If I ever need a second career, it most certainly could be as a referee. Maybe in wrestling or boxing. After all, I spend so much of my day breaking up fights and resolving conflicts. My life experience should add up to a lot on my resume. Don’t you think?

All kidding aside, my boys argue about anything and everything. It’s an issue we have been working on and praying about for a while. The thing with prayer is, often when you pray about something, God then gives you ample learning opportunities. Everyone jokes that you shouldn’t pray for patience because God will give you opportunities to learn practice. Well, in my case, since praying for my boys and their conflicts, I’ve been given plenty of opportunities to work with my children on it.

Recently the boys were arguing together over who would get to do something first. I don’t know if this happens in your house, but in mine, they will even argue about who gets to brush their teeth first at night. On this occasion, they were arguing about who got computer time first that day. Did I mention I was driving at the time?

I interrupted their argument and said, “We need an agreeable solution. I want you to consider how you can glorify God in this. Each of you pray in your heart, asking God how you can find a way to resolve this conflict.

A moment of silence passed and then my oldest said, “Ian goes first.”

This summer, we are using this curriculum: The Young Peacemaker (Book Set). This curriculum uses illustrated stories about real life conflicts children are likely to face. It teaches children how to deal with conflict Biblically. It’s a complete curriculum that can be used at home, church, or school. So far, the kids enjoy it and we’ve had great discussions about their own conflicts. They have role played how to handle conflicts and have even evaluated examples of conflict in scripture. It is my prayer that what they learn sinks deep into their heart. Though I know it also means there will be more and more opportunities to practice!

I recently noticed that when my son prays at night, he prays a broad, “forgive me of all my sins” type of prayer. Unless he’s been in some kind of trouble that day, he fails to remember any specific sins. I want my children to know that sin is much more than just not doing what they are told, fighting with each other, and failng to clean up their room. In fact, I want them to feel conviction over their sin and grieve over it.

The past couple of weeks we’ve been focusing on sin in our devotional time together.

We memorized these questions from the children’s shorter catechism:

Q. 28. What is Sin? A. Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of the law of God.

Q. 29. What is meant by want of conformity? A. Not being or doing what God requires.

Q. 30. What is meant by transgression? A. Doing what God forbids.

We studied these verses from scripture:

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23

“Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.” 1 John 3:4

And we went through this definition of sin by John Piper:

“What is sin?
It is the glory of God not honored.
The holiness of God not reverenced.
The greatness of God not admired.
The power of God not praised.
The truth of God not sought.
The wisdom of God not esteemed.
The beauty of God not treasured.
The goodness of God not savored.
The faithfulness of God not trusted.
The commandments of God not obeyed.
The justice of God not respected.
The wrath of God not feared.
The grace of God not cherished.
The presence of God not prized.
The person of God not loved.
That is sin.”

We talked about how many in the world don’t believe they are sinful because they haven’t murdered anyone or robbed a bank. We talked about how even just one sin is heinous in the eyes of God and worthy of his wrath. As we went through John Pipers definition, we realized how many sins we commit each day. When we fail to glorify God or don’t appreciate his goodness, we have sinned. When we don’t rejoice or marvel at the works of his hands, we have sinned.

I also had the boys do a little object lesson to show how even one sin takes over the heart. The impacts of our sins are great, even what we might consider ‘little’ sins. Sins also tend to multiply. After all it was just one sin which brought about the Fall of all mankind:

They put one drop of food coloring in a cup of water.

And watched it spread throughout the water.

Until the entire cup of water was red.

We also talked about why even our good deeds are sinful in the eyes of God. (see Isaiah 64:6)

My intention in this study is for my children to see that they are completely sinful and in desperate need of a Savior. For only Jesus can cleanse us from our sin, making us white as snow. And only because of Jesus can we stand before God, holy and blameless in his sight.

If your kids enjoy hiphop music, you might want to have them listen to this song by Shai Linne:

A friend recently asked me if I could give her some parenting advice. I smiled and said that I couldn’t because I’m not an expert and don’t know really what I am doing. She laughed and remarked on the ways parenting humbles us. My friend did not realize just how true her statement was. For many years, I taught, counseled, advised, and trained parents in the raising of their children. It’s a remarkable testimony to God’s grace toward me that I’ve come to a point in my own parenting where I am not at the ready to give advice.

Many people describe marriage as the laboratory where our spiritual growth is fostered and developed. I find it to be equally true of parenting as well…to read the rest of this post, visit Desiring God, my writing home today.

Praying one night with my youngest before he went to bed, I prayed for a ministry we support that serves orphans in China. In my prayer, I asked God to provide parents for each of the orphans.

Ian interrupted my prayer and said, “And God, please give mommies and daddies to all the children of the world.” After we prayed he said, “Mommy, why didn’t you pray that all children have mommies and daddies?”

Why indeed!

Living in America, it can be challenging to help our children care about what is happening in the rest of the world. Without the exposure to how the rest of the world lives, the everyday reality for other people is beyond their understanding. But as with all spiritual growth, a heart for the world develops over time and in deeper ways as our children mature in their faith. As parents, I believe it is important that we expose them in as many ways as we can to the realities of life around the world, not only physically but spiritually as well.

