“How do we know we’re right?” asked my nine-year-old from the back seat. He and I talk a lot in the car because Sir Ask-A-Lot has my undivided attention. The current topic was Jesus, so I knew where he was heading. He continued, “I mean, how do we know our God is real, and all those other ones aren’t?”
I never thought I’d be defending my faith while maneuvering through traffic. But I guess we’re supposed to be ready for the tough questions. My kid is always asking things that force me to examine my own beliefs. On the bright side, he keeps me on my spiritual toes.
At some point in our walks, we’re all going to be asked how we know our God is real. Whether it’s accompanied by the innocent gaze of our children or the hostile glare of a stranger, we will have to answer it. I knew in my son’s case and it went beyond a conversation about faith, he needed something more concrete.
I immediately thought about the apostle John. He had a similar problem in the first century church. A belief called Gnosticism surfaced which denied, among other things, the physical nature of Christ. They believed that Christ was spirit only and never became flesh. John addressed this in his first epistle. He reminded everyone that he and others had actually walked alongside the Savior.
He doesn’t mince words, in chapter one verse one he says they have “heard and seen [Jesus].” He goes on to say, “We saw Him with our own eyes and touched Him with our own hands.” Again in verse two, he says “we have seen Him.” And finally in verse three “we ourselves have actually seen and heard.”
John easily battled the false doctrine with a simple, “I was there; I know the truth.” Unfortunately, John wasn’t riding in the passenger seat as I talked with my son. But his principle was. I can’t tell my son that I’ve seen Jesus with my own eyes and touched Him with my own hands, but I can tell him that I’ve seen and heard His work in my life.
It’s important that we show our children and others that God is real. We do that by telling them all of the things He has done in our lives. I told my son “I know Jesus is real because …” and went on with stories from my experience. These stories were the foundation for other car worthy topics such as biblical history, faith and the inerrancy of scripture.
John continues in verse four, “We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy.” By joy, he means fellowship with the Father and Jesus (vs. 3). Isn’t that our ultimate goal as parents, to have our children fully share our Joy? Hopefully by showing them how God is real in our lives, they will soon see how He is real in their lives.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Gensis 1:1 Lesson
Materials:
Old magazines Crayons
Scissors Construction Paper
Glue Stick Bible
Lesson:
1) Turn to Genesis 1:1- Read the verse aloud
2) Randomly throw out words like tree, rock, dirt, bird and ask who made it.
3) Have the children yell out their own suggestions.
4) Briefly discuss that while man may “put together” buildings, God made the components like metal and wood.
5) Turn to Psalm 139:14-16
6) Point out that God made us also. Each person was specially created by him before their birth.
7) Have children write their name and the statement “God made everything- even me!” on the construction paper.
8) Have them draw a small self-portrait on the page.
9) Have them cut out pictures of things God has made from the magazines.
10) Have them paste the pictures on the paper.
Old magazines Crayons
Scissors Construction Paper
Glue Stick Bible
Lesson:
1) Turn to Genesis 1:1- Read the verse aloud
2) Randomly throw out words like tree, rock, dirt, bird and ask who made it.
3) Have the children yell out their own suggestions.
4) Briefly discuss that while man may “put together” buildings, God made the components like metal and wood.
5) Turn to Psalm 139:14-16
6) Point out that God made us also. Each person was specially created by him before their birth.
7) Have children write their name and the statement “God made everything- even me!” on the construction paper.
8) Have them draw a small self-portrait on the page.
9) Have them cut out pictures of things God has made from the magazines.
10) Have them paste the pictures on the paper.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
MommySon Day
My son and I played hooky Monday, a random event known as “Mommy/Son Day.” We went to lunch at Firehouse Subs, my favorite. We looked around a hobby store; playing with remote controlled cars, airplane simulators and sizing up robot kits. Then we went to a gift shop where I bought myself a bracelet and my son a giant green pen. What ten-year-old boy doesn’t want a giant green pen? All of this followed by a movie and a game of Risk at home.
It was an awesome day. We had a blast together. We talked about frivolous topics like Legos and online games. We laughed a lot and didn’t have a single fight. This is an accomplishment considering that an average homeschool day for us is billed as “Hard Headed Mom v. Hard Headed Son – the Death Match.”
Which is why I have Mommy/Son day. Our normal days begin with school around 8 or 8:30 and expand to a myriad of lessons, some he loves and more he hates. This is interspersed with chores, both his and mine. Any break from school is an opportunity to do the laundry or make that call. We don’t have much time to just hang out on the average day.
