Our speaker for the morning was Jim Shelton, Crossroads' High School Pastor, on Parenting from
the Heart.
"Train
up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from
it."
Proverbs
22:6
We raise our children according to their
personality style as each child and every parenting situation is
different. Pastor Jim referred to Mark Matlock’s Real World Parenting.
Pastor
Jim told the story of Jessie, David’s
father. God worked on David’s heart through Jessie’s parenting as David became a “man
after God’s heart.” Samuel
16:13 says “The Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David
from that day forward.” This is what we all want for our kids... for them to be raised up to follow God!
In shepherding your child’s heart it’s all
about…
#1 Mission
Give
your child a purpose. Make a family mission – this is what are we here for!
“Stay
where you are. Find your own Calcutta.
Find the sick, the suffering, and the lonely right there where you are — in
your own homes and in your own families, in your workplaces and in your
schools.”
-Mother
Teresa
A few suggestions he had for family outreach:
Operation
Christmas Child
#2 Guarding Hearts
“Above all else, guard your heart, for
everything you do flows from it.”
Proverbs
4:23
“The heart is deceitful above all things and
beyond cure. Who can understand it?”
Jeremiah 17:9
Susanna Wesley was the mother of 19 children, 10 of
which survived. Susanna made it her
practice to spend individual time with each child – to pray with them, to talk
with them, and to inspire them!
She
also modeled for her children how to have individual time with God; she gave
them a pattern to follow as she guarded her own heart.
Two of her sons became
incredibly influential men: John was an evangelical preacher and Charles wrote
some of the greatest hymns.
The Family Treasurebox object lesson book that Pastor Jim mentioned yesterday for family devotions is no longer available but he did provide this reference for free family devotionals also by Focus on the Family that are found online:
http://www.focusonthefamily.com/parenting/spiritual_growth_for_kids/family_mealtime_devotionals.aspx
These devotionals are excerpted from the book
Mealtime Moments; it is currently out of print but appears on other retailer websites as used.
#2 Keep Your Heart Humble To God
“He must increase,
and I must decrease.”
John 3:30
Our job as parents is to shepherd our child's heart but remember, things do happen. Adam
and Eve lived in the perfect environment in the Garden but sin still happened.
We need to trust God moment by moment as He
helps us in every situation and trust He is in control.
A few other notes...
We will have a special raffle at our December meeting! You can "earn" entries into the raffle by
inviting friends to MOPS: one entry for a friend visiting and 4 additional entries into the raffle if that mom
registers for MOPS and pays her dues. It doesn't have to just be a friend; it could be moms you meet at the park, library, or anywhere! We will have business cards to you soon to help them invite friends and get out our information.
We have 2 open spots on our Leadership Team helping with A/V during meetings and Hospitality. Please email here for more information and join us for our next Leadership meeting on October 7th.
If you haven't done so already, please pay your dues. There is a $24.95 MOPS International fee, and
local dues are collected in the fall and the spring ($50 each) to
cover child care, craft and other expenses. You can pay online with a card at
http://crossroads.org/mops (click "Register") as well as with exact cash or check made out to Crossroads MOPS at our next meeting.
Please don't let finances get in the way of joining something incredible. We have scholarships readily available. Please email here for more information.
Because of September having a 5th Tuesday, you will get to enjoy 2 playdates with your Small Group before our next meeting!
The speaker for our next MOPS meeting on October 14th will be Kellie Kelbaugh. She will be speaking on Finding Joy & Overcoming Grief.
We will also be hearing about the Griefshare ministry and a new support group they have for those who have experience pregnancy and infant loss (http://www.crossroads.org/grief).
Thank you to Jamie Branham, one of our own MOPS moms, for sponsoring this week's meeting, and please consider her for any of your Pampered Chef needs!
http://new.pamperedchef.com/pws/jamiebranham
