Memory to Last a Lifetime

As you know, family is important to me. Especially the relationship between a daughter and her daddy. This video is making its way around the internet right now and it made me smile when I observed how this daddy (Steve Monforto) handled his beautiful daughter (Emily Monforto). I'm not sure that his reaction was the easy reaction.

This memory will last forever between this daddy and his daughter and I am pretty sure she will never live it down. I'm also pretty sure she will never forget how her daddy loved her in that moment.

Great Job Steve

Facing the Giant

The best way to teach children is to lead by example.
Do as I say and not as I do, does not work.

On Saturday, we decided to head to Elephant Rock State Park. On the way there, I went the wrong direction and ended up at Tom Sauk Mountain State Park. As I drove through the park, I saw it. The Giant. I had faced this giant many times before and lost every battle.
Right in my face it stood, a 5 story tower.

I am afraid of heights. The heights themselves don't bother me, it's the thought of falling. Now I stand before my son, whom I have preached "No Fear" for the last month, trembling at the thought of scaling this tower. Yes, I'm convinced they engineer these towers to be wobbly with many holes to fall through.

As my son said, dad let's go, we began to climb the tower. My son gave out mid way up the 2nd story. Yippee, I get to go down and he does not have to know I am a chicken.

Not true. I knew I had to face this Giant.
I did. I won.
You know what, it was not too bad.

Oh yeah, I'm proud of my boy. Although he never made it to the top of the tower, he tried 3 times.

Paralyzing Fear

This past month, I started teaching my 5 year old how to ride a bike. I figured since he was headed to kindergarten, we should give the bike on 2 wheels a try. After all, I loved riding my bike as a child.
My brother might disagree with the last statement. See, I was deathly afraid to ride my bike on 2 wheels. I was very afraid that I would fall and hurt myself. Moral of the story, I was close to 8 years old before I started riding.

Well, my son suffers from the same fear I suffered as a child. It drove me nuts working with him because I knew how much joy he would get from riding if he would just get past his fear. He began riding on his very first try, but it took him at least a month before he believed he was able to ride. You have no idea how frustrating this was for me, his father.

In many moments of life, God steps in and helps me see things from his perspective.
I realize how frustrating it must be to my father (God) as I tremble in fear when He ask me to do something. I'm sure he knows how much enjoyment I will get out of the event if I just get past my fear and believe that I truly can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

Fear is a tool of Satan to paralyze us from accomplishing something great and achieving much enjoyment.
I guess the question we all must answer is this, do we trust our Father enough?

By the way, my son now loves riding his bike and that is all he wants to do when I get home.

Exciting God

I am reading an old, stapled together document from the Assemblies of God National Sunday School Department. I am re-writing a section for the all those that may work as children's ministers and not get a chance to read this yourself.
I have no idea how you would ever find it. The paper almost falls apart as I turn the pages.

In every part of your children's church program, excitement is the key to success. We teach the children that it is exciting to serve Jesus. Children's church is exciting, not fun! It can be fun, but it should always be exciting.
We serve a living, exciting Savior. The children need to experience this concept. Church should be the most exciting place in a child's life. the Bible should be the most exciting book. You should be the most exciting person they meet. You are God's person for those kids. Children's church is the most important hour of the week. If you are a dead-pan the rest of the week, it better not carry over to Sunday morning. Get hyped up! Get all excited!

Some Sundays we have to hype ourselves up. How can you do this?

• Look in the mirror and laugh
• run around the church
• cheer for Jesus
• Pray for the children by name - declare His victory
• Dream/Visualize the Results
• Tell the kids you are excited
• Mountain Dew

I'm glad I serve a God that makes me EXCITED

A Record Of My Life

I once read that any life worth living is worth writing about.

Yesterday, I picked up an old journal of mine. When I opened it, I realized that I was in the habit of journaling every day back in 2006. I was afraid of what I would read, but I found myself laughing, loving, crying, and enjoying every moment as I relived precious memories that I had actually forgotten. I relived moments with Andrew and Olivia, Michelle, my dad, and my Father in Heaven (God).

My son is starting Kindergarten right away. Every experienced parent tells me the next thing I know is that I will be watching him walk down the isle for high school graduation. I'm told to hang on to every moment because they will be gone before I know it.
What better gift can I offer my children than to write about my experiences, my feelings, my goals, etc. so they can see how God has moved in the life of our family and they can experience how much I love them. Not to mention how much fun it is to just look back and relive the moments.

You know, my life is worth living (Thank you Jesus) and I think it is worth writing about.
I am sure your children will enjoy reading about your life as well.

Will Your Children Remember???

Judges 2:10
Another Generation arose that did not know the Lord or the work which He had done for Israel.

Because the next generation did not know the great things of God, they became unfaithful to Him.

It is easy to think that we have time when it comes to children.
It is easy to not give them the time and investment that they require because they are resilient and they can adapt well.
Unfortunately, time passes too quickly and before you know it your child is no longer interested in what you might think and has already set his/her religious world view.

So, will your child remember the Lord and the work which He has done for you and your family?

Where Should I Send My Kid To School

In a couple weeks I will be sending my oldest son off to kindergarten.
Please wait while I dry my eyes.

As a christian parent, wanting to raise my child up with a strong Biblical foundation, I never knew the decision of how or where to send my child for his education would be such a difficult decision.
My wife and I discussed, debated, rationalized, and agonized over this decision for at least a year and a half.

Here were my thoughts
Public School - I'm not sure my child is ready to be around the worlds constant influence.
Private School - Why should I pay for school when I already pay taxes. Besides, I can't guarantee that he will be around great influences in private school.
Home School - Not enough social interaction
I have positive thoughts also, but these were my negatives for each option.

Very touchy subject. In fact, I probably just offended someone reading this.
That's because the topic of our children's education is so important to us parents seeking the best education for our kids while maintaining a Biblical influence in their life.

What I learned

• There is not a perfect solution and no solution is more right or wrong than another. Although many will disagree with that comment.
• I believe that it is important for a child to have a firm Biblical foundation set in place as they are exposed the the world driven by liberal media.
• We as parents must realize that we are required to pour ourselves into the lives of our children everyday and show them how to live a Godly life based on biblical principles. If we don't live out our faith at home, regardless of where we send them for school or how much we keep them in church, they are likely to stray from the faith.

Our decision - Private School (At least for now)