My next several posts will be in reference to a book I am reading - "Revolutionary Parenting" by George Barna. I am really excited about this as it is a book based on research. They interviewed parents of "spiritual champions" - "an irrepressible follower of Jesus Christ who accepts the Bible as truth, lives by its principles, and seeks ways to impact the world and continually deepen his or her relationship with God." They found out what these parents did to raise children like this and they also interviewed the grown children to find out what they feel most impacted them to become a spiritual champion. I will be sharing with you what I learn!

One of the most important things to keep in mind that I read in the book is the fact that our job is "not to succeed (in raising a spiritual champion), but to be obedient to God's calling and principles and allow Him to produce the outcomes according to His perfect will." So we do the best job we possibly can, but the ultimate result is up to God.

"Your impact on your children's lives is proportional to the depth of the relationship you have fostered with them. This implies devoting substantial amounts of time to building your relationship with your child." "Once you have created a true relationship with them, they will be more open to your guidance, even when it seems counter intuitive, exceedingly difficult, or out of step with cultural norms." I would love to have the primary influence on my children, yet this is only possible if I have built that relationship.

At the end of each chapter it gives you some work to do. I plan on taking this very seriously and so I took some 3x5 cards to write down my answers and plan to review them often. I will share these with you and encourage you to also take part in this!

1. "Think about the relationship you have with each of your children. Write down three things you will commit to do during the next thirty days that will improve your relationship with them."

- with three going on four children it takes effort to make sure you spend adequate time with each child, making them each feel special. One night a week my daughter gets to stay up late with me. Sometimes I dread this, because that is "my time", but I have decided to make sure to do something special with her on those nights and not just think of it as "giving up my time". I am building an important relationship with her. With the other two I plan to make sure that I am spending time with each one individually - my older son loves games, so I plan to play Trouble, Candy Land or whatever the game of the day is. And my youngest, try reading to just him before his nap and try to play with him and not just try to keep him busy so I can do "my" work.

2. "Consider the lessons your children learn from watching you. Write down three things that you will change in your behavior during the next 30 days in order to have a more positive and biblical influence on the lives of your children."

-write them down - I did!

3. "PRAY that God will give you the personal resources to make the changes you have written down - and that those transitions will enhance your ability to raise your children to be spiritual champions."

What is more important than prayer?

This is a journey - a difficult one without a guaranteed outcome, but please join me as we try to be obedient to God's call on our life!

Love,
Susie