Tug of War

Welcome Back! After two long weeks off it is nice to be back in Kid's Club. He hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

This week we had a great time with Renee and Justin. Thanks Cole for inviting your parents to spend the evening as our special guests. The evening started off with an exciting competition between Justin and Cole. We had a tug of war matchup. It was a fierce battle but in the end Cole was no match to Justin's brute strength. (Not to mention Justin's just a little bit bigger than Cole.) The second round of Tug of War was a bit different. Cole teamed up with about 15 of his heavy weight friends and easily put down the competition. Team Kid's Club was victorious. Now you may be asking what does this have to do with Kid's Club, and honoring our parents? Our lesson for the week was on the Tower of Babel. Scripture says that when God came down he said "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them." God had told the people that they were to fill the earth and they wanted to build a tower "so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth." In their unity they sought to disobey God so God confused their language and the result was obedience. They scattered over the face of the whole earth. When we unite to honor God we can accomplish much but when we unite to dishonor God he can break the unity to bring about his will. As families let's be united to honor God. Let's use our time together to accomplish much for God.

As you spend time this season decorating Christmas Trees or baking great Christmas goodies, think of things you can do as a family to accomplish much for God. As a family seek out an opportunity to show love to someone who needs it. If they ask why tell them you just wanted to share the good news of the season.

Cinderella

We had a great time with Rebekah's Parents. We enjoyed having Mark and Lisa visit us so we could honor them as parents.

Kids: We are finding that honoring our parents is no little thing. Some of the ways we honor our parents are by obeying, respecting, loving and spending time with them. This week we explored yet another way we can honor our parents. Rebekah told us how when there is a storm she feels at peace because her parents are around. She even shared with us that when there is a tornado warning her family, just like our family, camp out in the basement until the storm is passed. We also talked about how Rebekah learned to ride a bike. Her dad held the bike upright just until the right time when he knew she could stay up. Then he let go and she was able to stay up. In all of those events Rebekah was showing that she trusted her parents. This is another way that we honor them. By trusting them we show that we know they want to take care of us. They love us and we put our faith in them to care and protect us. Some of the ways we can trust them is by listening to what they say and then following what they say. Trusting and obeying kind of overlap. We obey our parents because we trust that they want the best for us.

Parents: Our children trust us. All through their lives there will be times when our children will come to us for support, advice, encouragement and love. As parents we need to be there for them, to be available, ready to do the things that say "you can trust me". I want to share with you an email that I received last week. I receive some great encouraging emails from the Familyman Ministries, started by Todd Wilson. I am attaching one of his emails and then a link to a great song by Steven Curtis Chapman.

Dads, follow this link http://www.familymanweb.com/newsletter to signup to receive the newsletter. Moms - If your husband doesn't sign up to receive this newsletter go sign him up yourself!! Todd has a heart for men being great dads and husbands. His weekly emails are an encouragement and his website has many resources to encourage dads to be the best husbands and dads they can be.

Here is the email:

