Mark and I attended a parenting conference at our church this past weekend. Rob Rienow from Visionary Parenting was the speaker, and it was fantastic. Two of the key points that really hit home for me...
We need to practice worship at home with our children to help prepare them for worship with the church on Sunday. This was an incredible slap in the face for me, since we have been practicing so many other things at home with the boys to prepare them for day-to-day life, but we haven't been practicing for church. We even practiced hunting Easter eggs at home, yet we don't spend time singing together--helping them learn the words to the songs--or praying together other than at meals. Those are things I would like to see changed in our family. :)
We need to disciple our children as much or more than we disciple others. Rob told of his realization a few years ago that he was setting aside time to meet with other men who needed discipling, but wasn't making the time to sit down with his own son and do the same thing. Don't get me wrong--I'm not saying we shouldn't make time to meet with others, just not at the expense of our children's time with us.
I would highly recommend hearing Rob (or his wife Amy) speak if you get the opportunity. You can also check out their website for lots of great ideas for incorporating worship and discipleship into your family.
I signed up to receive a free CD from Matt Maher. I'm not familiar with much of his music, but I've heard great reviews and I'm looking forward to the opportunity to share more Christian music with the boys (see above paragraphs!). Mark and I have a considerable amount of Christian music, but most of it is not songs that we sing in church so I'm hoping to beef up our collection along those lines.
Dima's first occupational therapy (OT) appointment was today. It went well, if you consider realizing that your child definitely needs therapy, "well". ;) At this point, the OT doesn't want to label him with a diagnosis, although there are a couple we're leaning towards, but it's clear regardless of a diagnosis that he would benefit from some therapy. We're working out scheduling but hoping to start getting him in once a week or so.
Monday, April 07, 2008
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2 comments:
Courtney--my son will be starting OT next week. I've got a couple of questions and would love to talk with you more about it off line. Will you please email me at vorderbinnen@gmail.com
Courtney, I just wanted to share with you how we keep praise and prayer a part of our day with the girls. Praise and prayer has become a part of the girls' bedtime routine. We read a story from their Bibe, sing a praise song and then pray. For Elly, it's more of a fun thing right now, but I know it is teaching her and preparing her little heart for all the God has planned. For Ivie, we talk about how when we sing and dance it makes God happy. And for her prayer, I ask her to tell me one thing about the day that made her happy, usually it's a toy or book, and then we talk about how God gave that to us (from a friend, because daddy works and can buy it, etc.) and we also talk about her decisions as an easier way to ask for forgivness for her sins. I ask her to tell me about a bad decision she made and who that made sad (Elly because she didn't share and mommy and God) and we ask God to forgive her for making that bad decision. We also talk about a good decision she made and how that made her, mommy and God feel. I hate thinking of prayer and praise as being a part of our routine, but it certainly has helped to make it a constant in our home and has led to Ivie being more interested in doing that throughout her day. For us, it has been a great way to introduce both the girls to prayer and praise together and will hopefully continue to lead to some wonderful times for our family.
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