Sacred Parenting

Last week, Chris and I attended a parenting conference at church by Dr. Gary Thomas called, Sacred Parenting.  Such awesome material! We are also part of a Sunday school class that is studying the book Gospel Powered Parenting. We are both acutely aware of how much the Lord has to teach us in this area of raising our boys in the nurture and admonition of the Lord! I am just going to (for my own sake) post here the highlights of what we have been learning lately so that we can easily look back and reflect on what He has been teaching us when we need those reminders.  But if you choose to read on, hopefully you will be encouraged as well!

Sacred Parenting Conference highlights:
*Key verse was 2 Corinthians 7:1: "Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God." His point with this verse as it relates to parenting is that parenting gives us a chance to work on ourselves- to focus on our relationship with the Lord, ensuring that we are walking with Him closely and living life out of reverence for Christ, and thus passing that "baton" of reverencing the Lord down to our kids. The challenges we face as parents should push us closer to Him, as we trust Him with our children. 

*The last session focused on the cost of parenting.  This was the most influential for me personally.  He talked about how there is huge sacrifice in loving our kids and living out our faith before them.  He challenged us with the thought that so many Christians are willing to act like Christians as long as it doesn't cost us anything.  Contrast this attitude with the attitude of King David: "I will not sacrifice to the Lord that which costs me nothing" 2 Sam. 24:24.  Even greater though, he talked about and showed tons of verses that talk about Jesus giving himself for us- the ultimate sacrifice! If Christ can go to the cross for me, certainly I can make small sacrifices in comparison for my kids. How this plays out in each family is different, but I have been challenged by it even in the day-to-day stuff...engaging them in conversation in the car when I would rather "tune out" and/or get on the phone with a friend....getting down and playing with them even when the dishwasher needs to be unloaded....simple stuff that up to big decisions that each family faces. 

More to come on highlights thus far in the Sunday school class...that will be another post.