You know, there’s just something very pink and tinkerbellish about girls. Sure,
there’s also a ton of unbridled emotion and changing of clothes that goes hand
in hand with having a girl, but there’s just something wonderful about
daughters. My daughter Katherine (10) has proven that to me more than once in
the last two weeks. The first time happened on a beautiful, fall night when we
were still able to eat dinner on our screened-in porch. We were halfway through
dinner when Katherine asked a question, and I responded in a fairly normal
way---I thought. Katherine was hit with a wave of emotion and burst into
tears. I was touched by her brokenness and in my softest, most fatherly voice I
said, “I didn’t mean it that way, Katherine. I’m so sorry---” Her tears stopped
and later that evening she walked up to me and apologized for her outburst, and
we hugged and talked. A few days later, I walked past her and she gave me a
funny look. "Dad,” she said, “can you dance with me?” I have to admit that I was taken back by her question---she’s never asked me to dance before. But without hesitation, I put my arms around her and swept her off her feet to giggles of delight. Then, last Thursday a tornado touched down just a few miles from our home. The radio blared its emergency test warning---but it wasn’t a test. Katherine was a mess---and she’s never even seen the Wizard of OZ. The entire night she clung to me and wanted to hear my words of assurance.
And lastly, she proved it to me again when our whole family went to the mall recently. As I walked to the pretzel booth, Katherine walked with me with her arm around my waist---like a teenager with her boyfriend. It felt a little weird, but it grew on me as we walked. In fact, by the time we got to the pretzel place, I was kind of bummed that she removed her arm. OK, so here’s the point, Dad. Our daughters find comfort, security, and love in us. They need us to sweep them off their feet from time to time, talk gently, and try to understand their emotions. If we’re not there for them---some other guy with baggy jeans will be. So, Dad, be there. Make the time to hold your daughter on your lap, ask her about her day, and put your arm around her waist like you’re a teenager and she’s your girlfriend---because she is.

We want to give Brady and Lindsay a hearty Thank You for joining us at our last Kid's Club meeting. We had a great time discussing how we, as children, need to honor our parents. Each week I ask the kids what it means to honor their parents. One of the first answers is "we need to obey them". I had been holding off on discussing obedience with the kids because it is an area that most of them understand. We are supposed to do the things that our mom and dad tell us to do and yet we so often disobey. Why?

Jenna and I talked about making cookies. We discussed how exciting it is when mom pulls the batch out of the oven and we want to take a bite, but, mom says we have to wait. We don't necessarily want to wait but mom did say wait. Why? Why would mom want to stop me from enjoying the cookies. Is she selfish? Does she want to withhold the cookies from me? Does she want to keep them all to herself? No, the reason I have to wait is because mom knows what is best for me. She knows the cookies are hot and they would burn me. Mom withholds the cookies because she loves me.

In our lesson later that night the kids and I touched upon the reason why we disobey. We disobey because the first man and woman disobeyed God. God told Adam and Eve to leave the tree of the knowledge of good and evil alone. They were not even to touch the tree. But they said in their hearts, "I will decide what is true and right," rather than trusting God to decide what is true and right. After Adam and Eve sinned a terrible thing happened between God and mankind. The perfect relationship was torn in two. Man and woman no longer had a perfect relationship with God, they were separated. The separation was caused by disobedience and we call that disobedience, sin.

The same thing happens when we disobey our parents. The relationship is damaged and things must be made right. Usually there is pain. It may be pain that is caused by our disobedience, such as getting burned by the cookies, or it could be pain that is caused by discipline from mom or dad. Please understand Mom and Dad, there must be discipline. It could be as simple as a firm talking to or it could involve more severe punishment depending on the situation, but there must be discipline. To withhold discipline is to affirm in your child that disobedience is ok - that to disobey is a little thing.

The reality is that disobedience is a BIG thing. When our children disobey us they disobey God as well. If we treat our children's disobedience to us a as a little thing it teaches them that their disobedience to God is a little thing as well. Their disobedience to us provides us with an incredible opportunity to demonstrate the relationship between mankind and God. Use your child's time of disobedience to display what takes place between us and God when we disobey. The relationship is broken, punishment must be made. In His grace God has provided Jesus to take the ultimate punishment upon Himself - death. In the death of Jesus the penalty for our disobedience is met and we can be reunited with God. When you discipline your child take time to share the good news that Jesus provides a way for us to be reunited with God. Encourage them to ask the Father for forgiveness. The real issue when our children disobey us is not that they are sinning against us but that they are sinning ultimately against God.

Honor and Respect

It was our privilege to have Olivia's parents, Gary and Rachel, as our special guests this last week. As a group we talked about how Honor and Respect are closely related. They are often used interchangeably to describe each other. This week we decided to focus in on the positive side of respect. It isn't enough to just not do "bad things" but we must also do "good things". We must be seeking to look for the good and honorable things to do. When we honor and respect our parents we should think of ways to "esteem, show regard or to favor".

