Boy Wanted

This "want ad" appeared in the early part of the last century. By Frank Crane

WANTED -
A boy that stands straight, sits straight, acts straight, and talks straight.
A boy whose fingernails are not in mourning, whose ears are clean, whose shoes are polished, whose clothes are brushed, whose hair is combed, and whose teeth are well cared for;
A boy who listens carefully when he is spoken to, who asks questions when he does not understand, and does not ask questions about things that are none of his business;
A boy that moves quickly and makes as little noise about it as possible;
A boy who whistles in the street, but does not whistle where he ought to keep still;
A boy who looks cheerful, has a ready smile for everybody, and never sulks;
A boy who is polite to every man and respectful to every woman and girl;
A boy who does not smoke cigarettes and has no desire to learn how;
A boy who is more eagar to know how to speak good English than to talk slang;
A boy that never bullies other boys nor allows other boys to bully him;
A boy who, when he does not know a thing, says, "I don't know," and when he has made a mistake says, "I'm sorry," and when he is asked to do a things says, "I'll try";
A boy who looks you right in the eye and tells the truth every time;
A boy who is eager to read good books;
A boy who would rather put in his spare time at the YMCA gymnasuium than to gamble for pennies in a back room;
A boy who does not want to be "smart" nor in any wise to attract attention;
A boy who would rather lose his job or be expelled from school than to tell a lie or be a cad;
A boy whom other boys like;
A boy who is at ease in the company of girls;
A boy who is not sorry for himself, and not forever thinking and talking about himself;
A boy who is friendly with his mother, and more intimate with her than anyone else;
A boy who makes you feel good when he is around;
A boy who is not goody-goody, a prig, or a little pharisee, but just healthy, happy, and full of life.
This boy is wanted everywhere. The family wants him, the school wants him, the office wants him, the boys want him, the girls want him, all creation wants him.

Ummhhh, I believe we will begin working through this list.... :-)

A Mother Matters

2 Kings 22 reminds me that a mother matters!

• Josiah was eight years old when the became king.
• His mother was Jedidah.
• He did what was pleasing in the Lord's sight and followed the example of his ancestor David. 
• He did not turn aside from doing right. 

As I read through 2 Kings 22, I couldn't help thinking of what a brave mother that Josiah had. She must have guarded his heart well. The previous two chapters talk about how wicked his grandfather, King Manessah, and father, King Amon, were. So wicked that God said that he would turn total destruction on Judah because of their sins.

Jedidah must have trained her son in private. She must have had a Godly upbringing that she wanted desperately to instill in her child. Why do I believe she was desperate? Because Judah wasn't a little wicked. It was miserably wicked. I do not believe there were moms' Scripture studies or support groups for homeschoolers. No. I believe that she knew the responsibility that lay squarely on her shoulders since her son would one day become the king. 

Would he follow the pattern of his father? His grandfather was a very wicked man who had greatly angered the Lord. She must have known all of this. She also must have know the Living God who had once delivered her people long ago from the hands of slavery. Her parents surely passed that down to her and now her desire was to pass that down to her son. No just any son. A son that would one day become king. 

That day came much sooner than she thought. Only two years into King Amon's reign he was killed. That left her 8 year old son, Josiah, to be king. Was she relived? Scared? Excited? Terrified? Determined? 

Who knows? How would you feel if your 8 year old son became king? I personally don't believe it would be the joy ride some may think. Especially back then. Woman did not have say in matters. Her son would have basically been handed over to the advisors of the land. Those that were his fathers advisors. Men that were wicked as he had been. An 8 year old boy with power and fame and money...plus surrounded by and being led by wicked men. It doesn't sound like a fairy tale to a Godly mother. 

My mind believes that she was a bit panicked thinking that she hadn't had enough time.

This is only speculation of course, but my heart things that she was a bit desperate for answers. 

How could this be happening so suddenly. If only she had had more time to train him. 

Was he ready? 

Would he listen to her any longer since he was now surrounded by "advisors" that she had no control over?

Perhaps she was overjoyed and rejoiced that his father had died when Josiah was so young so that his influence wouldn't rest on him any longer. Only God knows?

But one thing I am quite sure of.....

She must have prayed! A lot! 

Joshiah did what was pleasing in the Lord's sight. 

He began restoration on the Temple of the Lord. 

While doing that, Hilkiah, the Hight Priest, found the Book of the Law. (vs 8)

The Court Secretary, Shaphan, returned to the king and read it to him. 

