A Parent's Responsibility

I have posted this once before but it is good so I am posting it again.  I found this on http://surfinthespirit.com/teens/parents.html

What Exactly Are Your Parent’s Responsibilities?

Sunday, October 25th, 2009
by Pastor Art Kohl

You parents have been given these responsibilities by God:
1. Clothing
To clothe you in a Christian manner
To oversee your dress, appearance, hair, and make-up
To teach you to avoid worldliness and immodesty

2. Food & Nutrition
To feed you with nutritious meals
To not feed you unhealthy food
To teach you to avoid the world’s junk food, which leads to physical maladies and unruly behavior

3. Discipline
To discipline you with the goal of teaching you to be a decent, law-abiding citizen and Christian
To produce an atmosphere of quiet and peace in your home
To purge you of stubbornness, rebellion, and pride
To have your will be submitted to God’s will
To teach you – through education, chastisement, and work – to be a responsible, contributing human being
To teach you to control your emotions

4. Entertainment & Communication
To protect you from evil people and influences
To teach you to avoid evil communications of today (on the Internet, on TV, in movies, in chat rooms, in worldly music, on cell phones, in video games, and so on)
To approve of all reading materials, books, posters, magazines, etc.
To oversee and approve (or disapprove) of friendships and relationships

5. Privacy
To know what is in every bedroom, desk, drawer, etc., at all times.
To oversee all e-mails, computer programs, etc.
To oversee what you are watching, listening to, or talking about

6. Education
To lead you to Jesus Christ, and teach you that He can be your Saviour and Shepherd.
To educate you in the Bible before you leave the home.

The home is under the authority of the parents and they have every right and responsibility to do these things listed above. There are no perfect parents. But whether your parents show hyprocrisy or consistency, you are to obey and honor them. If you have a stepmother or stepfather, you are to be subject to them, too (see Luke 2:51).

Most children live under their parents’ authority, in their parents’ homes, for about 1/4 of their lives. God promises to bless children with long life if they will obey and honor their parents. Children and teenagers should submit to the Scriptures and the power of God in their lives. This list of responsibilities is based on my 36 years of familiarity with the Bible.

Pondering...

I came across two different thoughts from sermons recently and I wanted to get them down so I can ponder them.

First, God will give you what you give to others. If you are seeking his grace, offer grace to others. If you are seeking financial blessing, give financially to others.  If you seek help, give help.  Just as trees produce fruit of its own kind, blessings work the same way.  Don't give grace if you seek a financial blessing. Also don't say, I will give financially once I receive a financial blessing. And do not give simply to get in return.  However, expect blessing since you are God's beloved child.

I never thought of it this way but I heard it in a sermon on the way home from church last night. It makes sense but it seems like I would struggle with serving/giving to honor God versus serving/giving to receive a blessing.

And then on the way home tonight I heard James MacDonald talk about fasting. This is what he said: Fasting is taking the thing that controls you and putting it in its place.  Fasting breaks our enslavement to food (or any other things that we are a slave to). Anything that I HAVE to have is enslavement to me (dessert, coffee, facebook...) The absence of our fasting is the measure of our contentment with the absence of Christ.  (OUCH!) Fasting reveals the things that control us. Our human desires are like rivers that tend to overflow their banks. Fasting brings the river under control and forces it to flow within its proper boundaries.

I have never fasted really. I have tried fasting from food once but got dreadfully ill and ended up breaking my fast in tears for having "failed".  Since then I have tried partial fasts but was never very committed to them.  But to hear it said that my lack of fasting shows my contentment with my lack of Christ. Ouch!h. I realize that I have been way too passive in my faith.  I have settled for "just enough to get by" instead of seeking to be filled to overflowing. So, I will be rethinking my stance on fasting (or rather my lack thereof).

My Joy

I love my children. They bring me so much joy!

I Hate Exercise!

Ok, that is not totally fair. There are a few things that are quite active that I actually enjoy, such as hiking and swimming and dancing.  I don't call those things exercise, though. They are just fun.  I just don't get to do them very often (like less than once or twice a year) so they technically cannot be considered exercise anyway.  And since I have zero time to myself, no extra money for a gym membership, and I don't have a disco, pool, or hiking trails in my backyard, I just don't get that much exercise.  I can always try the old standby- exercise dvds. But I really hate exercising just for the sake checking exercise off of my mental to-do list. B O R I N G!  Not to mention the fact that I am always so sore afterwards. And I am a huge wimp. I hate pain.  Sore is definitely something I do NOT wish to be.  However, as my scale has started creeping up to a number I never thought it would go, I am forced to re evaluate my stance on exercise.  I am dusting off those old boring dvds. I am jogging in place while watching tv.  I am trying some booty lifting exercises (ok, I only tried it once just this morning and I discovered something... you know those muscles make you leave the ground when you jump? well, mine don't work anymore). And I am fidgeting as much as possible (fidgeting burns calories, you know).  Along with all of this I am considering something new and different type of exercise.  I am thinking about buying a bellydancing workout dvd.

So, let me make a list of pros and cons to try to talk myself into this.

Pro

• it looks fun and different
• it is exercise
• it is something I can do in the privacy of my own home
• it might help me embrace my most embarrassing feature (my flab.. I mean abs)
• it costs less than a gym membership
• I might learn some sexy moves that my hubby will enjoy

Con

• it is exercise
• I have teenagers (who will likely laugh while I am doing this and might even post a video of me attempting to do it on my facebook page)
• it is exercise
• I will be forced to embrace and maybe even reveal my most embarrassing feature
• it is exercise
• I do not want my hubby watching the video. I will never, ever be as sexy as the instructor and I do not want him to have that mental comparison.
• it is exercise

Did I mention that I hate to exercise?  

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