Affirm Me Day 6

Jabneh Christian Academy

Image result for gift

Unwrapping the Gift

Psalm 139:14

I will praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made, I know that full well.

I am into the giving of gifts. Are you? I find it quite intriguing. I put effort into ensuring that the receiver of the gift will be challenged ascertaining the content of the gift unless it is unwrapped. Sometimes I want the fun to linger. As a result, I may place a tiny or insignificant item in a huge box. While at other times I might give a very valuable item in a most insignificant manner. Whatever the situation, the gift will need to be unwrapped for the content to be revealed and enjoyed.

Do you remember that our children are special gifts – from God? Unlike me, God will never place anything insignificant or trivial in His gifts to us. The children He has blessed us with are fearfully and wonderfully made. Let us decode that statement. Our gifts from God/ Our children are:

  • set apart
  • marked out
  • distinguished
  • marvellous and
  • extraordinary

I mean, they are just amazing! As parents, the task is ours to open up our children to allow the treasures inside to evolve. With this in mind, we might need to push harder and go further to harness the treasures. Frustrated and disheartened would be the miner that prefers to see the surface or the crust of the earth. He must with diligence find a way to penetrate the crust of the earth and find his way to the mantle. This would be the similar fate of parents who are unaware of the layers of their children.

Today we will talk with our children face to face rather than declaring things about them in heir absence. Here we go!

  • Gather your children
  • If you know the meaning of their names go ahead and remind them. Yes, affirm them.
  • If you have already begun the process of unwrapping your gifts and have already discovered some gems, highlight them. If this is going to be your first attempt, start with what you see. you could tell them how helpful they are or how you love and appreciate them.
  • Affirm their body structure and character.
  • Give an extended embrace and pray a quick silent prayer.
  • Say the blessing together … “The Lord bless you and keep you…”

Thanks for reading. You and your children are in my prayers today.

Affirm Me Day 4

Jabneh Christian Academy

 

It starts in the home. (1)

1 Samuel 12:24 b

Be sure to fear the Lord and serve Him faithfully with all your heart.

I sincerely hope that you and the children had a blast yesterday.  There is still so much more to say about the importance of living a life of gratitude and instilling this important value in every child we have access to.  It has been said that gratitude may be as important to one’s health as is nutrition.

Today we are tasked with helping our children to understand what it means to fear the Lord.  Yes, we desire to raise God-fearing children and the thing is, it is possible.  Let us dive therein.

Children should be taught the Word of God, the ways of God and the works of God. The news is, this should not be left to the Sunday or Sabbath school teachers.  Parents are the children’s primary teachers in learning the fear of God.  Psalm 34:11 provides us with a little model. It says, “ Children, come and listen to me; let me teach you to respect the Lord.”  We can and should gather our children together daily and verbally instruct them to fear the Lord. Hmmm, another thing to add to an already tight schedule! To be honest, yes.  This may be the most important thing we can do in our day. Quite a bit of what we are doing now may have no relevance on our tomorrow.  When you get to tomorrow, your children will be there. Selah

 

What can we do?

 

  1. Children are impressionable and tend to prefer to follow in a very intent manner what we do rather than what we say.  We have to be conscious of this.  As a result, we must live blameless lives in our homes.  What if we could respond to each other in the home and do for each other as we would do to and for those we ‘rate’ at church, at school, on the job or wherever?  We will have to live in our homes with integrity.  Our lifestyles should show our children that we fear the Lord.  We are not being asked to be perfect and sinless but we are called to purity, humility, willingness to confess our sins, the willingness to repent and offer proper apologies. Can you see with me how this could instil the fear of the Lord in children?

 

  1. Watch how you deal with sin.  As parents, we must develop a mature disposition to deal with our children’s sin immediately, firmly and biblically.  Our Father does not laugh at sin neither treats it lightly.  Since we stand in proxy for Him over His heritage, we need to pattern Him.  I mentioned that we should deal with sin biblically and I want to emphasise that our motivation must be love according to 1 Corinthians 13.  When our children have turned away from their sins, so should we.  Do not use it against them.

