Filling Children up With God's Creation and Good Wholesome Activities
Hello Sisters!
We are still at our Missouri homestead enjoying what looks to be spring weather. The birds are singing and we have sunshine, we are thankful!
But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 19:14
Jim and I were talking and he said I should write on this topic as many of you may be blessed to have children to raise in the Lord, unfortunately ours were grown and gone before we were born again but all we need is God's Word to teach us how to raise children (we have grandchildren) so we will simply encourage you with ideas and stories of others as we come across subjects like this in hopes that it will be of help and encouragement.
We know of families that have young children.... some of those families have both believing parents and some have only one believing parent. Some have raised their children in the Lord from a very young age and some are trying to remove theirs from the world because they are newly born again parents and trying to undo damage that has been done. There are all different situations going on but rejoice that you have the opportunity to do your best to instill the things of God into their lives!
Beware sisters, if you are keeping your children from the ways of the world, even the 'seemingly' harmless events are not of God. Christmas parties, swimming, fairs and carnivals, rodeos, cartoon movies, birthday parties etc....these are not of God and contain a lot of sin such as competition, pride, vanity, immodesty, lust, envy, greed, paganism, mysticism etc. (We have many teaching articles on our discernment blog that would help you and your husbands or spiritual authority http://spiritandtruthdiscernment.blogspot.com/ in such matters as these and many others in life).
We encourage believers to teach their children why such events are not of God, each one as it comes, and break down what is ungodly about them using scriptures to back up the argument. Once you have explained why they cannot attend such events you can then offer good and godly events that they can do with you as a family.
Children love picnics, hiking, camping, bonfires, country drives, feeding birds and squirrels, craft projects, building projects, fishing, bug and rock collecting, buy books you can buy to identify insects, birds, trees, get some magnifying glasses or binoculars. Start a small home business; making things they sell at farmers markets (crafts, bakery, garden produce,) or online..who knows it might be something that turns into a full family business. Take each child and let them buy a craft that they can make for their siblings as a gift just because they love them. You can even have impromptu picnics on the living room floor, bake a cake for no reason and let them frost it, have a family cooking night where everyone helps shop for the food (tacos, homemade pizza, finger foods) and then everyone helps prepare it. Make some cookies and take them to your neighbor with a tract. Go shopping for a food pantry and allow them each to spend a certain amount of money (this will teach them how to buy wisely) what they think hungry people would need (check with your food pantry to see if there are any restricted items, you may need to make a list the children can choose from while shopping). If you live by towns with homeless people make up some simple food packages with a small bible and tract then take drives around towns looking to share one with them. (Keep some in your car at all times) If you have a yard grow a garden, process the food, and let them have have responsibility of a little plot of their own. There are some families who live in town and cannot have a garden so they take trips to agriculture businesses and pick fruit or at the end of their growing season and get the left over produce then take it home and can, freeze or dry it; grow small plants indoors and let them see the amazing growing process. Some places have educational tours of their facilities such as berry patches, fish hatcheries, check out some small businesses to see if they have time to do a mini tour. Older children can draw pictures, add corresponding scriptures and make coloring pages for the younger children, then fasten them into books that help with moral issues. (Lying, stealing, laziness, doing good things) Go for walks in different neighborhoods with a pocket full of tracts and see if the Lord opens the door to hand some out. Get them each a journaling book and have them add to it every day what they learned in the Lord or activity they did in His name and at the end of the day the family can discuss them. Involve them in a mailing ministry sending out tracts; they can be addressing envelopes, sealing them, stamping them. (You can just look through a phone book)
Beware though even in outings of nature you may encounter ungodly activities or in the hot months more biblical nakedness at some places that you might need to avoid, just find an somewhere else to spend time. Also be very cautious about places that have a lot of children (play rooms, busy parks etc.) You cannot keep them from the sin of the world but you can use it as a teaching moment for example:
Teach them to think of scripture in all situations such as if you are driving through town and there are sinful things going by, what scriptures would apply, same with good and godly things like sunsets, or nature etc.
Be sure to fill them with God's creation and what's good and pure for a family to do together. It can be very difficult for children to fully understand, especially if they were raised in the world and then removed from it after having a taste of the sinful offerings but if you are diligent in your own life as an example and then offer good and pure alternatives to keep them busy, it will make the transition easier.
Teaching them to think of others and put a great emphasis on being thankful in all things is good so that they don't think this world is all about them.
You also definitely want to make sure they have a responsibility to do chores every day so they learn to give in that way as well as how to become young adults and not just demanding children where the parents do everything. Cooking, dish washing or rinsing, table clearing, sweeping, mopping, dusting, yard work, making beds, cleaning their room, washing windows etc these are all activities that children should be responsibile for on a daily basis. If a child can walk, they are old enough to learn how to do age based chores even if it means more work on the parents until they learn. There are ways to make such chores a bit more interesting such as chore charts, writing chores on paper and having them draw them out of a jar (age appropriate of course) buy them each a package of baby wipes and give them a room to clean door knobs, wall trim, chairs, the inside of the car where they sit etc. Get each one a cheap timer and they can use it to encourage themselves to get their particular chores finished in a timely manner. Take before and after pictures so they can see the difference.