King Johiah tore his clothes in despair (vs 11) and had his adviser, Asaiah, go to the Temple and speak to the Lord for him and the people of all Judah. (vs 13). 

God said He would keep His word to destroy Judah because of their wickedness. BUT because King Josiah had humbled himself and wept in repentance, God heard him and promised to not send disaster until after King Josiah had died. However, King Josiah didn't leave it at that. he began a Spiritual Reformation with all the people of Judah. 

Mothers make a difference. 

Mothers matter. 

Mothers can lead their children in the ways of the Lord even with wicked fathers. 

She, Jedidah, was the minority in Judah. 

Others were not following God. 

She must have felt frightened and alone yet strengthened by faith to raise up her son, Johiah, to be a Godly king. Unlike so many generations before him. 

Yes, fathers are supposed to be the spiritual leaders, but that is not always the case. So others must protect, pray over, teach, train, and guide their children toward Jesus. Not just give in to the circumstances that surround them! Even when fathers are leading the home in a Godly manner, mothers are instrumental and key in the daily ins and outs and character building process!!!

Lord, help me never give in to the world around me! Help me always remember that my children were born for Your purpose. Help me prioritize! Help me discipline well. Help me love purely. Help me instill Your law in their heart's. Oh God, I surely will mess them up! Speak through me. Help me mother them with excellence. I can't do this in my own strength or wisdom. Help me be like Jedidah who went against the culture and raised a God-honoring leader!

Dinner Time Stuff

Food Preparation  

What do you do? 

As most people probably, I have changed my system over and over throughout the years. Sometimes I get on CrockPot kicks. Othertimes we have an abundance of fish that needs to be eaten and enjoyed. Sometimes it's more about getting "something" on the plate. Othe rtimes, more thought and prep time is spent. One thing that I do try to always do is make a monthly meal plan on a calendar that is on my fridge. It doesn't mean that I always stick to it but it's there as a guide. At the beginning of the month I go through my cabinets and freezer and write things down based on what I have. Some have Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday, etc. but that has never worked out for us. It's a bit more random for me, but it helps to see what I have in the cabinet and what I need to shop for that month. Plus, cooking doesn't bring me joy like it does some people so this helps keep it simple and pre-planned.

Setting the table 

Do you set the table every night? A few nights a week?

Fancy? Informal? 


We do NOT eat dinner at the table every night. Gasp! :-)
We try to make Monday, Thursday, and Satruday special meal days here.
Tuesday I work and then we have wrestling so it's left overs, Wednesday is church and the kids and I have something simple like mac and cheese or sandwiches (my husband is the Youth Pastor so stays all day at church), Friday is Pizza Night, Sunday is fast food after church and then munching in the evening as we get ready for and have Home Groups at our house.

I don't set the table super fancy, but we set it nicely. Now that my little girl is older, she LOVES to make the table pretty. I mean very pretty. Way more than I would normally do, but it's her gift to make things pretty and she LOVES food and making food so that's part of it for her.

Praying for the food 

Do you always pray? Do you have a more formal time of prayer? Do you keep it short and sweet? Does your husband always say the prayer or do you take turns as a family? Do you hold hands? 

Alda Ellis, in her book, A Table of Grace, writes this:
"The family dinner is indeed a legancy to be passed on from one generation to the next. I believe that it is more important for our children to know who the head of the family is than who the head of the country is. So many positive things begin while seated at the dinner table - respect, good communication skills, proper table manner, the humble thanksing of God for our blessings."

Picky Eaters 

Are all your dinners pleasant?

 Ours aren't! :-) Having young children who have differing food tastes has been a challenge throughout the years. I have a son that HATES meat. I have a DAUGHTER who detests vegetables. This has lead to many battles at the table. I won't even go into all the dreary details. But we are at a place where everyone knows that they MUST try everything. I give my daughter more meat than veggies and my son more veggies than meat. At 7 and 9 we are getting at a happier dinner time food place. It's been a journey though. They both were super easy to potty train. Maybe this is payment for that? :-)

More on the gift of CONVERSATION next time...

If you could only teach three lessons???

Recent Facebook post:

"If you could pick just three lessons to teach your children what would they be?"

Today's family lesson. I know there's a lot to learn in life, but these were the three things we focused in on today.:) 

• Love God passionately. 
• Work hard and always try your best. 
• Be polite/respectful to everyone. 