Jesus called us to go into all the world and spread the good news. I want my children to play a part in the Great Commission. I want them to develop a love for the lost. I want them to have a generous heart toward those who are in need. I want them to know that there is more to life than accumulating things, entertaining themselves, and living selfish lives.

I want my children to have a heart for the world.

To that end, there are a few things we have been doing in recent years to teach, disciple, and help our children develop a compassion for the lost.

1. We have been learning about other peoples and cultures around the world. We’ve used a great book this year called Window on the World: When We Pray God Works
that not only teaches children about the different people groups around the world but also tells us how to pray specifically for them. A friend of mine at Hive Resources shared a great idea that she does with her children, making food from other cultures and praying for the people there. Click here to read that post.

2. We also read biographies about famous missionaries. One series we love is called, Christian Heroes Books 1-5 Gift Set (Christian Heroes: Then & Now) (Displays and Gift Sets)We have learned about Amy Carmichael, David Livingstone, Gladys Alyward, Nate Saint, and many more. These books reveal stories about their childhood, their heart for missions, how God brought them into missions, the struggles they had and how God provided for them each step of the way. These books provided opportunities for great conversations about how God works through us to spread the gospel throughout the world.

3. Our family sponsors a child through Compassion International. We pray for our child and send him letters. The money we send provides for our child’s education, clothing, food, and medical needs. He learns about Jesus in his school and Compassion also reaches out to the rest of his family.

4. The past couple of years the boys have given “gifts” to Jesus at Christmas. This past year, they selected an item from the Compassion gift catalog that they want to save for throughout this year. At the end of the year, they will purchase their “gift” to help the “least of these.” Last year’s gift was to help a village get fresh water.

A cute story to go along with this: This week the boys have been home sick. The other day they decided to put together a scavenger hunt for me. I followed the clues all around the house until finally I arrived to the prize. And what was that prize? A pile of change to put in the savings jar for the Compassion gift this year.

5. On my heart for this next year is for us to do a mission’s trip as a family. A friend of ours takes groups on mission trips each summer and invited us to go on one next year. I’m not sure if we are ready to go to Kenya, but I am praying for wisdom and opportunities for a trip we can all do together.

I’d love to hear your ideas for ways to help our children have a heart for the world. So please share!

My oldest gets in the car from a day spent at his enrichment program at the local school. Turning to his brother, he shares a joke he learned on the playground. Overhearing the joke, I tell him it is not an appropriate joke and explain why. We talk about how the Bible instructs us to only use words that build up and bless other people and I point out to him how the joke fails to do that.

Then my youngest says, “Because you want us to be in heaven with you, right mom?”

A gospel moment, right there in the car.

“Buddy, as believers in Christ, we will be in heaven whether we say bad words or not. We are saved by faith in Jesus, not the good things we do. We obey God, not because it gets us into heaven but because we are so thankful for what he has done for us. We obey because we love him.”

Gospel moments are everywhere: at the dinner table, at the playground, in the grocery store, and in the car. The opportunities to disciple and lead our children to the truth of God are endless. While many times I talk to my children about the gospel during planned times of instruction, there are even more opportunities that occur just in living out our daily lives.

And especially in the car. The questions I hear tossed to me from the back seat are unlike the ones I hear anywhere else. Driving down the road with less distractions, my boys seem to ponder and consider the realities of life more than they do at home where toys, tv, and other activities keep their minds busy.

I’ve been asked questions about life, death, heaven, world views, Satan, evolution, and more while driving around town. My prayer is that I would be aware of those opportunities and that God would prepare me to speak the truths of the gospel to my children’s heart.

What kind of car conversations have you had lately?

“Mom, you’ll buy us a new toy on our next trip, right?”

My kids are bombarded everyday with advertisements to buy new things. They receive a free lego magazine in the mail where they see all the new sets they could buy. They pour over it, circling the items they want to save their allowance for. Even after getting a new toy, all too soon, I hear, “Mom, I’m bored!”

“What about the new legos you just got?”

“I’m done with them.”

“Already?”

My heart is the same way. I want something new and then soon after I get it, I want something else that’s new. My heart is never satisfied. It’s because I fill it with temporary things that can never fill the place in my heart made for God alone.

This is a topic I talk to my children about all the time. They’ve memorized Matthew 22:37. We talk about what it means to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind. We’ve done activities to help them think about the idols in their heart. And my ongoing prayer for them is that God would be their first and greatest love.

Recently, I found small wooden treasure boxes at the craft store that I knew my boys would love to use to put their small collections of shells and other finds inside. They decided that instead of painting them, they wanted to draw on them with permanent marker. While they colored, I read to them the story of the man who found a treasure in the The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name. We then talked about what it means for Jesus to be our greatest treasure. I told them that every time they look at their treasure box, it is a reminder of who their greatest treasure is.

And as for new toys, I told my son that day that if they weren’t going to play with the toys they have, I would get rid of all of them and give them to someone who would appreciate them. Later on, I found they had gotten out their long forgotten Tinker Toys and constructed a tower out of them.

How do you like to point your children to their greatest treasure? I’d love to hear your fun, creative ideas!

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