Each week we start off asking easy questions, questions that are simple to answer and then we move to more difficult questions. Olivia did a great job as I moved into some of the more difficult ones. We talked about things that we can do for her mom or dad when they are having a bad day. Some of the things that Olivia likes to do for them is to make cards for her parents to show that she loves and honors them. She likes to cook with her mom and may play games with her dad.

Kids, Make it a point to let your mom and dad know that you love them by doing something for them this week. It could be something like helping rake the leaves or do the laundry. It could also be something like making a card or just out of the blue giving them a hug and telling them you love them.

Parents, Last week we encouraged the kids to let you, the parent, love on them. This week we want to encourage you to let your kids love on you. When they come to talk to you, stop what you are doing and listen to them. They are coming to you because they honor, respect and love you. When they want to give you that hug, let them linger, enjoy it, anything else can wait.

Special Guests - The Harald's

We had another great evening honoring Nicholas' mom and dad, Mark and Dorinda Harald. It was a joy to get to know the Harald's a little better as well as giving Nicholas a chance to show honor to his parents. Sunday night we reviewed some additional ways that we can honor our parents. Some of the ideas the kids had included respecting, obeying, and listening to them.

We asked Nicholas what he does when he gets hurt. His answer was "my mom puts a band aid on it". We also asked him if he allows his mom and dad to hug him. He said that they give him a hug before going to bed at night. Mom's and Dad's love to show affection to their children and they do it in many little ways all throughout the day. Basically, Mom's and Dad's love to love.

Kids - let your mom and dad love you. It gives them joy and it gives them honor. Parents - let's take some time this week to encourage our children to let us show our love. Explain to them that it is honorable to allow your mom and dad to love you. Mom's and Dad's lets give our kids a few more hugs throughout the day and maybe just maybe try giving them a kiss on the cheek.

As I was writing this it made me think of our Father in heaven. Do I honor Him by letting Him love me? Have I put our faith in the fact that God really loves me? Do I cherish that love? I can imagine few greater hurts than to have one of my children reject my love. Have you hurt the Father by rejecting His love? Spend some time with Him this week. Allow Him to love you. You will honor Him if you do.

Special Guests!

Honor Your Father and Mother.

Each week in Kid's Club we want to reserve some special time to focus on honor. Specifically how to honor our mother and father? We discussed what it means to give Honor. Honoring our Mother and Father includes more than just obeying it also includes respect. We gave examples of dishonor such as direct disobedience, improper attitudes and arguing. This week we were privileged to have the parents of Chris and Zack join us.

Chris and Zack demonstrated honor by answering a few questions. We started off simple, asking just a few questions about a few of their parent’s favorite things:

Tim’s favorite soft drink is Coke.
His hobby is watching sports.
His favorite sports team is the University of Michigan
His favorite food…. Anything that isn’t moving. :)

Kari’s favorite food is chocolate.
Her favorite hobby is sewing.
Her favorite sports team is Michigan State and sometimes Penn State.
Her favorite sport is Hockey.

We then focused on Chris and Zack. We wanted to know what they enjoyed doing the most with their parents. Chris enjoyed any board games and Zack enjoyed Movies with his dad. We also asked them what they would miss the most if their parents had to leave for a year. Chris would miss his mom’s lasagna and Zack would miss his Dad’s “lame” jokes.

You might be asking, “How do these simple questions demonstrate honor?” The answer is time. The thing that Chris and Zack value the most is time with their parents. They didn’t even realize that they were showing honor to their parents in the answers they gave. But think of the honor they demonstrated by in affect saying that they most wanted time with their parents; time to listen to jokes, prepare great food, watch movies and play games.

So, thank you, Chris and Zack for showing us that one way we can honor our parents is by valuing the time they spend with us.