 

  1. Encourage them to pray, that is, to talk to God.  Let them know that they can talk to God about everything.

 

  1. Talk about God with your children and involve Him in every conversation.
  2. Read the Word with them and show them God’s glory, magnificence, power and His everlasting love for them.

Today we can encourage our children to talk with God.

  • Encourage them to talk with God about everything.

Let them know that he will listen to them even if they are talking to him about their pets.

  • They could make a list of the things they could talk with God about.

 

Thanks for reading today’s blog. If this helped you, it could help someone else.  Please share it.

What are you grateful for today? What could I join you in prayer about?

If your children like to write, you could encourage them to blog.  They could begin to blog their reflections from the moments you are spending with them on this Affirm Me journey.

Affirm Me Day 3

Jabneh Christian Academy

ill brave1

Forever Grateful

I Samuel 12:24

But be sure to fear the Lord and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; consider what the great things he has done for you.

What road will we take today?

Let’s go!

All of us would want to raise children who appreciate what they have; have a very healthy disposition about material possessions; show responsibility for what they have; are kind to others and think about others, not just self-gratification. Here are a few steps we could take.

  1. Help our children to recognize the great things that God has done for:
    1. Them
    2. Their family
    3. Their community
    4. Their parish /state
    5. Their country
  2. Help them to develop a culture of gratitude or the culture of an attitude of gratitude. Joyce Meyers says, “There’s no happy person than a truly grateful person.”

Ways to culture an Attitude of Gratitude in Children

  1. Start as a family unit and each day express thankfulness for something done to you or them by friends, family members, students, classmates, co-workers, government, etc. have the children participate by following you modeling an attitude of gratitude.
  2. Get active! A gratitude board or journal could be kept. Help the children to jot down specific things they want to give thanks for. “When you practice gratefulness, there is a sense of respect towards others.” Dalai Lama
  3. Make a list of all the persons you are grateful for.
  4. Write thank you notes. I’m not into children having cell phones until they are 18 years but if you do, download the Quotes Creator App and have them create and send thank you notes to people on the list created above.
  5. Make them industrious. Give children chores at home. This can stimulate a sense of ownership in the home and the family. Being in charge of something is a big deal. As tasks are accomplished, do not forget to compliment the children.
  6. How about adding some craft fun of gratitude? Children’s creativity can be engaged in this process. They could do handmade thank-you cards, paintings, sewing, poetry, songs, stories, games and more. This can be developed into a hobby or a booming business.
  7. Include sentence prayers of gratitude daily.

The picture above was done by my son as his interpretation of the Affirm Me Day 2 posts. Enjoy. Feel free to share it with your children. He blogs at artsportandmusic.blogspot.com

Have a beautiful May 3rd. See you tomorrow.

Affirm Me Day 2

Jabneh Christian Academy

I’m early I know but I have decided to give you a head start.

Scripture

Joshua 1:9

`Remember, I commanded you to be strong and brave. Don’t be afraid, because the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

As adults, we need to be mindful that there are just about too many things that can cause children to cower and also be discouraged. We, therefore, need to affirm and encourage them continuously.

I’m suggesting that follow-ups be done after today’s prayer and declaration. Have conversations with your children to ascertain their fears and areas where they are losing courage.

Be understanding. Do not underrate their feelings. Treat information garnered with care. Continue to follow-up and if necessary, seek intervention. It is very ok not to be able to handle everything on your own. Hence, you are not alone in this world.

Declare that your children are strong in character and will bravely stand for that which is right.

They will not exhibit fear even in the midst of oppression and terror because they will know and remember that the Lord is with them.

See you tomorrow. Thanks for engaging me.

Affirm Me Day 1

Jabneh Christian Academy

National Child’s Month is finally here! Hurray! ” Mi glad bag a buss!” As promised, here I am to assist you in the next few days. Having recognised or been reminded that you have God’s property to keep and care, there are some things that may need to improve or change. I’d like to help you with praying and making victorious declarations over and to your children.

