Privilege

Privilege 

I have been praying a lot about the upcoming year. Where do we need to go as a Kid’s Ministry? What stuff should we teach our kids? What do events need to look like? What do our team trainings need to look like? How can we best team with our parents and come alongside them in the faith development process of all our kids? I make all of these questions matters of prayer all the time. I did keep coming back to a topic theme for our team to contemplate for the upcoming year. It is a single word, privilege. 

Privilege is a word that has become a dirty word in recent years. It is a word that in many people’s minds shows that people are better than others. It gives people a mindset of superiority. It shows that you have been chosen randomly given an advantage. I don’t believe anything in this world is random. I do believe we are chosen. I do believe we have been given an advantage. 

I understand that our kids are privileged just in their daily lives. I don’t know many of our kids that don’t have a good school, a home, transportation, food on the table, and I believe our kids are privileged to know our Father and have parents that bring them to church. They are privileged to be able to have Bibles and study them. Our kids have great privilege outside of the daily life of the things that they are doing. We want to teach them this year that privilege is a terrible thing to waste. They are ahead of the game. They have the ability to cultivate a great testimony. They have the ability to follow Jesus and do great things through the power of the Holy Spirit. 

As volunteers, I think we forget many times that we have been given a great privilege in our calling. God has put you in your ministry wherever it may be for such a time as this. He has called you and provided you with the privilege to speak life into kids. Wherever God has called you to be and serve, it is a privilege because you have been asked by the most high God to do it. It’s easy to get caught up in the “week in, week out” busy-ness of doing God’s work. Let’s treat the weekly, the daily, and everything we do like it is a privilege to do it. Get better at it. 

It is a privilege to serve alongside so many great leaders. It is a privilege that parents bring their kids and entrust us with them each week to help in that faith development process. I am humbled by that privilege. 

I want to take 2019 and live a privileged life. I want to spend time walking alongside families and cheering them on to a privileged life. Let's take time this next year as MercyGate Kids and remember what a privilege it is to do the things God has called us to do. 

Update October 2018 and a Parenting Thought

I have taken a bit of a hiatus from writing on my blog. Not that I haven't had anything to say or felt the need at times to write. Sometimes, I have written and just didn't finish the post or went to publish and let wisdom kick in that the post probably would have sounded more like venting and not been helpful (I know, when did I get a filter).  Lately, I have felt like I need to get back to writing. Today, I wanted to update folks on what is going on with my family and our ministry.

If you didn't know,  we moved to Mont Belvieu, TX early on in 2018. We are blessed to be family pastors at MercyGate church.  Margaret is working at Barber's Hill ISD where the kids are attending. It is strange because I can see Margaret's school and where her room is from the church, but she gets no service inside and they don't have an open wifi. So, I rarely hear from her between 8 and 5 every day. She is probably more productive that way.

The kids are doing great at the new school this fall. Scout is helping with our after school Bible club and looking for a side job. Cooper has jumped into sports and church like he has always been here. They both are making great grades. Really, we are blessed with great kids.

I am excited to see what God has for our kids. I find myself praying on a daily basis that God would just use me to feed into my kids lives in such a way they can find God's calling on their lives. I want them to reach the potential that God has for them in his purpose. As a kid, that may look like growing in God and learning about leadership and teamwork. Being an example of what the relationship we should have with our Heavenly Father looks like. As at teen, it may look like helping them grow into their gifts or callings.  As an adult, it may look like listening to them talk about what is going on. I want them to love Jesus so much.

A friend once said to me, "I want to be the kind of parent that my kids will be friends with when they are an adult." This has become the second guiding parenting thought for me. If I react to harshly (like a jerk) my kids will see that and move through life thinking I am a jerk. If I let my kids get away with things that I ask them not to do, or ignore the things that I have told them to do but they don't then I come across as someone who is flaky. Neither of which are types of people, I want to hang out with. My friends are not that way.

Just a couple of thoughts with an update on what God is doing in our family.