Here's the responses I receieved: 

• Love, forgive and don't judge!!!;))
• Follow the laws (God's and the land's), Rise Above, Stay True.
• Always have faith, never lose hope,and to always share God's love with everyone.
• Fear the Lord, fear the Lord , fear the Lord.
• Always run to God. Respect others.  Be kind.
• To love God with all their heart, mind and spirit. To love one another and yourself. Biblical diligence.
• 1.To have a realtionship with God not a religion. 2. the order of the family: God (Him first and your relationship with Him); Hubby (your marriage according the the Word); children (raising them as servants of the Lord so when they get older they will not depart from it, hopefully raising them to be stroinger spiritually when they leave the home than I was) and then everything else comes into play, but if you mess the first three up then everything gets messed up. 3. To live the Word of the Lord in all you say and do is the greatest ministery anyone can have and to do that you have to know the Word of God and prayer.

I thought all of these were great answers! 

What would your three lessons be if that's all you could teach your children?

Fresh cut flowers

"What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. 

We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow." Martin Luther

"Today, even in Christian circles, a homemaker's vocation is viewed as optional, replaceable, and more like a hobby to fulfill her own needs than as a vital asset to the family."

 Stacy McDonald - Passionate Housewives Desperate for God

Dorothy Patterson, a homemaker and  faculty member of the Criswell College says, 

"Of course, much of the world would agree that being a housekeeper is acceptable as long as you are not caring for your own home; treating men with attentive devotion would also be right as long as the man is the boss in the office and not your husband; caring for children would even be deemed heroic service for which presidential awards could be given as long as the children are someone else's and not your own." 

Today, my daughter wanted to put on the "pretty" tablecloth. 

It was time for another Home Group and she was eagerly cleaning up things. 

Not only was she helping me tidy up the house, she was enjoying it. 

What?! A 7 year old little girl...enjoying housework. 

I truly believe that God places inside of each of us a desire for the beautiful. 

A desire for order. 

A desire to share what we have with others. 

Do we always do it? 

I don't. 

She wanted to go and cut fresh flowers from our yard. 

They were beautiful and fragrant and special because she handcut each one and placed it in the vase. 

Did the young adults that come over notice them or care that she had done it? 

Probably not. 

And that's ok, because they were blessed just being in our home 

AND we were blessed by having them

AND my daughter was blessed by making it "pretty" for them. 

Win, win, win!

I want to foster her love for helping out around the house, 

loving on others, 

serving her family well, 

and knowing that loving others well matthers. 

Hard Work and Flexiblity

I'm very grateful that I was raised by a family that believed in working hard, doing what you said you would do, and not making excuses when you didn't complete the task. I have watched my grandparents and parents work hard their entire lives.

I just spoke with my "Granny" a few days ago and asked if I could say Hi to my "Pops" and she said that he was out helping an "older" man (my grandpa is turning 80 this year!) build a porch on his house and clean up some things. The "older" man had said that he'd like him to build the deck when he got enough money but Pops knew that he wouldn't have it anytime soon so decided to just go and build it for him. It has turned into a community project. My grandpa has went around asking his neighbors if he can have the old lumber that has been laying behind their homes for years to help this man out. They donated it willingly because they know my grandpa is helping someone that can't help himself. He has others involved with different clean up projects around this man's home and is hiring a lady to go and do a good cleaning of the inside.

It reminded me that he (and the rest of my family) have helped mold me into who I am today! They are not afraid of work. They are not afraid to get their hands dirty and complete a task. They are not afraid to see a need and do their best to help meet it. My grandpa is not a believer unfortently (please pray with me that he turns His heart to the Lord), but he is a good man that believes in hard work and in helping others. It makes me proud to be his granddaughter.

I pray that I can pass along a strong work ethic to my children.

Darlene Zchech says in the Art of Mentoring, "Work is nothing new for God's people. For generations, men and woman of God have worked hard and defied all odds to bring the gospel to all men. And that's my point: all this preparation means a lot of hard work, being generous with time and resources, working together to see the church be everthing she can be - simply stunning.

But to deprive our children and our spiritual children of these building blocks in life means we short-change them in developing tenacity and spiritual muscle. Even though we don't want to create ridiculous hardships for them just to prove a point, eventually they need to feel the weight of responsibility on their shoulders.

Flexible things are rarely broken - they simply spring back when the stretch is over!

While trying to protect our spiritual and natural kids from everything, we strengthen them for nothing, raise them to be idle and to hide, train them to run from conflict. The meeting in the middle is that in order to train them to lead, they have to partake in all that life has to offer, the highs and the lows, yet be given the tools to overcome their trials and share in the seasons of blessing."

