Tag Archives: planting seeds

In Changing Phases: A Time to Mourn and a Time to Dance

My eight-year-old son wants to talk about his favorite NFL football players and their stats all.day.long. Every day. The amount of sports trivia he can remember and recite is absolutely mind-boggling to me.

Let’s be honest, I’ve never been interested in football or any other sport for that matter. I’m not athletic. I did not grow up in a sports-loving family. I don’t particularly want to spend all day, every day talking about which quarterback holds the record for most passing touchdowns or who is the best rookie wide receiver this season.

However, I love my son. I want to connect with him. So, I’m working at learning football. My brain will probably never be able to store all the stats that his apparently can. But, I can now correctly identify the logo of each and every one of the 32 teams in the NFL. It doesn’t come naturally to me, but football trivia is a gateway to connecting with my son in this season of his life.

Aside from being sports-obsessed, my eight-year-old also has a sense of humor that makes no sense to anyone else. (My teacher friend who works with students from K-8th grade assures me this is true of all 3rd graders. I hope she’s right!). He has an argumentative, know-it-all streak. When he starts back-talking, I almost wish for the days of toddler tantrums. Between my four children, I have had lots of experience with toddler tantrums (and still do – my youngest is 2 ½!?). But, I don’t have a clue yet about how to respond to eight-year-old attitude.

It would be easy for me to mourn how my oldest son has changed over the years. Can we rollback time to when he would fall asleep in my arms? When we bonded over books about construction vehicles? When we finger painted and played catch with a squishy ball in the basement? When he didn’t argue with every word out of my mouth?

And, yet, I don’t want to go back in time. When my son asks me to play chess, it’s a real game. He wins just as often as I do. In my book, this is an upgrade from playing Candyland.

Just last week, I had the privilege of talking with my son in a deep and meaningful way about friendship. How to respond when a friend lies and does something hurtful, how to confront, and how to forgive. I witnessed my son work things out with his friend and they have been riding bikes or playing basketball together in our driveway after school every day this week.

My son now asks thoughtful questions about the Bible and about God. There are so many exciting opportunities to connect and to learn with him. So, I’m choosing to dance and celebrate who he is and how I can interact with him in this new phase of his development…even if it means learning much more about football than I ever wanted to know!

In the same way, I can find myself mourning the challenges of the two-year-old developmental stage of my youngest son. I can find myself wishing for the day when I will no longer have to watch the clock and remind him to use the bathroom at regularly scheduled intervals. Wishing for him to outgrow his separation anxiety when I drop him off in the church nursery each week. Wishing for the stage when he can clearly communicate what he wants without melting into tears.

But, I don’t want to wish for time to hurry with my youngest either. I want to savor and celebrate the moments that he crawls up into my lap for a story, the nights he wants me to rock him to sleep, and the last few remnants of baby talk he still uses. We aren’t having deep conversations about anything, but I can tell we are planting seeds. This week, he has been asking regularly, “God made me? God made you?” I’ve had the privilege of assuring him that yes, indeed, God made each and every one of us!

Time brings change. For us moms, this means our kids are constantly moving from one phase to another. Usually at a rate that is hard for me to keep up with. And while it is ok to acknowledge and mourn what is difficult at each stage (because there are always several difficult and frustrating parts to each stage!), I also want to learn to dance and celebrate what is exciting about each stage. Because each new stage presents unique ways to connect with my kids and opportunities to point them to their Creator.

?Written by Katie Duh

Soaking in the Truth

Scripture to encourage you:

  • “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: … a time to mourn and a time to dance.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4b, NIV)
  • “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11, NIV)
  • “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” (Luke 2:52, NIV) As my kids grow through each developmental stage, my prayer is that they also grow in wisdom and in favor with God and man.
  • “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12, NIV)

Music to inspire you:

Readings and Resources to come alongside of you:

Related Posts on Texting The Truth:

Living Out the Truth

Ideas to try:

  • Check out these Developmental Milestones Charts, created by the CDC for children birth to five-years old or for children 6-8 years old. When I take the time to learn about the stage of development my children are going through, I can be better equipped to connect with them.
  • Take some time praying individually for each of your children and the stage he/she is in. Ask God to show you how He is at work during this phase of his/her life. Ask Him for wisdom about how to connect with your children in this unique season.

Treasured Products we love:

  • Love You Forever by Robert Munsch A classic children’s book and one that I often include in a shower gift for a new mom! It still makes me cry every time I read it. A beautiful description of the challenges and blessings of each stage we experience with our children.

{These suggestions are ideas from novice moms. Sometimes our life situations need more. In that case, seeking out professional help is the right call.}

 

 

Unscrambling Easter: Teaching Kids the Importance without the Pressure

Michelle
Michelle

Yesterday I asked Sophie what Easter was about and I wish I could totally remember her response but it included a combination of Jesus and the Easter Bunny and something about the Easter Bunny being at church on Easter Sunday. ?

Michelle
Ashley
Ashley

Ha! I thought I was having a good conversation with Grace about Easter.  She seemed engaged and really into it, and then she just said, “Some kids have red hair.” Their little minds are so fascinating.

Ashley
Desi
Desi

Oh man. Isaiah doesn’t seem to get it at all. He just wants to hide eggs. We played the “hide eggs” game for literally 3 months after Easter last year.

Desi
Michelle
Michelle

Oh us too! ?  When Sophie responded that way, I laughed because kids are hilarious. But…confession time: I have to admit that I actually got a little worried that maybe I wasn’t doing enough to teach her more about the real meaning.  #whydoIdothat

Michelle
Desi
Desi

Why do we do that?? So what did you come up with?

