Sacred Parenting Ch. 5 - How Raising Children Helps Us Embrace God's Joy

Introduction

A. God rejoices over us - what a blessing!

• 198 occurrences of "rejoice" in Scripture; 165 occurrences of "joy"


• Deut. 30:9; Is. 65:19


• Key: we have in this chapter of Sacred Parenting a picture of God rejoicing in us with our families as the template

B. Sarah Hughes - olympic ice skater; behind in points

• Her brother helps calm her nerves; she skates the routine of her life


• Wins the gold in a great come-from-behind victory


• What about the family behind the scenes?


• Mother had aggressive cancer; multiple treatments; eldest son gave blood platelets to his mother


• There is still joy here: family stayed together (unlike most althetes who leave home at age 10) - picture of the church (Acts 2:42)


• Gary Thomas: "We make sacrifices as parents, but we also reap transcendent joy."

Merry Parents

A. Gary Thomas uses the story of Mary as an example of how we ought to find joy in parenting

• Mary hears the good news that she will give birth to the Messiah


• She give us a song (referred to as "the Magnificat") in Luke 1:46-55


• Mary rejoices in the Lord - there's that word again, "rejoice"


• She also receives the warning from Simeon (Luke 2:35): "Listen carefully...a sword will pierce your own soul as well."


• Thomas makes the point that we have a journey as parents - from heights of joy to depths of pain, but sometimes its just fun being a parent.


• John 15:11 - "I have told you this so that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete."

Prayerful Parents

A. Gary Thomas speaks about how we should pray thankfully for being parents

1. Thank God for our children; they are His gift to us


2. We will be changed as we rely on God for His plans with our children


3. We will be reminded how much God cares for our children


4. We will have a more stable foundation for a relationship with our children

• Thomas: "If our Father in heaven doesn't model His care by showing obessive fear for us and constantly harping over our failures, why should be build our relationships with our children on such a worthless foundation?"

Listening to Little Voices

A. Gary tells the story of how he took off work to spend time playing with his son

• Gary calls these moments of "contentment"


• How much has society, with busy lives, e-mail, cell phones, instant gratification stolen from our contentment?!

B. Thomas: "Families (and marriages) start to breakdown when we stop enjoying each other."

• There is a place for discipline, sacrifice, commitment, and perseverance


• Equally important is enjoyment

Call to Action

1. Have the correct framework for family life - enjoying each other


2. Be thankful parents - prayerful, but not necessarily for change - thankful for the privilege of being a parent


3. Balanced family life - we must work to provide for our families, but not at the expense of our families

Scotty Ward Smith: "To be so preoccupied with the goespel that you ignore your spouse and kids only confirms you're no preoccupied with the gospel."