Tonight's devotion...It's Hard Being a Parent

So, tonight's devotion was such an awesome one.  I love that this devotion book seems to capture many different scenarios that have happened at our house with Noah and Olivia and even some that hit home with Mama! Tonight's did not disappoint.

They are short, so, I'll type it out....

Dad frowned at the broken spokes on Eric's bicycle.  "You won't believe what happened," Eric said as he wheeled the bike closer.
"I can guess." Dad's face was red. "you were in a hurry to play catch at the park.  How many times have I told you to park it in the bike rack instead of throwing it on the ground?"
"But I didn't--"
"Don't lie to me.  I'm not fixing your bike this time!" Dad yanked it away.  "Start thinking of ways to earn money to pay the repair shop."
Eric stormed inside.  He was sitting on his bedroom floor when Dad came to the door. "Son, I need to talk to you." Eric didn't want to talk to him ever again, but his dad came in and sat down. "A policeman just told me about the teenager who drove his car into the bike rack."
Eric blurted, "See, I wasn't careless, and I wasn't lying!"

Read:
Ephesians 6:4

Think:
Why do you think Eric's dad did what the verse says not to do?
How could he have followed the verse instead?
Make up an ending for the story, showing how ERic's dad might apply today's verse. 

Do:
Parents are people too.  How hard do you think it is for a parent to make good decisions all the time?  A little hard? Pretty hard? Really hard?
Choose what you will do the next time your mom or dad makes a mistake.  Does it help to know that parents aren't perfect and have to answer to God?

Pray:
Ask God to give your mom or dad wisdome and patience.

Memorize:
Ephesians 6:4 - Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them.  Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.

So, my kids are getting really good at understanding the devotional, the verses and are really getting good with coming up with the alternate "right" ending.  The devotion includes a possible ending at the back and a "What's the point?" bullet that explains the entire devotional and why it was something important to learn.

I thank God for this devotion, it taught me a verse I knew nothing of before tonight, and it also taught my kids how to show grace to someone.  I asked them if I've ever made mistakes and had to say sorry to them (which I have on many occasions) and they remembered.  I explained that I always ask God to forgive me when I realize the mistakes I've made. 

I just thought this was such a great devotion for the times when we mess up as parents to help the kids understand that we aren't perfect...we are still learning too.  However, it also shows us the way :)

Speaking of devotions, last night, I didn't get the book out, but took time with both kids to have a spiritual talk with.

I get in Noah's bed and I say "so, Noah do you have any questions about God, church, etc?" Noah replies, "No, mom do you?" I laugh to myself.  Soon, he came out with "How does God know everything?" 

So, he wasn't going to go easy on me by asking who the 12 disciples were, lol.  I was trying to put into words so that a 6 year old would understand.  Maybe it is a wrong analogy, but I think it put it into terms he understood and gave him the answer he needed.  My explanation...you know how you like Lego? you know how you create your ship and your bases and your people, you make them interact with each other and you know everything that they do?  Well, God created everything in the earth, he created you, me, your friends and everything in it.  Because he created everything, he knows everything that is going on.

We soon delved into salvation.  We briefly spoke of Heaven, angels and Hell where I had to explain what Heaven will be like "no more sickness, pain, sadness, everyone will be happy.  Noahs asked if people didn't accept Jesus into their heart, would they just stay here.  I had to explain that Hell was the opposite of Heaven and that "no, they wouldn't stay here, but they would go there".  Very deep conversations with a 6-year-old, but I believe God wants us to be open and candid with our kids so that they know they have a safe place to ask those questions where the truth will be told without sugar coating.

I pray everyday that my children would grow in the word and become devoted followers of Christ from an early age onward.