Praying for Brokenness????

Recently I lost a friend that went to high school with me. She was a mother of a 9 year old daughter. When she was sick I was reading through her blog and read this . . . which is just a small sample of her character and amazing love for the Lord.

Malaya's Mom: "Every once in a while I feel a STRONG pull from the Holy Spirit to pray the following prayer and every single time I feel like the Holy Spirit is ripping the words from my heart and mouth because they are so hard to pray: I pray that He (God) will do WHATEVER it takes to make her a true, wholehearted believer. This brings tears to my eyes even typing this because I know from personal experience that many times the only way us stupid humans 'get it' and become truly devoted is through pain and devastating experiences. What parent wants their child to experience this-selfishly, NOT ME!! I dread these times as a mom. My heart already aches for these times. BUT--in a deeper part of my heart, I give thanks to Our God who is in control of IT ALL and DOES NOT FORSAKE US. He is ALMIGHTY, Alpha and Omega!! AMAZING!!!! And that through those hard, painful times I pray that my flesh, Malaya, will choose her Lord and will choose faithfulness!! I can battle for her through prayer."

This has been challenging me ever since that day. While my friend was struggling for her life, I wondered is this what Malaya needs to experience to know God deeper? Can we pray that same prayer for our own child? Can we pray that they experience brokenness and pain so that they can learn to rely on God? And can we step back and allow our child to go through whatever it is that God needs to take them through to draw them closer to Him? We often want to protect our children and keep them from pain. We, as a society, do not want our child to feel pain, to be left out, to lose, etc. but at times won't that pain bring them closer to Jesus? Won't this refinement make them a better person?

Charles Stanley in The Blessings of Brokenness states, "Brokenness is not something to be shunned or avoided at all cost. Rather, it is something to be faced with faith. If we truly want to be (and want our child to be) all that God desires for us to be, we must submit to him during times of brokenness and allow him to reveal why we are going through what it is we are experiencing and what he desires for us to learn from the situation."

So my challenge to you and myself is to pray for your child...whatever their age. Pray for their future, their friends, their teachers, their future spouse, their purity, etc. And pray that you will have discernment to step back and let God work in their life ... no matter the cost!

Tiffani

Things to do

The kids are out of school and have ran through all of their favorite things to do for spring break. Now you need some new and safe things to allow your kids to play or check out before they start the chorus of "I'm bored".

I have accumulated a few items that I think might be helpful to fill your need. If you have other things that you have found please comment and share with all of us. Summer is around the corner so if they don't get to these this week time will come soon when you need resources!

Kids' Picks
KidZui, a commercial browser and content hub for families, monitors kids' online favorites and reports them to iVillage. Their latest "Stuff Kids Love" list for kids age 3-12 is listed below:

Most visited website:pbskids.org
Most viral video: Cat Flushing Toilet Music Video
Most searched public personality: Miley Cyrus
Most searched musician/band: Taylor Swift
Most searched toy: Barbie
Most searched term: Games
Most visited category: Games
Fastest growing website:poptropica.com

Other websites to check out:
jellytelly.com
crazymonkey.com

Fun to watch for ages 5-9:
VeggieTales: Pistachio-The Little Boy Who Woodn't
This new VeggieTale DVD is a parody of the classic story Pinocchio, Gelato, the lonely toymaker, carves a boy from wood who quickly develops a mind of his own. The wooden boy, Pistachio, gets himself into a tough situation and through his trials discovers the importance of family and listening to your parents.

Good News Flowers (Easter craft for home)
During your Easter celebrations, have children write Good News messages such as "He is Risen" or "Jesus is Alive" on 12-inch wooden garden stakes. Have kids cut out construction paper flowers to glue to the top of the garden stake. Before the end of the worship service, gather children outside and have them insert their flower stakes int the lawn to line the sidewalks outside your home. Pray together and ask God to open hearts to the good news of Easter as people walk or drive by and admire the flower garden.

Remember to check out the clifec.com website for service projects your family can participate in together. Online resources will give you links to several organizations that you can volunteer some family time and contribute to lives of those in current need.

Comment and let us know of other ideas you may have!

Enjoy the beautiful weather and time with your family!!

Rita