Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. ~ Ephesians 6:4
READING: Philippians 4:8, 9
Because the church planting lifestyle creates such an overlapping experience of home and church and work, it’s almost impossible to completely shield our children from observing our frustrations and sorrows in ministry. Relational shakeups can affect even young children: “Daddy, why doesn’t my friend Billy come to our church anymore?”
Therefore, it’s doubly important to make the effort to educate our children on the joys and blessings as well so that they can see why we love doing what we do.
Jim did this in a number of ways with our two boys. One enjoyable strategy involved letting one or the other son tag along, every once in a while, on Jim’s regular outing to go door-to-door calling in the community. This was a win-win situation. It gave him a companion between houses – people were usually less resistant when they saw Jim with a youngster in tow – and it made good, lasting memories of father/son bonding.
Another memorable time, our son Andy was serving as a greeter in our third church. A gentleman asked Andy to find his dad, which he did. The man told Jim that he was ready to pray to receive Christ. Andy stood right beside his daddy as Jim led this precious man to Christ. Andy and Jim were so excited!
As a regular habit, we found it important to verbalize often and in specifics the reasons why we were so happy to be doing what we did. Children take their cues from us because we set the emotional tone for the household.
Dear Father, Please help me to model a positive attitude before my children. Amen.
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