Day 1

Numbers 6:24-25, ESV
The Lord bless you and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

Call your children by their real names and speak out loudly this blessing. It is God’s intention to bless your children. Come into agreement with Him. Tell your child this. They need to know.

To do

Work together to make a verse card. Decorate it and place it in a very prominent location. Read it often, even on other days.

Affirm Me!

Jabneh Christian Academy

We are just a few hours away from the start of National Child’s Month here in Jamaica. I am rushing to get to you before the excitement kicks in.

Backtrack/ Did you know?

National Child’s month existed before Jamaica gained independence. Yes, Lady Foote instigated it. I’m grateful that it has been allowed to continue all these years.

Why?

The objective of National Child’s Month is to ” educate the public about the needs of children and articulate what each of us can do.”

Theme?

Each year there is a theme. How cool! The theme is carefully chosen to address the social issues that are affecting our children in negative ways. This year’s theme is”A.F.F.I.R.M Me! ( Acknowledge Me, Friend Me, Favour Me, influence Me positively, Respect Me, Motivate Me)

Me

I’m all things children being a teacher and a preacher. I feel compelled to do more this time around for this special time and want you to get involved in any way you can.

Psalm 127:3

Lo, children are the heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is His reward. (KJV)

Quite a number there be of those who have and are trying various methods to conceive since, for whatever the reasons, they have borne no fruit. The truth is this, not one of us can get pregnant at will. It is God who controls this process. It is God who has gifted us with fertile wombs and productive sperms.

When even the commonest of mankind gives us something, the expectation is that we would be grateful and also make every effort to preserve the gift and see to its longevity and usefulness.

The same is true about God. We, as parents, are expected to do a number of things with the gifts/ children that we have been allowed to caretake. Some of these are:

1. Be intentional about discovering the usefulness and purpose of the gifts as we do about appliances. In other words, we must find out God’s plans/ intentions for the children he gave to us.

Jeremiah 1: 5

“Before I made you in your mother’s womb, I knew you. Before I you were born, I chose you for a special work…”

Like using a blender as a washing machine, so it is when we impose our desires and plans without knowing God’s plans for our children.

2. Make every effort to follow God’s plans as they are revealed to us.

3. Watch over them and preserve them.

Here are a few ways to watch over them:

A. Be acquainted with the developmental milestones and provide the necessary tools and stimulation to ensure that they flourish. You will also be able to quickly recognise developmental delays and enact early intervention.

B. Secure their environments. Protect them from abusive words, abusive behaviours, explicit sexual content and activities, poor nutrition and traumatic experiences.

The Gift!

I am not ignorant of the fact that there are some who have not accepted their children as super gifts. Yes, they are super gifts! It is the next best thing since Christ died in our stead to liberate us from the bondage of sin.

We tend to struggle with our gifts at times, because we get caught up in the events surrounding the conceptions. Oh bwoy! What a loss!

The fruits of our wombs are rewards from God. Our children are rewards from God. How amazing! He gives us children not as payback for the wrongs we have done nor as burdens but as favour. Children are tokens for good if we know how to receive and educate them. Please note that I believe that there is a vast difference between educating children and schooling them.

Children, our children, are extreme blessings. God will be with you and your children because they are His.

Hmmm! In what place has this article found you? If you need assistance in appropriating this, link me.

Thanks for reading. Please share and help another. Subscribe and follow my thoughts for this month. Let us hear God together.

What’s Really Going on in Schools?

Jabneh Christian Academy

Learning is a skill that must be acquired like everything else.  Too often, the emphasis is placed on the outcomes of learning rather than the process of learning.  Institutions of learning are aware that information must be absorbed, yet,  they probably fail to teach learners how to learn, that is how to absorb information.

Do you know how to learn or is it that you know how to get by?  If you really know how to learn, you will be in a very good position to help others learn whether you are a parent or an educator.

 

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