Serving Out of Love

Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Romans 12:10-11

 I do a lot for my kids.  I serve them. Because I love them.

 I love God so much more!! I want to serve Him too and I want to teach my kids that serving God is so much more than just writing a check and putting it in the offering baskets.  We serve not out of guilt or duty, but because we love.

 I want my kids to learn serving is a way of life. I am looking daily for opportunities to serve and share.  Most of the time, we serve our family, neighborhood and friends.  When we are out, we are looking for where God is working and join in.  I try and take every opportunity we have to get out there are serve a local ministry because I want to expose the kids to as much ministry as possible. This is not easy with all of the activities and schoolwork expected of my kids!  Sometimes it is hard work to get them there so they can be blessed to be a blessing.

Last week was one of those times.  We had a fieldtrip to the Children’s Hunger Fund warehouse.  We put on our hairnets and gloves and filled Food Paks that are distributed to local churches full of needed food. They are literally sent all over the world.  Most recently to Ebola-stricken Liberia. They in turn deliver them to those in need in Jesus’ name.  What a blessing it was to hear firsthand what the ministry is doing! Incredible!

Why do we make such an effort to expose our kids to serving?

1. We want them to love God!

Because He has redeemed us and set us free, there is nothing I would rather do than serve Him and be a part of His plan.  I am excited to see where God is working and jump in!  I want my kids to catch the enthusiasm my husband and I have for our Lord and Savior.  We want them to share in our love for Him and give willingly of themselves!  When they see we are excited, they get the bug too!

 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Romans 12:1

 2.  We want them to see God!

I believe there is no better place to experience God than where He is working.  My kids get to see miracles firsthand and see how awesome our mighty God is! There is nothing better as a parent than to see your child’s eyes open wide when they realize God is at work . . . and they are a part of it!  Whether it is here in America or overseas, God is doing amazing things every day.  Those that are part of His work are blessed to be a part. 

 Don't forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!  Hebrew 13:11 

3.  We want the Word of God to come alive for them.

There are so many verses about serving the Lord in the Bible.  When we teach our kids these verses and then put them into action, it is powerful for our kids.  So many things they learn in these formidable years, but few of them require too much action on their part.  Serving the Lord puts feet to His Word that does not come back void.  They get to see that it glorifies Him, that it blesses them, and that joy comes from serving the Lord.

 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Gal. 5:14 

4.  We want to rescue them from themselves!

Unfortunately, in Southern California, we are surrounded by activity, entertainment and stuff.  It is everywhere, I know!  As I spend time being the mamma taxi driver, I think “shouldn’t we be saving the world?!”  Does this next dance lesson count for eternity? But more importantly, I see their hearts.  My kids get caught up in the treasures of the world and quickly can focus on themselves.  Funny, I have the same problem.  Stepping out to serve others quickly takes the focus off of them and puts it back on others.  You cannot serve two masters. Kids can easily go from self-focused to others-focused in minutes, which we are hoping will continue as they grow into adulthood.

"No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.   Matt. 6:24

5.  We want to help them see their purpose in life!

We believe serving helps focus on God’s grand plan.  Once our kids get a vision for what God has planned for their lives, we know He will make it happen.  But that can only come from God – and not mom and dad!  Serving helps kids see that they have a gift with which to serve Christ; the more opportunities we give them to stretch, the better they might be at seeing their purpose in life.

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace 1 Peter 4:10

So yes . . .getting the whole family up at 6:00 a.m. and driving up two hours to serve as a family was a stretch, but I believe that the rewards will be great.  Our memories of serving will become another picture in their lifetime of loving God.  We think the effort is worth it.

 Where can you serve with your kids? What do you have to sacrifice to make this happen?

Time

I have never had a website, a Facebook page, Pinterest account or a Blog until January of this New Year 2015!  I am officially welcoming a new world of technological communication with the opening of all four at once!  With its availability comes a huge responsibility to use them wisely…they can become time consuming!  

“Our greatest danger in life is in permitting the urgent things to crowd out the important.”  Dr. Bob Jones, Sr. used to say, “Never sacrifice the permanent on the altar of the immediate.” 

Everyone receives an equal supply of time.  The only difference between us is in the way we spend it.  Each week brings us 168 golden hours.  We spend approximately 56 hours for sleep and recuperation.  We spend approximately 28 hours for eating and personal duties.  We spend approximately 40-50 hours for earning a living.  We have 30-40 hours left to spend just as we wish.  But how do we spend them?  How many hours for recreation?  How many hours for family communication?  How many hours for the regular worship of God (devotion, fellowship, meditation, etc.)  How many hours for personal service in the name of Christ?  Will we rob God?  We can and we do! 

