Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Growing Like Jesus



I have been MIA for awhile. I was trying to get caught up on everything before baby Cooper Lane made his appearance. He is now here! He was born on December 21, 2009 at 5:39 pm. He weighed in at 8 pounds 11 ounces. A whole pound larger than his big brother. I am so glad that he is here. He is the perfect addition to our family.
Christmas Morning

As this year comes to a close I have been thinking about my goals for next year. However, I was challenged to also think of goals for Max and Cooper as I am "training them up in the way they should go (Proverbs 22:6)." In the new issue of Mom Sense magazine that I got in the mail there was the perfect article about this very thing!

Luke 2:52 is a great verse for this time of year. "And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men." The article challenges us to examine four different areas where we can grow too: intellectually (wisdom), physically (stature), spiritually (favor with God) and socially (favor with men).

Will you take the Luke 2:52 Challenge? Be intentional about challenging your children to grow in all four areas. Make and use a chart to keep track each time they do something to grow like Jesus did.

"Growing My Brain"-some fun age-appropriate intellectual goals might be to teach your child which colors mix together to make other colors or to help him learn to count in another language.

"Growing My Body"-choose a physical goal such as trying a new fruit once a week or teaching her how to pedal a tricycle or bicycle.

"Growing My Faith"-A spiritual goal could be acting out a Bible story together each week or teaching your child to pray out loud by repeating after you at bed time or meal times.

"Giving to Others"-Social goals for your kids may involve meeting new neighbors and scheduling a play date or regularly making pictures to mail to grandparents or other relatives who live in a different city.

There are many options to stick in each quadrant. I am challenged to use these four areas to help train up Max and Cooper.

Mom Sense Magazine-January February issue pg. 16