Ministries:
Adult | Teens | Children

Pastor's Pen's:
2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001

Sermon Series:
Following Jesus
Earthly Cross
His Name Is
Apostles Creed
Dealing with Feelings
Jonah
Get Real
Promised Land Living

Grace Church
257 Kendall Street
Burlington, WI 53105

(262) 763-3021

Email:
Pastor Scott Carson

Secretary Patti Hall

PASTOR'S PENS 2003

Grace Church of Burlington September 7, 2003 "It’s the most wonderful time of the year..."             One creative office supplies store had a Dad pushing a cart through the aisles whistling that tune, "It’s the most wonderful time of the year...," as his family purchased supplies for the return to school. Now that the kids are back in school, it’s vital that we determine to make this a Christ-honoring fulfilling year. How can we do that? Let me suggest several ideas. Pray with your kids before they leave in the morning. Dedicate the day to the Lord. Ask our children for specific prayer requests. Pray for that test that they are having or that difficult assignment. And give them a hug before they go out the door, even if they are "sophisticated" teenagers. Know your child’s teachers. Obviously, you should know their name. Try to meet them. Personally, I think that it is a sin because it’s poor stewardship if parents never attend Parent-Teacher Conferences. Our children are our most valuable investment. If I keep up with my mutual fund bank account status, surely I will keep up with my children’s school situation. Also, let their teacher know that you appreciate the investment that they are making in your child. Most teachers are very dedicated and could easily earn the same amount or more with a lot less grief. Tragically, they typically only hear from unhappy parents. If they are doing a good job, they need to know it. Encourage joy and positiveness. Any half-wit can find something to complain about or criticize (they do it all the time). It takes spiritual maturity and wisdom to see the positives of life (and if we truly believe that God is in control, then even the bad is positive). School is hard work and the environment is often very negative. Frequently, we encourage complaining by our children. When you ask them about their day, be sure that you specifically ask them about the good things that happened at school that day. It’s a great habit for them to get into, to look for God’s goodness in the normal events of life. Obviously, that means that you need to model joyfulness and positiveness yourself. If you gripe about your job, home or day, your children will probably learn to be gripers, too.  Make sure that you get the whole story. Proverbs 18:13 says, "He who answers before listening, that is his folly and his shame." That simply means make sure that you have the whole story. One wise teacher sent a note home with her students that said, "I won’t believe half of what your child tells me happens at home, if you won’t believe half of what your child tells you happens at school." Before you go on a crusade in defense of your little angel, make sure that your angel is truly angelic (he/she is not...depravity is universal...they get it from their parents). With that in mind, please be careful that you do not undermine authority. The damage from a teacher’s poor judgment is usually far less than sowing seeds of disrespect for authority figures. All of us make poor judgments periodically. Then, too, many decisions are just subjective. Seek to always give the teacher the benefit of the doubt. A vital adult life skill that your child is going to need is how to submit to a future boss or leader, and work with them, even if they have made a wrong call or judgment. Learning that lesson begins in childhood. Go through proper channels. If there is a problem with your child’s teacher, make sure that you talk to the teacher first. Pray about it and go with a right spirit. Make sure that you have your facts. If though, you are unable to problem solve with the teacher, and it is a major issue (don’t make a mountain out of a mole hill), go to the next level . . . the vice principal or principal.  It’s gossip and a sin though to talk with other parents who are uninvolved about the problem. The rule of thumb of whom you should speak to about a problem is "if they are not part of the problem and not part of the solution, then it’s gossip." Try to make your home heaven on earth. The safest place for your child should be your home. At school there is peer pressure, multiple temptations and negativism. Home should be a safe haven. When your child walks through the door, they should be able to take a deep breath and feel that they are finally safe. While we need to encourage our children to be responsible about homework and home responsibilities, we need to be careful that we do not badger them. To put it another way, as parents we are to lead them into responsibility, not drive them. Our homes should be a little bit of heaven on earth for our children. Our children should WANT to come home, not want to be away from home and with their friends. Home should be the greatest place on earth for them. And Dad and Mom are the greatest contributors to the home atmosphere. Making home a piece of heaven begins though with heaven in your heart. If you do not have God’s joy and peace internally, you will have difficulty sharing it externally. Happiness truly is a choice and our children need us to make the right choice!