More, More, More~

Greetings:)

I just spent six days on a jury, and it's good to be back. As the judge held up a folded copy of The Constitution to remind us of the foundation upon which this country's legal system was founded, I was moved by the enormous responsibility and privilege that comes with sitting on a jury. I repeatedly asked the Lord for the wisdom to make the right decision, and I fully believe justice was served. Amen!

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Yesterday yet another one of you precious souls wrote to me to say that you sent your oldest child off to college. But rather than it being a time for tears, it was a time for rejoicing. You are happy that your son has found passion and are trusting his life to God.

You are confident, that just as your parents invested in you through loving you and teaching you, that your investment in your son will have a huge payoff. AMEN TO THAT!

And this is one of the points the Jabez Prayer makes: Ask God to bless you and increase your territory so you can enjoy a lifetime of good and solid communication with your child.

Several years ago one of my children was ticketed for speeding. It happened while they were at another friend's house. This child was so upset about it--worried about how I might react--that the friend's parent did a big no-no. They swept it under the rug and paid the ticket clinic behind my back.

Oh! Where do I begin?

Of course, these things have a way of coming out, and sure enough, when all these advertisements about traffic schools started coming in the mail, my spidey sense started tingling.

Before I could confront my child, said child was overwhelmed by guilt and spilled the beans. Somehow, not confessing was worse than confessing. It was a powerful learning moment because I realized the importance of asking God to always have my childrens' hearts turned toward Jorge and me and not anything or anyone else--even well-meaning adults.

And I also realized that if I was serious about having an ongoing powerful influence on my children, I better not blow the opportunities to lead by example. So, with my child in front of me, I called the mom who grossly overstepped her bounds. Rather than sever all ties with her, I spoke with her about how important it is for our kids to own up to their mistakes. How every mistake is an opportunity to learn something that will help in avoiding mistakes in the future, and most importantly, open communication in the smaller things will open the door to the bigger deeper conversations about life.

Let us pray.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, There are really only a handful of people that we love deeply, and these are the ones You want us intimately connected to all our lives. So again today we ask for more blessing and more increase. In Jesus' name, AMEN~

It's Never Too Late

Good morning:)

I trust you all had a lovely weekend.

Jabez, here we come...

One of you precious souls wrote back to me saying that the ship has sailed when it comes to the influence and impact you can have on your adult child. Said child is way past the age of 18 and doing whatever comes to mind with little to no regard to the careful upbringing you provided.

"Nonsense," I say! But only if you believe Jabez.

..."Bless me and enlarge my territory!

A prayer based on this verse might look like one I shared last week:

"Dear Lord, Give Mary wisdom. Her baby starts middle school this year and will face new challenges. May she always turn to Mary and trust her with all her hopes, dreams, fears, and temptations. May Mary's influence over her daughter grow stronger each and every day, and thank you for the fierce love between them. May her daughter only have honor for Mary and a desire to do what is right."

Isn't that phenomenal?

No matter where you are in your parenting journey, this is an encouraging verse that reminds us that it is never too late to ask God to increase the good you can do in your child's life.

Actually, it's never too late to ask God to increase the good we can do in the life of anyone we love.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Increase our territory. So many things compete to influence us. TV, cable, friends, magazines, radio, internet...But we desire that You would be our primary source of influence so that those within our reach would be positively impacted. In Jesus' name, AMEN~


Yenise~
With God all things are possible~
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