Knowing God Ministries: Seizing the TIME While We Can

Golf - Thank you to everyone who responded to last week - Your help is SO APPRECIATED. (See below)

Exodus 18:20
"You must instruct them in the laws and the teachings,

show them how to live and tell them what to do."

I am fortunate enough to drive my teenage boys to school every morning. But last January, I had an epiphany:

My son will be driving himself to school in the very near future.

PANIC!!!!

It’s a blessing and a curse.

On the one hand, I will have an ENORMOUS amount of time to clean my house (NOT!!!!)

On the other, it will END some cherished quality time with my boys. I mean, they are FORCED to listen to me for 45 minutes now. It’s my own little dictatorship!

And then there's graduation! I only have four short years before the oldest graduates. There are still many important lessons to instill.

Yeah, that's easy when the kids are young, but teenagers are a different breed: technology is drawing them, and friends become the focus.

Let’s see...(thinking to myself): How can I make this happen without sounding preachy?

(PREACHY is the kiss of death for a teenage parent; it’s like the kids have a "preachy radar", and once anything NEAR "preachy" is detected - they’re GONE mentally.)

The Lord clearly impressed the idea of a SHORT devotional for the drive to school.

Nothing too long.

SHORT.

I knew I’d lose them with a drawn out sermon. I just wanted something to get the conversation rolling. So, I bought a devotional and the boys took turns reading each day.

I'll be honest, this went over like a ton of bricks…..

But I stuck with it.

Topics have included:

strength,
insecurity,
sound mind,
anxiety,
worry,
bullying,
celebrating,
temptation.

I usually try to tell a story about my life as it relates to the devotion.

About three, long weeks in, something miraculous happened: my older boy, who by all outward appearances looked completely detached said -

“That was a good one Mom.” !

Meaning, SOMETHING RESONATED with what was HAPPENING IN HIS LIFE…..Success!

Before I knew it - we were laughing about some crazy situation at school and making up funny scenarios for it. (Most were not appropriate solutions, but sometimes it’s good to voice the ridiculous!)

Now - the devotions are a given. The boys do not pull out their phones until the devotion is done. Many times we share them at dinner with their Dad.

The Bible is CHOCK FULL of wisdom. We must remember:

Instagram™ will not teach them,
Facebook™ will not teach them, and
texting most definitely will not teach them.

These are great fillers if used appropriately. (Truly: I would not know what was happening in my nieces and nephews lives, if not for social media) - but NOTHING can replace the time we spend FACE TO FACE with our kids. Proverbs 22:6 reminds us to, “Train up a child in the way he should go, And even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

In the teen years, it's hard to tell what's going in and what's filtered out. Regardless, we can NEVER STOP DROPPING NUGGETS OF TRUTH.

One day, in the not so far future, they will hear HIS voice, because of your influence. There's no greater gift we can give our children!

Happy driving!