We are 5 days away from thanksgiving and as I think about what I am thankful for this year I can't help but think about all of the mentors, scholars, authors, bloggers, friends and family members who have helped me to be a better mom, wife and Christian leader.
I want to be an intentional parent who spends my time wisely...but to be honest, sometimes I really struggle with this. I am so thankful for the people who give their time and energy providing resources to struggling parents like my husband and I!
MOPS has been such a blessing to myself. I am surrounded by mentor moms and other moms who are full of advice, support and prayer. My husband, on the other hand, is alone in his parenting. He does not have a support group for dads. He doesn't have anyone handing him tools for how to talk to his kids about Jesus.
My husband could, and has, sat down in front of groups of men and shared the gospel; however, sit in him in front of a toddler with no attention span and its a completely different ballgame.
What my husbands needs is a tool, a guide, for how to engage his kids in intentional activities that will build their relationships with both their earthly and heavenly father.
When I learned about this new tool by Nobel Warriors called Dad's Tools for Spiritual Leadership Let's Build A Manger! I of course had to get my hands on it!
This is the perfect activity and spiritual tool for dads to do with their children. Not only does it provide you with the tools and materials to build an actual wooden manger with your kids but it also provides them with 6 devotionals and lessons on how to talk about the birth of Jesus with your children.
I highly recommend purchasing this build a manger kit at the beginning of the advent season and using the tools through out December to teach your kids about Jesus. This is something that our husbands can own. This can be their special project to do with the kids. Its written to dads, and for dads.
My husband loved doing this project with Jacob and the activities from the six tools to build your family have made lasting imprints on both of them. The 6 lessons provided in the devotional book not only encourage dads to be intentional with their time but it gives them the tools they need to be intentional.
When my husband and Jacob got back from a long walk to the play ground and Jacob looked at me and said "I'm tired, we walked a long ways mom. Mary and Joseph walked a long ways too!" I knew that walk to the play ground had been intentional.
My husband felt good because he knew that time he spent with Jacob was time well spent and Jacob has continued to mention that walk and his time spent building the manger with me.
The manger that they built together is something that we will have forever. They built it together and they learned so much along the way. This one activity is providing my husband with all of the resources he needs to make this year the year when Jacob connects with him and with God.
Today at church I watched children a few years older than Jacob being baptized. These 5 and 6 year olds were on their own professing their faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and wanted the whole world to know about it!
Tears streamed down my face thinking about Jacob, one day deciding on his own to be baptized, and watching my husband baptize him.
This is what matters. Not the grades on the report card, the team he makes, or the number of friends he/she has.
At the end of the day all I really want for my children is for them to know and love Jesus. If I spend my time and money on anything I want it to be on encouraging my children to know Jesus better.
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy ,and where thieves do not break in and steal.. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" Matthew 6:19.
This Thanksgiving I am thankful for the tools and relathipships God has given to me to help me to be a better parent.
This Christmas, I am hoping to plant the seed of Jesus in Jacobs heart so that it will grow and grow and grow until the one day when Jacob accepts Jesus Christ as his savior and that seed will burst for the whole world to see.
**If you are looking for a tool for spiritual development that is perfect for the Christmas season please visit http://www.noblewarriors.org/ and order your Let's Build A Manger! Set today!**
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