Put YOUR mask on FIRST! (an analogy from Pastor Doug)
The idea to study yourself well approved is a good one...we MUST know God's Word..what it says, where it says it and how to apply it.
I got into some conversation about kids and discipline last night..(who, me?) and I realize I like talking about it less and less...I don't know how or even if we go about it differently than others but I always end up feeling like I am being judged...like others think I judge them so they judge me, etc. etc. etc.
Cycle, cycle, cycle. Enemy, enemy, enemy. You know the womanly drill. I am always in shock to hear the problems others have in that area and others are in shock that we don't and really, just DO NOT ask me about discipline any more because I just-don't-know.
But this morning I realized a BIG part of it may be because I had put my own mask on FIRST. Not because I knew to, but because I was suffocating in life until I did. I could not breathe without the Word and when I feel suffocated even now, I know that I have taken off my mask! And that analogy works well for me because at FIRST loss of cabin pressure, there is still a bit of air... you are still breathing...and it is easy to try to force the mask on your kids first...you know, WE WILL DO BIBLE STUDY...but just a few minutes later in life when you are sans oxygen (equals the very breath of Life, the WORD of God) you are SCRAMBLING and knocking over anyone who gets in your way to get that mask on your face and INHALE DEEPLY. And I lived my earlier Christian life that way so much that mask became a pretty regular fixture on my face. Lol LIFE is consistently in a state of loss of cabin pressure..at least for me, so I need to keep that mask on. So I think it is a natural progression when I am breathing deeply of the Word, my kids do too. I am calmly helping them with theirs and not forcing it on their little faces.
The idea to study yourself well approved is a good one...we MUST know God's Word..what it says, where it says it and how to apply it.
I got into some conversation about kids and discipline last night..(who, me?) and I realize I like talking about it less and less...I don't know how or even if we go about it differently than others but I always end up feeling like I am being judged...like others think I judge them so they judge me, etc. etc. etc.
Cycle, cycle, cycle. Enemy, enemy, enemy. You know the womanly drill. I am always in shock to hear the problems others have in that area and others are in shock that we don't and really, just DO NOT ask me about discipline any more because I just-don't-know.
But this morning I realized a BIG part of it may be because I had put my own mask on FIRST. Not because I knew to, but because I was suffocating in life until I did. I could not breathe without the Word and when I feel suffocated even now, I know that I have taken off my mask! And that analogy works well for me because at FIRST loss of cabin pressure, there is still a bit of air... you are still breathing...and it is easy to try to force the mask on your kids first...you know, WE WILL DO BIBLE STUDY...but just a few minutes later in life when you are sans oxygen (equals the very breath of Life, the WORD of God) you are SCRAMBLING and knocking over anyone who gets in your way to get that mask on your face and INHALE DEEPLY. And I lived my earlier Christian life that way so much that mask became a pretty regular fixture on my face. Lol LIFE is consistently in a state of loss of cabin pressure..at least for me, so I need to keep that mask on. So I think it is a natural progression when I am breathing deeply of the Word, my kids do too. I am calmly helping them with theirs and not forcing it on their little faces.
Now I know little about where stuff is in the bible and that is a point of weakness in me, but I study a lot- well, a lot can be relative but you get the picture...and we have somewhat inconsistently done practical application bible study pretty regularly. (yet another contradiction but yet again, you get the picture)
God is an authority BIGGER than a parent and when a parent recognizes God as the authority in the home, there is just no arguing with that. Doug was right when he said EVERY answer to life is in there.
Every time an ungodly thing is done or said around here, it is easy to lovingly bring correction with God's Word. Easy if you can say it, better if you can actually point to it but most importantly, effective if kids take God seriously because YOU do.
And maybe THAT is why it works around here for the most part. Not us, but HIM.
Put your own mask on first and you will better be able to help your kids...
God is an authority BIGGER than a parent and when a parent recognizes God as the authority in the home, there is just no arguing with that. Doug was right when he said EVERY answer to life is in there.
Every time an ungodly thing is done or said around here, it is easy to lovingly bring correction with God's Word. Easy if you can say it, better if you can actually point to it but most importantly, effective if kids take God seriously because YOU do.
And maybe THAT is why it works around here for the most part. Not us, but HIM.
Put your own mask on first and you will better be able to help your kids...
1 comment:
Isaiah 54:13 All your children shall be taught by the LORD, And great shall be the peace of your children.
It's a relationship... we are His children, not His grandchildren. I remind mine all the time that if they're pleasing the LORD, they are pleasing us.
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