A Different Way

Favorite Tweets for February

It's been a busy month.

This month, based on a suggestion from a friend, I'm not only going to list my own tweets (oh, vanity!), but my favorite tweets from others.

I'll start with great tweets from others:

@JamieTVWM: I told my kids to go outside for an hour. They're acting like I told them to move out to the woods for a year.
@kevinbglenn: "Your theology of heaven is displayed by how you spend your time and your money." Matt Williams @gracechurchsc
@kellyoxford: I just google searched the word "askew" and I would be a full on 100% jerk if I didn't tell you guys to go waste a few seconds and try it.
@PlattDavid: Prosperity theology wrongly exalts God's gifts (things we receive from God) above God's glory (the treasure we have in God)
@epicparent: "The problem with children is that you have to put up with their parents." ~Charles DeLint
@DanDAlberto: "I'll never, ever accept the idea that triviality, mediocrity, and futility are appropriate goals for any human being." - @umairh

Now, some mediocre tweets from yours truly:

Best part of kids going to bed = being able to play the "inappropriate" songs with my wife on Just Dance 3.
"Don't use busyness as an excuse to avoid what God really wants for you." Mike Chibbaro @gracechurchsc
Are diet soft drinks bad for you? http://j.mp/xEQo16 // I'm going back to regular Dr Pepper
"The call to follow Jesus is a call to surrender all." Larry Sizemore, Fairfax Baptist Church
"The central point of the kingdom of Jesus Christ is a personal relationship with Him, not public usefulness to others." Oswald Chambers
We can't fall in love with what we're doing & our successes. We need to fall in love with Jesus. Bill White @gracechurchsc
If I'm burned out & exhausted, it might not be because I'm working too hard for Jesus, but working too hard for others or for my own ego.
At rest time, my 5-year-old decided to remove his clothes & put them on backwards, including his underwear. #KrisKross
Took a 25 minute detour from teaching chemistry to explain to my class that their true identity is not based on their gifts or performance.

A Letter to Our Supporters

For those of you who have supported us financially over the past 12 months, please head over to my Mission: Allendale blog to read a Thank You Letter.

Have a great Leap Day!

God's ultimate goal is not for you or your child to be happy. God's goal is for you to worship Him. He'll even bring about hardships as a wake-up call for us (see Amos 4:6-13).

When my child has either an enjoyable or distressing experience, that is an opportunity to worship. But as a natural creature, he usually misses that (as do we). He focuses on the physical experience, and misses the spiritual. He must know and remember that the physical, emotional, and spiritual realms are directly connected.

As parents, we must work to continually remind our children that their lives are an intersection of the physical, emotional, and spiritual worlds. You can do this by remembering the sequence: circumstances - emotions - worship.

Circumstances. A child's life will be full of ups and downs. The ups include: good grades, meaningful friendships, success in sports, praise on good looks, having money, etc. The downs include: poor grades, unkind peers, perceived lack of talent, stress over appearance, lack of wealth, etc. These are a part of life and must not be casually dismissed. Additionally, as you disciple your children, don't make it your primary goal to create more good experiences, or minimize the bad.
Emotions. Good circumstances (such as listed above) lead to a child feeling happy and fulfilled. Bad things lead to sadness, fear, or anger. Many parents stop at this level, thinking that once you get passed the physical level, then you are able to get to the crux of the issue. But don't stop at engaging your child's emotional reality; help your child understand his or her spiritual reality.
Worship. Beyond the child's physical and emotional experiences, you must get her to understand and engage her spiritual reality. She is a child created in God's image, and she is intended to worship Him. So, when good things happen in a child's life, she will usually feel happiness; in those situations, remind her to praise the One who has blessed her. And when a child sins and fails to trust in God and God's will, she should feel sad. But don't let her remain there; that is the opportunity to remind her to repent of her sin. Praise and repentance are forms of worship.