I think that one of the challenges in homeschooling is to protect that parent-child relationship. It is easy for the loving bond to be lost amid the teacher-student dynamic. We are much more present in our children’s lives than the average parent; our kids begin to see us as correcting machines. We’re the main ones correcting school work, behavior and even posture (sit with your back straight when writing in cursive!).
A parent whose child is in school has one or more teachers to split that burden with. It’s the teacher who makes them do math or who marks the “F” on a test paper. A homeschool parent has to shoulder all of the negative aspects of education. I started Mommy/Son day to battle the image I was developing in my son’s eyes.
Of course, my son and I could do this on the week-end and not interrupt the school week. But for us, doing it on a day we should be schooling drives the point home. I’m telling my kid “You’re more important to me than Saxon mixed practice or Daily Grams.”
Throughout our time on Monday, I was also thinking about how this relates to my life in Christ. It is so easy to get trapped in the routine of faith that we forget our faith life is about a relationship with our Savior. Our walk becomes 11:00am Sunday, 6:00pm Wednesday, 6:30pm every other Thursday. Our quiet time becomes “get that passage read before bible study,” and “I’ve memorized the entire book of Acts.”
When is the last time you opened the Word or prayed without an agenda? When is the last time you sought God, whether in Word, song or prayer, out of a simple desire to spend time with your Maker? I asked myself those questions and was startled to find I wasn’t sure when I had last worshipped just to worship.
Convicted I got up early Tuesday morning and read some Psalms. I put away the concordance and commentaries and just read. I was reminded that God is our Protector, our Strength, our Hope. I entered the day renewed, refreshed and ready for “Hard Headed Mom v. Hard Headed Son round 2.”
It was an awesome day. We had a blast together. We talked about frivolous topics like Legos and online games. We laughed a lot and didn’t have a single fight. This is an accomplishment considering that an average homeschool day for us is billed as “Hard Headed Mom v. Hard Headed Son – the Death Match.”
Which is why I have Mommy/Son day. Our normal days begin with school around 8 or 8:30 and expand to a myriad of lessons, some he loves and more he hates. This is interspersed with chores, both his and mine. Any break from school is an opportunity to do the laundry or make that call. We don’t have much time to just hang out on the average day.
I think that one of the challenges in homeschooling is to protect that parent-child relationship. It is easy for the loving bond to be lost amid the teacher-student dynamic. We are much more present in our children’s lives than the average parent; our kids begin to see us as correcting machines. We’re the main ones correcting school work, behavior and even posture (sit with your back straight when writing in cursive!).
A parent whose child is in school has one or more teachers to split that burden with. It’s the teacher who makes them do math or who marks the “F” on a test paper. A homeschool parent has to shoulder all of the negative aspects of education. I started Mommy/Son day to battle the image I was developing in my son’s eyes.
Of course, my son and I could do this on the week-end and not interrupt the school week. But for us, doing it on a day we should be schooling drives the point home. I’m telling my kid “You’re more important to me than Saxon mixed practice or Daily Grams.”
Throughout our time on Monday, I was also thinking about how this relates to my life in Christ. It is so easy to get trapped in the routine of faith that we forget our faith life is about a relationship with our Savior. Our walk becomes 11:00am Sunday, 6:00pm Wednesday, 6:30pm every other Thursday. Our quiet time becomes “get that passage read before bible study,” and “I’ve memorized the entire book of Acts.”
When is the last time you opened the Word or prayed without an agenda? When is the last time you sought God, whether in Word, song or prayer, out of a simple desire to spend time with your Maker? I asked myself those questions and was startled to find I wasn’t sure when I had last worshipped just to worship.
Convicted I got up early Tuesday morning and read some Psalms. I put away the concordance and commentaries and just read. I was reminded that God is our Protector, our Strength, our Hope. I entered the day renewed, refreshed and ready for “Hard Headed Mom v. Hard Headed Son round 2.”
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Gotcha!
I am a neat, organized person. Some might say uptight, but at least I never loose anything. My ten-year-old son, on the other hand, could never be described as neat or organized. He is a truly random individual and I daily walk the line between letting him be himself and being driven insane by his ways.
Recently, I'd reached my messy room limit. His retreat was a wasteland of Legos, action figures and miscellaneous bits of paper, string and things I couldn't identify. "It's time to clean your room," I said. "You have until noon tomorrow or I'm coming in there. If I have to come in there, you won't be happy." Every good parent knows that consequences should be clearly spelled out, so I added. "I'll have free reign to throw away whatever I see fit."
"Okay," he answered calmly and went back to his computer game.
Before bed, I noticed that he hadn't picked up a single Lego. As a good parent, I wanted to teach him responsibility. He had a time limit and I needed to give him the opportunity to meet it without interference from me. However I couldn't resist a gentle reminder, "You have until noon or I'm going to throw things away."