Life is not about being fun for children, it should be about training them up in a life that is set on serving the Lord, serving others and maturing into an adult and the enjoyment is a secondary activity that comes as a result of obedience in their life. Read Titus 2 about being sober minded.
Do not give in because you feel sorry for them that they cannot partake of the world's offerings, be joyful that you can save them from burying themselves in the sin of it and they will be trained how to discern good from evil.
Hopefully these ideas have helped you and you probably can come up with a lot more of your own!
Have a joyous day!
Sister Deb
We are still at our Missouri homestead enjoying what looks to be spring weather. The birds are singing and we have sunshine, we are thankful!
But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 19:14
Jim and I were talking and he said I should write on this topic as many of you may be blessed to have children to raise in the Lord, unfortunately ours were grown and gone before we were born again but all we need is God's Word to teach us how to raise children (we have grandchildren) so we will simply encourage you with ideas and stories of others as we come across subjects like this in hopes that it will be of help and encouragement.
We know of families that have young children.... some of those families have both believing parents and some have only one believing parent. Some have raised their children in the Lord from a very young age and some are trying to remove theirs from the world because they are newly born again parents and trying to undo damage that has been done. There are all different situations going on but rejoice that you have the opportunity to do your best to instill the things of God into their lives!
Beware sisters, if you are keeping your children from the ways of the world, even the 'seemingly' harmless events are not of God. Christmas parties, swimming, fairs and carnivals, rodeos, cartoon movies, birthday parties etc....these are not of God and contain a lot of sin such as competition, pride, vanity, immodesty, lust, envy, greed, paganism, mysticism etc. (We have many teaching articles on our discernment blog that would help you and your husbands or spiritual authority http://spiritandtruthdiscernment.blogspot.com/ in such matters as these and many others in life).
We encourage believers to teach their children why such events are not of God, each one as it comes, and break down what is ungodly about them using scriptures to back up the argument. Once you have explained why they cannot attend such events you can then offer good and godly events that they can do with you as a family.
Children love picnics, hiking, camping, bonfires, country drives, feeding birds and squirrels, craft projects, building projects, fishing, bug and rock collecting, buy books you can buy to identify insects, birds, trees, get some magnifying glasses or binoculars. Start a small home business; making things they sell at farmers markets (crafts, bakery, garden produce,) or online..who knows it might be something that turns into a full family business. Take each child and let them buy a craft that they can make for their siblings as a gift just because they love them. You can even have impromptu picnics on the living room floor, bake a cake for no reason and let them frost it, have a family cooking night where everyone helps shop for the food (tacos, homemade pizza, finger foods) and then everyone helps prepare it. Make some cookies and take them to your neighbor with a tract. Go shopping for a food pantry and allow them each to spend a certain amount of money (this will teach them how to buy wisely) what they think hungry people would need (check with your food pantry to see if there are any restricted items, you may need to make a list the children can choose from while shopping). If you live by towns with homeless people make up some simple food packages with a small bible and tract then take drives around towns looking to share one with them. (Keep some in your car at all times) If you have a yard grow a garden, process the food, and let them have have responsibility of a little plot of their own. There are some families who live in town and cannot have a garden so they take trips to agriculture businesses and pick fruit or at the end of their growing season and get the left over produce then take it home and can, freeze or dry it; grow small plants indoors and let them see the amazing growing process. Some places have educational tours of their facilities such as berry patches, fish hatcheries, check out some small businesses to see if they have time to do a mini tour. Older children can draw pictures, add corresponding scriptures and make coloring pages for the younger children, then fasten them into books that help with moral issues. (Lying, stealing, laziness, doing good things) Go for walks in different neighborhoods with a pocket full of tracts and see if the Lord opens the door to hand some out. Get them each a journaling book and have them add to it every day what they learned in the Lord or activity they did in His name and at the end of the day the family can discuss them. Involve them in a mailing ministry sending out tracts; they can be addressing envelopes, sealing them, stamping them. (You can just look through a phone book)
Beware though even in outings of nature you may encounter ungodly activities or in the hot months more biblical nakedness at some places that you might need to avoid, just find an somewhere else to spend time. Also be very cautious about places that have a lot of children (play rooms, busy parks etc.) You cannot keep them from the sin of the world but you can use it as a teaching moment for example:
Teach them to think of scripture in all situations such as if you are driving through town and there are sinful things going by, what scriptures would apply, same with good and godly things like sunsets, or nature etc.
Be sure to fill them with God's creation and what's good and pure for a family to do together. It can be very difficult for children to fully understand, especially if they were raised in the world and then removed from it after having a taste of the sinful offerings but if you are diligent in your own life as an example and then offer good and pure alternatives to keep them busy, it will make the transition easier.
Teaching them to think of others and put a great emphasis on being thankful in all things is good so that they don't think this world is all about them.
Life is not about being fun for children, it should be about training them up in a life that is set on serving the Lord, serving others and maturing into an adult and the enjoyment is a secondary activity that comes as a result of obedience in their life. Read Titus 2 about being sober minded.
Do not give in because you feel sorry for them that they cannot partake of the world's offerings, be joyful that you can save them from burying themselves in the sin of it and they will be trained how to discern good from evil.
Hopefully these ideas have helped you and you probably can come up with a lot more of your own!
Have a joyous day!
Sister Deb
The biblical gospel...