Perhaps we may be very busy with good things, yet too busy for the best things.  The great question is:  Have we made wise use of our time as good stewards of Christ?

Henry Clay Trumbull said, “Today is, for all that we know, the opportunity and occasion of our lives.  On what we do or say today may depend the success and completeness of our entire life struggle.  It is for us, therefore, to use every moment of today as if our very eternity were dependent on its words and deeds”…

I know for me with this new commitment of 2015, I am so challenged to be circumspect with the “Steps of ACTION” I am setting for myself to stay focused. Here are the first two:

1.  Define the goal and set the priorities necessary to hit the mark. This will fill my life with godly purpose and direction.  My commitment is to your personal success each Monday morning and my first priority will be to set a defined amount of time to reach that goal.  That will entail allowing the Word of God to “dwell richly” in me during my daily devotional and worship time with Him (Matt. 6:33).  My goal is to please Him first!  Gal. 3:3 is my monitor, for it admonishes and asks me “…Are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?” Never, it cannot be done with eternal purpose!

2.  I am taking some of that time given each week to ask myself some important questions.

            When I get to the end of this year/life, what do I want to look back on and say I accomplished?

            Did I give personally with my service to God, with my family, friends, professionally…? 

            Who did I glorify…myself or my Lord?

How can I reach the full potential of what God has planned for me this year?  Philippians 3:12-14 says we are to press on toward the (set) goal, forgetting the past (no bitterness) and reach toward the future…  

Unplugging the Family

We love to get away.

My husband and I love to travel.  We love to explore and be adventurers.  We love to leave the worries of home, the to-do lists and the constant pressure of life behind and “get out of Dodge”.  Sometimes we hop on a plane or jump in the car for a long road trip, but most of the time we go just a hour or two from our home to somewhere close to nature.  Anywhere that God’s creation is close enough to touch the senses and join together in the harmony of life.

This last weekend, we headed up to our local mountains.  We took away cell phones, Ipads and went wireless for the weekend.  This is a Young family rule for getaways.  With two thirteen-year-old boys on the trip (my son and a friend), it is always a stretch to get them to leave behind their cyber world.  I find even my girls and my six-year-old son blossom in the non-technical world of yesteryear.

Have you ever wanted to grab away their phones and yell “Look at me!”?

Do you ever feel like the invisible friends they are texting are capturing their hearts?

How did my six-year-old learn to love all these online games?

Yeah, me, too!

But when we get away and unplug – something magical happens.  Sure, they complain at first, but eventually, my kids are my kids again.  This weekend, we played games – old-fashioned board games. They played for hours in the creek behind the house.  The older kids found freedom biking around the lake and through the very small mountain community.  They were bored for awhile, but then their God-given creativity took hold and they built forts.  They baked.  They cleaned up the cabin.  They created memories.

As a family, we reconnected hiking to a near by waterfall.  We went biking and antiquing and bowling.  We watched a couple of family friendly movies together by the fire.  We laughed and we joked.  The young men come up with very silly ways to express themselves.  We had home church on Sunday.

Why is this important?

There are so many great reasons to unplug from technology and get back to the simpler things in life.  We have seen Matt. 6:21 come to life “For where you treasure is, there will your heart be also”.

First, I see the addictive personalities in my kids and in myself.  This lesson is only really learned when we take away the object of our obsession.  It is funny how they act like a minute away is a death sentence, but after the weekend they tend to need it less.  Second, I feel like life is happening all around my kids and they may miss it!  The true experiences and conversations are happening in the moment.  I work hard to help my kids understand that these minutes in time will not be repeated.  Next, when we are always connected it is harder to experience the quiet times need to spend time with the Lord and evaluate our own lives.  Something is always beeping or flashing to get our attention.  They seem to always interrupt our family conversation times.  Lastly, there is something entirely unique and wonderful about being face-to-face with others.  Yes, we can text and facebook, but nothing will replace the experience of looking at another person in the eye and sharing our heart and dreams.  Family time is meant to be shared together and not all co-existing in our own worlds.

Our family has decided that family vacations and getaways are our times together.  We also take off certain days at home too as “non-tech days”.  We hold on to them tightly because we know the world wants to rob us of these special times together.  So unplug with your kids and see what happens.

Do you need an “unplugged” vacation?