanity’s sake during these trying times. Our children have now grown up to be God-fearing teenagers of 14 and 15 years and for us, there never were any so-called terrible twos. Honestly, there never were and we can thank our Lord for that incredible blessing. We both believe that part of the reason why this has been this way for us, is that Carmina and I always believed in “investing time”, precious time, into our children. To provide a safe, stable, loving, caring environment for them to grow up in. We home-schooled them and we did with less than what others had. But we knew we were so very rich in the blessings that He was bestowing on us. Today, the fruits of the labor are so very evident. While many young girls struggle with their sexual identities in the high schools of America, our daughter instead focuses on staying pure, practice abstinence and stay involved in the youth group of LifeQuest Church here in Phoenix, AZ. The church’s youth pastor also came up with a nifty idea for the youths attending the so-called EPIC teams. The Internet has some terrible websites(myspace.com, for example) where many kids gravitate towards to express themselves. Oftentimes, however, this website is monitored by sinful derelicts out to destroy and plunder the innocence of many of these kids. Our church here decided to create their own blog website called My Epicspace.com, which now gives our youth a protected environment to post comments, share photos and communicate daily with one another, all via a password protected website. It’s a terrific idea and parents can rest assured that all communications are monitored by the youth pastor. It’s a very good idea and one that I would recommend to any church. Parents, it is both our privilege and responsibility to train a child in the way he should go, and we can make a difference by taking an active interest in our kids and their daily goings-on. Moms, you are so well equipped by God to handle so many things and we men can only admire and help you wherever we can. A family can be “all that it can be” by lowering your economic sights and increasing your forward-looking sights for the benefit of your kids today. It’s well worth the investment.
In Christ, with love to all our brothers and sisters in Pennsylvania. You are missed, but we serve a great and mighty God who is all-knowing, all loving and worthy of our praise, amen?
Peter and Carmina van Arkens
formerly of Center Valley, PA
formerly with Grace Fellowship Church in Coopersburg, PA
Peter & Carmina van Arkens // September 1, 2006 at 1:02 am |
Well said, pastor Josh. Parenting is such a privilege and one that should never be minimized in any way. We have been given the responsibility to care for our children in a very special way: God’s way. Training them up in the way they should go and being there for them when they are seeking help is such a wonderful thing to give our kids.