Desi
Michelle
Michelle

Literally in the span of 15 seconds my mind started spinning…what if I’ve failed her that she doesn’t already understand that Easter is a very important holiday in our faith, actually the foundation, and she needs to know that the Easter Bunny is just a fun little commercialized addition, and how in the world do you teach about death and the resurrection to a preschooler… ?

Michelle
Desi
Desi

Lol! Whoa, Mama. Stop. Put the brakes on those spinning thoughts! ?  But I get it. I do the same thing! It’s hard not to!?

Desi
Ashley
Ashley

Oh friend! You haven’t failed her at all!  You are planting seeds; Seeds that are growing a little bit more each day. Someday she will understand that the Easter Bunny and eggs are merely secular traditions and the reason we celebrate is because we have a Savior.  One day we pray she will choose Him over a candy-filled basket any day, and it’s because He took those seeds of truth that YOU planted and made them grow.

Ashley
Michelle
Michelle

That’s so reassuring. I love that. I am trying to include some intentional things during Easter but it all seemed to go over her head. I know that’s totally age-appropriate and I could tell she was ready to move on to a new activity, one that probably included hiding Easter eggs!?   So I have been asking God to give me wisdom on how to guide her little heart to know and love God and I love that thought of remembering I am planting the seeds for God to grow when the time comes.

Michelle
Ashley
Ashley

I totally understand how you feel, because I always try to talk with my girls about God and feed truths into their little hearts (I have really been focusing on God making us brave since our conversation, Michelle).  But I think while they are little I think that’s all we can do is teach and pray, teach and pray, teach and pray.  Sometimes I think we put too much pressure on ourselves to draw our kids’ hearts to the Lord and forget that really only He can draw their hearts to Him.

Ashley
Michelle
Michelle

Yes, I think we (I??) make it more complicated than it needs to be. You know, maybe that’s it: taking the natural opportunities when they come up to discuss these faith-concepts and let God work in their hearts. Such a good reminder and breath of fresh air.

Michelle
Ashley
Ashley

It eases that burden for me knowing that He is ultimately the One in control.  We still need to teach them and guide them in His Word…but He will allow their hearts to understand.

Ashley
Desi
Desi

Well said. I was talking to my mom about this very subject one day and asking her how she explained this whole concept to us as small children and she said, “You just knew. I think His Spirit speaks to little hearts in ways we don’t understand.” It allowed me to give myself permission to take the pressure off and rest in Him and His peace.

Desi
Michelle
Michelle

I feel so much better already.  Take the pressure off. Pray for opportunities to teach these important things to my girls and then pray again that God grows this truth in their hearts. That definitely lets me take a deep breath to remember it’s not all up to me. ?

Michelle

 

Soaking in the Truth

Scripture to encourage you:

  • I planted, Apollos water, but God gave the growth. So neither nor he who waters or he who plants is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” 1 Corinthians 3:6,7
  • “And He said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it?  It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth,  yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.” Mark 4:30-32, ESV
  • “Jesus replied, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.  Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.  Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.’” (John 12:23-25,  NIV)
  • “It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.  Jesus called out with a loud voice, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.’ When he had said this, he breathed his last.  The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, ‘Surely this was a righteous man.’”  (Luke 23:44-47, NIV)

Music to inspire you:

Readings and Resources to come alongside of you:

  • What is Easter? by Michelle Medlock Adams. I love reading this book to my girls because it puts into simple words what Easter is really about. (Planting those seeds!)
  • 10 Ways to Teach Kids About Easter  by LeAnn G Taylor – Such tangible, great ideas! I love #1 and #3 (just using books!) #7 is cool especially if you are going on Spring Break somewhere beachy. And apparently, in #10, Ann Voskamp shares a free devotional and idea for creating the Easter Tree. 
  • Easter Week with the Jesus Storybook Bible from Home With the Boys blog – A great reading for Easter week.

 

Living Out the Truth

Ideas to try:

  • Resurrection Eggs – A more child-friendly way to present the Easter Story. If you don’t have time or money to buy them already made, we just print off pictures from the computer and stick them in there. My daughter still talks about the picture of the thorn crown that was on Jesus’s head. (And don’t worry if they don’t get it all; remember, we are just planting seeds! ? )
  • Miss PattyCake’s Eggstravaganza – She explains Easter in this DVD with Resurrection Eggs and songs. For adults, it’s a bit cheesy, but my preschooler loves it and she does communicate well to that age group. Here is a sneak peak. 
  • Benjamin’s Box: The Story of the the Resurrection Eggs – This book is geared toward elementary aged kids and goes through the Resurrection Eggs to explain the Easter story.
  • Resurrection Rolls – I just heard this idea, and loved it!  Marshmallows, carbs, cinnamon, butter- nothing wrong with piquing your kids interest in Jesus with the help of sugary goodness. ? But in all honesty, the resurrection is a tricky thing for little minds to grasp, so having a simple visual of what we’re trying to convey is really helpful. 
  • Jesus Removes Our Sin – an experiment to tangibly show them how Jesus took our sin away.
  • Try teaching your kids about Passover – Consider reading or retelling the story of the Exodus (Exodus 6-13) to your children, particularly the part where God instructs Moses on how to remember the events that led up to the Israelites’ departure from Egypt.  Ask the Lord to show you how Jesus became our Passover Lamb, so that the punishment of sin literally passes over us because of His sacrifice for us. Kids sometimes need a good visual to really understand (goodness, I sometimes need a good visual to understand these deep concepts of my faith!), and maybe this Exodus story will be what helps you and your kids understand even more fully what Easter is all about.  To Learn more, click here.         

{These suggestions are ideas from novice moms. Sometimes our life situations need more. In that case, seeking out professional help is the right call.}