Have you shopped for backpacks lately? Have you seen all the features, all the options available on a lowly backpack? They come with rollers, but many schools don't allow them. They come with drink holders, and pockets, and compartments and a little hamster that does their homework for them. OK, so maybe you haven't found the hamster model, but I'm sure you've seen the dazzling and confusing options available. We buy them at the beginning of the school year, or we use them for back packing and hiking. We stuff computers in them, but few people would describe them as life saving! Few except Meesh Hytner's parents. They will forever be thankful that they gave their daughter a very special backpack for a Christmas gift. Let me explain.
Meesch is an avid snowboarder. On January 25th she was snowboarding in the back country near Montezuma, Colorado when an avalanche sent snow thundering down her path. It could have been fatal. Often, people are buried under the snow and perish. But Meesch was wearing her backpack. Thinking clearly she deployed her BCA Float 30 avalanche airbag inside that special backpack, which kept her from being buried alive. Her parents had wisely given their child what was needed to face the inherent dangers of snowboarding. That backpack saved her life.
No child should ever leave home without a backpack. I'm not referring to the Oakley Kitchen Sink Backpack or even the High Sierra Fat Boy Backpack. (Can you believe those crazy names for backpacks?) I'm not even referring to the BCA Float 30 avalanche backpack. But there is one backpack that only you as a parent can give them. I don't have a clever name for it, so I'll let you select a name. But I can tell you three things that you need to pack inside their emotional backpack, that they will carry with them their entire lives or be without their entire lives.
1. Unconditional love. Tell them you love them. Show them you love them in ways that communicate love to that child. Touch them. Listen to them.
2. Model your faith. Let them see your pray. Make church attendance a priority. Read the Bible with them. Play Christian music. Be an example of a believer in word, conversation, love and truth. Pray strategically.
3. Deliberately plant and nurture the seed of God's Word in their hearts. Teach them the Scriptures; rehearse the principles of the Scriptures so they understand them. Teach strategically. Plug them into groups that will build their faith. Their personal faith in God and a foundation of biblical values will keep them and guide them through life.
Hopefully your church family and ministry staff will invest and reinforce what you are doing at home, but they will never be able to give them what you can. It's your job to invest in your child and no one, NO ONE, can do that for you. Only you can give your child the coolest backpack ever! And yes, it is expensive. Yes, it costs you time. It costs you commitment and creativity. Still, don't let your child face the challenges of life without the coolest backpack ever!
I realize that most people that stop by this blog are here to gain information or encouragment that will help them be more effective in children's ministry! I sincerely appreciate that you would give me the opportunity to share with you. But from time to time I want to help you build children by building and encouraging their parents to fulfill their role as Christian parents. This blog is written with that purpose in mind. Would you do them a favor and me as well, would you send this blog link to every parent in your church or repost this blog link in your blog or your next newsletter? Thank you again for the opportunity to share my heart with you! Children's Ministry folks are absolutely the greatest people in the world!
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