In summary, there are some common mistakes that parents make in this process:

Focusing on the circumstances of your child's life. There is more to life than the physical reality.
Focusing at the emotional level. Don't stop at this level either. Life is more than physical truths and emotional responses to those truths. (Even demons have emotional responses -- James 2:19.)
Trying to jump straight to worship. This mistake may not be as obvious. In an effort to be spiritual leaders for our kids, we often ignore the physical and emotional realities. But worship is most meaningful in the context of your life's situations.

The next time something good or bad happens in your child's life, and he feels happy or sad about it, be sure to help direct him towards a heart of worship.

(Note, I want to be clear that the purpose of this post is regarding personal worship, not corporate worship. I do think that corporate worship is important, so I've written about responding to my child who didn't want to go to church services. But in this case, I want to address getting to a heart and life of worship.)

Recommend Links:

**image courtesy of lusi via rgbstock.com

Medieval Times

Our kids have been studying the Middle Ages in school. A couple of months ago, Joanna mentioned that maybe we could go to Medieval Times in Myrtle Beach at some point. She had been when she was younger, and knew that our children would enjoy it.

We found a good weekend, and planned our trip. It was well worth the trip (4 hours from Allendale).

Here are some of the highlights:

There was a promotion that gave us 2 free kids' tickets. Score.
We had hotel points for a free night. Score again.
Tons of great food (soup, bread, half a chicken, rib, pastry). I ate 2 meals, and if we had a way to keep leftovers, we would have.
Not sure why they only had caffeinated drinks and water. Where's the Sierra Mist for the kids? Oh, well. We were on vacation; bring the kids a Pepsi!
No utensils. My kids always love eating with their fingers, against our wishes. This was their dream come true!
I didn't like how they seemed to constantly get more and more money out of you -- photo op ($15), "dungeon" tour ($10), cheap sword toys ($8), etc. But, it's a business.
Great show with lots of action. Besides the fighting, they had entertainment like a trained falcon.
We were assigned to cheer for the yellow knight, and encouraged to boo the "evil" (according to the storyline) green knight.
Not only were the fight scenes well-choreographed, but I was impressed with their skills on a horse. You ever try to hit a 3-inch ring with a 10 foot lance, while galloping on a horse? Me neither, but I'm sure it can't be easy.
One of my favorite parts was when it was all over, and we got to meet the cast. Besides taking pictures, we asked them a lot of questions about their job. They all seemed to love their jobs. One guy was the electrician for when that building was constructed, and now he's been working for Medieval Times for 17 years. Other guys did the same, starting as a squire with no combat or horseback riding, and working their way up to becoming knights.

This last point led to some good conversation with our kids about enjoying your job, and being willing to be flexible with what God might have for you.

It was a fun weekend, and we recommend other families take a trip to Medieval Times.

Communication and Ministry

As you may recall, I've done some writing for the Kidmin1124 blog. Though I haven't written as much as I've wanted to, I've enjoyed the opportunity to get some of my ministry thoughts out there to help other church leaders.

Here are the latest two articles I've written:

7 Ways to Frustrate Your Team with Your Communications. "Communicating is more of an art than a science."
Don't Create a Ministry Kingdom. From an experience that I had a few years ago, that showed me a common battleground and division in church leadership.

To see the full list of the articles I've written for this blog, click here.

In Honor of Presidents' Day

From one of the greatest shows ever . . .

Sender-isms

Recently, Sender spent a morning at a friend's house in Greenville. The mom sent me these funny Sender-ism sayings from the day:

Upon seeing the folded down "stow & go" seats in the van: "Hey! That looks like a dance floor!!" And yes, they did.

Jumping out of front seat van window Dukes of Hazard style, yelling "waaaaahoooooo!!"

His comment on the peanut butter & jelly sandwich I served for lunch: "Um, did you not know I don't really like peanut butter?"
Me: "Well, your mom told me you eat pretty much anything..."
S: "Well, 'pretty much' "..... (i think if he knew how to use "air bunnies" quotations he would have)

Playing with the girls' dollhouse, asking my daughter, "Where's the potty? They need a boy's potty and a girl's one. They can't use the same ones. We need two. Do you have two potties?"

Glad he was a blast to our friends. He brings such joy to our lives, too!

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