In volunteering with the kids at my local church, I’ve been reading a lot of books on various approaches to Youth Ministry. In one book I read, a man shares his experience growing up in Sunday School and why he will never set foot into another Church. [SeeFour Views of Youth Ministry and the Church].
“Foster kids don’t come to family reunions,” he writes. In his excerpt, I found myself getting teary-eyed as I read an all-too-familiar truth.
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Relationships go through ups and downs. No matter how strong your marriage, there will be moments of tension, disagreements, and hard times. During those rocky times, it’s important children understand they’re not responsible for the conflict between you and your spouse.
In many cases, these little disagreements can smooth over once tempers cool. However, in other situations, the damage to relationship may be difficult to repair. Help your children cope with these moments by making sure they understand what is happening is not their fault and both parents still love them.
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Below is an article that I found online – on one of my favorite websites, ESPN.com. But the article isn’t about sports. It’s about bullying. It was written by Matthew Berry – a popular columnist who specializes in the “art” Fantasy Football. But this article is about his childhood and how he grew up in an environment of fear – one where he constantly mocked and jeered and bullied by his classmates.His article touched me deeply.
He speaks very candidly about what it was like for him growing up and the constant state of fear he lived in. It was painful to read. Several times I found myself getting emotional while just reading it. No human being – especially a child – should have to live like this.
Everyone should read this.
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Few things in life are more nerve-racking and anxiety-causing than becoming a parent for the first time. All of a sudden, you are entrusted with the responsibility of raising a child and you are responsible for the development of that child – physically, intellectually, socially and spiritually.
Recently, I was conversing with someone who is about to become a parent for the first time and he was asking my advice.
“What’s the most important thing I need to know as a parent?” he asked.
How would you answer that question? What would you say? What is the most important thing that a person needs to know before entering parenthood? How to change diapers? How to drive a car and break up a sibling fight simultaneously? Where to get cheap babysitting? What?
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“At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:1-3
We’ve all been therefore haven’t we? Thinking that we’re so right about something only to be smacked in the face with the reality that a) we’re far from being right and b) we’re actually more wrong than we’ve ever been before! It’s not the “being wrong” that surprises us, but it’s the shock that I could be “so wrong” all the while thinking and acting as if I am “so right.”
That’s where the disciples found themselves today. They are walking down the road discussing a question that seems to have come up quite often with them, “which one of us will be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” [It looks like they inherited the competitive gene as well :) ].
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