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This week, I’m beginning a new series based on my book, 10 Gifts of Heart. I pray it will be a blessing and encouragement to you.
The world of teens is focused on their test scores as they graduate from high school. But what if God wants us to focus on a different kind of preparation before they leave our homes? What if their character, foundations of faith, their habits of life, work ethic, social skills, vision for life, foundations of family values, and more are the most important preparation that will send them into life with foundations that will hold them through all the days of this hard, secular world? I only wish I had understood even more what my children would need. We wrote the book 10 Gifts of Heart as a sort of guide to what your children need before they leave your home to go into the world.
The ways we shape their values every day in the way we speak to one another; times we spend together pondering daily passages from the word of God; daily chores carried out together; meal times where hearts and ideas are shared, these are the ways values will be shaped, lives will be formed, ready to foray into the world. What values, relationship patterns, faith are you building through your home today?
It was a sunny Texas day, and my children were laughing and fussing, squirming in their breakfast chairs. We didn’t tell the kids everything, of course, but we wanted them to be part of this life of faith, trusting God whether in plenty or in need. When we came to prayer at the end of our devotions, we told them simply that we needed to see God provide financially for our family. Would they pray that too?
Their little faces grew very solemn (although this did not in the least stop their squirming). They squeezed their eyes shut and held their hands tightly together where they sat at the table and each of them prayed in their high voices that God would give us what we needed.
Clay went straight to his office after breakfast, and the kids and I finished the dishes and gathered in the living room to start our day. But before we could begin, Clay was back with news of an amazing discovery. On picking up the morning mail, he found in a national news magazine the story of a particular class action lawsuit settlement regarding a failed investment he had written off long before we were married. Because we’d been overseas and moved multiple times, Clay never received a notice about the lawsuit. But the article said that there was still one week left to file a claim before the lawsuit was closed. He did, and the amount we received would adequately meet our need for funds for months to come.
When we told the kids, their eyes were wide with wonder at the fact that God had answered their prayers. “Mom,” said Sarah, “God really heard us, and it worked. Isn’t that amazing?”