"I know," he said. "I'll do it in the morning."
At nine the next morning, there were no changes to his room and he'd been up for two hours. I was perplexed. Wasn't he worried about losing some of his favorite things? I was also a little angry. Didn't he appreciate the grace I had already given him? I stalked off to find him, yet again at the computer. I reminded him in my scariest Mommy voice that his toys were in peril.
He glanced at me and said, "I've been thinking about that and I'm just going to let you do it. I need to divest anyway." (Yes, my son knows the word 'divest.')
I was stunned. What had just happened? As a good parent, I needed to follow through with what I'd promised. So his chore was now mine. In his room, I stared at the mad disarray and tried to remember the color of the carpet. With no other options left, I dove in and started to clean.
Part of me wanted to throw everything away just to get back at him, but I didn't have the heart. What kind of parent does that?
So I spent two days on biohazard detail. I had cricks in my back, neck and parts of my body I didn't know could develop cricks. I had almost gone blind plucking miniscule toy pieces out of the carpet and nearly gagged over yogurt containers that had been put into the toy bin instead of the trash. Oh, and I did dispose of one and a half black garbage bags full of junk.
Did my son learn his lesson after watching the bags go to the curb? Nooo, I had restored his Lego stash and found toys he thought he had lost. In fact, he thanked me and immediately began to play.
"What went wrong?" I moaned to my husband. "He wasn't even scared."
"Of course not, you're his Mom. He knows that you wouldn't do anything to hurt him," he answered.
I knew there was a lesson here besides how to get your kid to trick you into cleaning his room for him. My son gave me free reign with his most treasured items because he trusted me. I immediately thought about how we are to come to Christ as a little child. I wondered how often I go to God say "I trust You. Here's my life. Clean out the junk."
What was intended as a lesson for my son, taught me a couple of things instead. Good parents always learn from their mistakes and I now know not to include myself in my son's punishments. In case you're interested, my son has yet to ask me for a single item that was in those bags. He's never even missed them.
Recently, I'd reached my messy room limit. His retreat was a wasteland of Legos, action figures and miscellaneous bits of paper, string and things I couldn't identify. "It's time to clean your room," I said. "You have until noon tomorrow or I'm coming in there. If I have to come in there, you won't be happy." Every good parent knows that consequences should be clearly spelled out, so I added. "I'll have free reign to throw away whatever I see fit."
"Okay," he answered calmly and went back to his computer game.
Before bed, I noticed that he hadn't picked up a single Lego. As a good parent, I wanted to teach him responsibility. He had a time limit and I needed to give him the opportunity to meet it without interference from me. However I couldn't resist a gentle reminder, "You have until noon or I'm going to throw things away."
"I know," he said. "I'll do it in the morning."
At nine the next morning, there were no changes to his room and he'd been up for two hours. I was perplexed. Wasn't he worried about losing some of his favorite things? I was also a little angry. Didn't he appreciate the grace I had already given him? I stalked off to find him, yet again at the computer. I reminded him in my scariest Mommy voice that his toys were in peril.
He glanced at me and said, "I've been thinking about that and I'm just going to let you do it. I need to divest anyway." (Yes, my son knows the word 'divest.')
I was stunned. What had just happened? As a good parent, I needed to follow through with what I'd promised. So his chore was now mine. In his room, I stared at the mad disarray and tried to remember the color of the carpet. With no other options left, I dove in and started to clean.
Part of me wanted to throw everything away just to get back at him, but I didn't have the heart. What kind of parent does that?
So I spent two days on biohazard detail. I had cricks in my back, neck and parts of my body I didn't know could develop cricks. I had almost gone blind plucking miniscule toy pieces out of the carpet and nearly gagged over yogurt containers that had been put into the toy bin instead of the trash. Oh, and I did dispose of one and a half black garbage bags full of junk.
Did my son learn his lesson after watching the bags go to the curb? Nooo, I had restored his Lego stash and found toys he thought he had lost. In fact, he thanked me and immediately began to play.
"What went wrong?" I moaned to my husband. "He wasn't even scared."
"Of course not, you're his Mom. He knows that you wouldn't do anything to hurt him," he answered.
I knew there was a lesson here besides how to get your kid to trick you into cleaning his room for him. My son gave me free reign with his most treasured items because he trusted me. I immediately thought about how we are to come to Christ as a little child. I wondered how often I go to God say "I trust You. Here's my life. Clean out the junk."
What was intended as a lesson for my son, taught me a couple of things instead. Good parents always learn from their mistakes and I now know not to include myself in my son's punishments. In case you're interested, my son has yet to ask me for a single item that was in those bags. He's never even missed them.
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