Hey Clawson Family!

Song:

Scripture:

Psalms 127:3-5

Children are a gift from the Lord;

    they are a reward from him.

4 

Children born to a young man

    are like arrows in a warrior’s hands.

5 

How joyful is the man whose quiver is full of them!

    He will not be put to shame when he confronts his accusers at the city gates.

Devotional

Reality checks:

1. The goal is not to make happy kids, but equip our kids for their future.

2. Your Child has a .001% Chance of playing any kind of professional sport, but has a 100% chance of standing before God one day. As we are parenting them that should be at the forefront of your mind

3. If you do not allow your child to experience things and make mistakes, they will not be equipped for the reality they live in called life. Your children need to be exposed to things in a healthy way. 

Sex and conversations on Sex is a great example of this. Parents don't want to talk to their kids about it, and the church doesn't want to talk to its people about it, but when our children step outside of the home and church the biggest topic of conversations is about sex. The world loves to talk about it.

The goal is not to shelter our children from everything, because when they get in the real world they won't be ready for it. The goal is to expose them to things in a healthy way so hopefully they can make a good well informed decision on hard things. 

4. If we don’t have the hard and uncomfortable conversations with your children, someone else is going to have them in a way that we did not want them to hear it. Have the hard conversations with your kids. Hard conversations are good and healthy.

Here are the types of things that we think as parents that we need to transform our mindsets:

1. I don’t want my kids to have to work, but I want them to be hard workers. 

2. I don’t want my kids to date, but I want them to find the right spouse. (If we don’t teach them to date in a healthy and godly way then they will not be equipped to be in a relationship with a spouse) 

3. I want my kids to be independent, but I also want them to do what I say. (Sometimes it is actually better to allow them to mess up and then help them with the lesson afterwards.)

Reality check... Parenting is Hard.

I think in our parenting if we can focus on these things:  Where I take them, what I teach them, How I discipline them, That I love them, and I do my best to lead my kids to Jesus and to have a relationship with Jesus, then you can turn your kids over to God and say… I did my best. God will you do the rest.

Journal:

How has God cared for your children or loved ones when you couldn’t be there yourself, and how does it build your trust to remember those moments? Write these things down in your journal.

Training

Father, 

Give me wisdom, as I raise my children, to remember what matters most in my parenting. Help me to be diligent in teaching them Your Word and Your ways. I trust You with my children, and I surrender the outcome to You. Your will is good, and Your heart is trustworthy. Please give me peace as I entrust my children and my loved ones to Your care. 

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.