Blogged recently on my Family ministry blog about Keeping hope alive!
On Sunday our parent group (FEAST) discussion was around chapter 5 of Dr Tim Kimmel's Grace-based Parenting. It's focus is for us to lay a foundation of hope in our kids lives.
Childhood is a time we should move our children from dependence on us todependence on God. And knowing there will face challenges they can’t handlebutGod can.
Tim goes on to give us two things that are needed to raise hope-filled kids
A) They need to see/watch parents who place confidence in the only trueGod. When they see parents who say the right words but without much joy, with much fear and lack of love for not yet Christians they get a mixed message.
B) They need to be raised by parents who treat them the way Jesus treats us. With grace.
The importance of this really struck home when I read about 17 young adults in a Welsh town hanging themselves and 3 youth in Northern Ireland
As Jesse Jackson says we need to "Keep hope alive!"
Dr Kimmel goes on to say that childhood is a time we should move our children from dependence on us to dependence on God. And knowing there will face challenges they can’t handle but God can.
He also talks about parents being there for their kids so the kids know that there is someone bigger than there problems. This helps them understand as they get older that God is bigger than any of our problems.