Let's not shy away from training our children to work hard and be flexible!

The ABC's of Christian Parenting

A - Affirm who your children are in the Lord.

B - Build a foundation of love and trust. 

C - Communicate openly and often. 

D - Discipline consistently and fairly.

E - Expect teh best of them. 

F - Forgive frequently. 

G - Give unconditinal love. 

H - Help them to grow spiritually. 

I - Invest time in them. 

J - Join in family night fun. 

K - Keep Christ central in your home. 

L - Live what you teach. 

M - Make your home atmosphere positive. 

N - Notice and commend achievements. 

O - Organize family vacations. 

P - Pray for them faithfully. 

Q - Quote Scripture when appropriate. 

R - Release them as they're ready. 

S - Set a good example. 

T - Train them well in the ways of the Lord. 

U - Understand their God-given gifts. 

V - Value each child individually. 

W - Welcome creativity. 

X - Explain why when you say no. 

Y - Yearn to see them become all they can be. 

Z - Zero in on Christian values. 

Passing the baton - Part 2

The book of Joshua ends saying in 24:31 that "Israel served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had experience everything the Lord has done for Israel."

That is awesome and encouraging and exciting that the Joshua took over leadership from Moses and lead the people of Israel well throughout his lifetime.

The next book of the Bible, Judges, recounted the above verse almost exactly as in Judges 2:7. "The people served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the Lord had done for Israel.

Then in verses 10 & 11 it tells of the tragety that followed Joshua's death. 

"After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals."

How sad! 

The generation that Joshua led failed to pass the baton to the next generation! 

Was it all Joshua's fault?

Of course not. But he obviously lacked in generational vision and the understanding of how to pass on a godly heritage. The parents failed to pass down to their children the laws of the Lord and did not intentionally instill in their children the desire to love and serve YAWHEE. Verse 11 says that they grew up and "knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel." I can't even image!

Yet, look around. Has that not happened time and time again throughout the generations?

I am reading a wonderful book by Darlene Zschech titled The Art of Mentoring.

Let me begin by saying that it is first and formost our God-given responsiblility as parents to teach and train our own children in the ways of the Lord. However, I also believe that we have been given opportunities to mentor/walk along side/train other people throughout our lifetimes.

Many of us, myself included, miss these opportunities. 

Darlene says, "Tell your stories....so that the rich history of the miraculous is continually brought front and center. In so doing, you will give the next generation strength to hang on!"

"As spiritual moms and dads, we must be fully convinced of God's ability to work in our lives. Then we can lay hold of the wonderful privilege we have of passing down our knowledge, experience, example, and rich legacy of faith to the next generation, who will also need to remember that if God could do it then, He can do it now."

I would highly recommend this book to you, especially if you are in any form of church ministry or leadership. There are so many great words and lessons that Darlene shares from her experiences in ministry.

Are you passing the baton on to your children?

Are you passing the baton on to others around you that God has placed in your life?

Passing the Baton

Over the past several months, I have heard the story told several times of Moses and Joshua.

The stories of Moses' leadership of the children of Israel being transfered over to Joshua. 
Numbers 11:28 talks of how Joshua had "been Moses' aide since youth."
Numbers 27:22-23 says that "Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua and had him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole assembly. Then he laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the Lord instructed through Moses."

Moses obeyed the Lord and turned over leadership to Joshua in Deuteronomy 3:28.
The Lord said, "Commission Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead this people across and will cause them to inherit the land that you will see."

The Lord instructed Joshua on how to lead his generation well throughout his lifetime. 


Not only did Moses instruct Joshua, but the Lord did also. Joshua 1:6-9 shares how the Lord encouraged and challenged Joshua. "Be strong and very courageous. be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do every thing written in it. then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

To be continued.....

On how he "FAILED TO PASS THE BATON." 

How sad!

May we never fail to pass the baton on to the next generation, ladies! 

The Duggar Family - Character Qualities

The Duggar Family - Character Qualities

Staying in line with our conversation on PRIORITIES...
Here's a great tool to use in training your children.
I need to get back to this. :-)
Last year during the school year, we would take one Character Quality per week and discussed it, learn about it, and try to apply it. I need to do that again. Praying you'll find this a helpful tool as well!

Find the downloadable link here. There are many, many other great resources available on the Duggar's family website. www.duggarfamily.com

Have a blessed day!