so much pressure

so much pressure...

Well, I'm not really sure what to make of this. I started this little blog thing a couple of weeks ago and I had no idea it was going to be as popular as it has become. At this point, 44 folks have taken a look at my little blog here. I'm not sure who you are, and that's cool... But I'm hoping that I don't dissappoint.
But now I feel somewhat pressured to give a good blog entry... I'm not sure that there will be as good of an entry as Monday's... but we'll give it a shot from time to time.

Last night we (myself, some of the staff and leaders in the children's program at FVCC) went up to Willow Creek to check out a program. And the question that I'm finding myself struggling with this morning (and last night) is: Are we doing enough to encourage families in their walk with God and their encouragement of their children's walk with God?

The statistic is something like... the church gets 40 hours of a child's life a year... Parents get 3000 hours of child's life a year (not counting sleeping, school, homework and sports).

And if we aren't encouraging them enough, how do we do a better job encouraging them? Is it a program? Is it a handout? Is it less programs and less handouts? I'm not sure.

But one thing I am sure of is that parents and families are central to God's plan to reach out to the world. He (God) entrusted families with raising up and challenging kids/teens to a passionate relationship with God. "Hear, O Israel (and all of us): The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commmandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads (which sounds painful). Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." Deut 6:4-9
The point: It's parents' responsibility to share God and his love for us with their children. It's the church's responsibility to aide and encourage parents. Which brings me back to my orginial question... How do we best encourage parents?

More thoughts to come...


Tyndale