Generation NeXt Parenting

This has been one of those springs. You know, the kind when you have to deal with issues you never thought in a million years would confront you.

Tuesday our Mason chased her last bunny rabbit. She was our first child and the only dog our children had owned. We often joked that we started to have kids because we hadn’t killed the puppy and she’d actually turned out really well.

On top of the miscarriage, losing Mason was a lot to deal with for Abigail and Jonathan. In many, many ways, this loss was much more real. They’d wrestled with Mason, hugged on her, taken her for walks. The baby was an idea, an exciting one but still an idea of things to come.

Our house has seemed horribly empty this week without someone to greet us each time we came home. So yesterday afternoon, we headed to a local shelter. We didn’t intend to bring home a puppy, but we did. Isn’t she cute?

As we spent time at the shelter, I was reminded of why I am so glad that God loved each of us enough to send His Son just for me. Or you. Or your neighbor. If He’d selected who to love like we selected our puppy, it would be a truly scary world.

We left a lot of great dogs behind. We only had room for one. God has unending room for each of us in heaven.

We didn’t want to spend a lot of time retraining an older dog who might have quirks we couldn’t quickly identify. God delights in teaching us about Himself and pruning our character.

Some of the dogs were too big. Or too energetic. Or too needy. With two small kids, we carefully weighed the personalities and other issues of the dogs. This one had no training and was two. That meant too much work.

This one was bigger than Jonathan. This one had too much energy and while trainable would scare Jonathan. Ahh. This one seems perfect.

Fortunately, God doesn’t require perfection from us. Instead, He knows that the only way to become perfect is through His Son Jesus. It’s only when I’m covered in His blood that I can stand in the throne room of heaven. Not because of a single thing I’ve done. But because when God looks at me, He sees Jesus. He also sees me as His perfect creation. And that’s enough.

And I’m so grateful. Because on my own, I could never measure up.

Cara C. Putman
Canteen Dreams -- coming October 2007 (Heartsong Presents)
Sandhill Dreams and Captive Dreams -- 2008 (Heartsong Presents)
The Law, Life & Books: http://carasmusings.blogspot.com
Original Writer for Jake Tremaine at Scenes & Beans:
http://kannerlake.blogspot.com

If you've worked with people for any length of time you'll come across those difficult cases. You know, the ones that refuse to be fixed. You talk to them, pray for them, tell them about God ... and they don't seem to change. You feel like a failure.

One thing that helped me SO much when it comes to reaching out is realizing that Jesus taught thousands and thousands and only a small percentage of them believed. Jesus gave a message to all who would listened, but only a few were truly transformed ... or at least in the beginning. (Who knows how those seeds later took root?!)

Yet, Jesus kept his eyes open for those whose hearts were ready. We too must connect with the seekers. Remember Zacchaeus? Jesus saw the "wee little man" in the tree and knew he was ready. Who is in the tree in your life ready to hear the good news you have to share?

Once Jesus shared the truth and a new believer accepted it, Jesus brought him/her closer. He shared more, and in some cases he mentored them.

All we can do is the same.

I recently wrote this for a teen publication...but, I think it has principles of success and failure that applies to everyone regardless of age.

Not too long ago, I helped a family member purchase a money order to mail to her daughter who lives out-of-state. It seems this person's boyfriend kicked her out, and she'd been staying in a hotel. Unfortunately, she ran out of money, and her boss from the local diner had already fronted all he could. This person needed money quick, and she didn't know where else to turn.

Around the same time a friend of mine related the story of being startled awake by her son. It was 3:30 a.m. when the phone rang. Her son had been partying and needed a ride home. Though my friend had to work the next morning, she jumped out of bed and hurried to her son's aid.

Does this sound unusual? Maybe not. People find themselves in binds like this all the time.Well, what if I told you that these people in trouble were 50 and 55-years-old? That's right. They experienced adolescence in the 1960s, yet here they were not straying far from their old ways.

Many times teens get a bad rap for being irresponsible. Teens drive too fast. Party too hard. And don't make wise choices about their future.Well, as far as I'm concerned, wise-decision making has more to do with a right heart-attitude than with age. I've seen teens make very wise choices . . . ones that their older acquaintances should try to copy!

Proverbs 1:15 and 18 says, "Don't go along with [sinners], my child! Stay far away from their paths . . . they set an ambush for themselves; they booby-trap their own lives! Such is the fate of all who are greedy for gain. It ends up robbing them of life" (NLT emphasis mine).

For the past few weeks, I've been wearing a white wristband similar to Lance Armstrong's Livestrong. It says these words: "Choose Life." On the surface the meaning is pro-life, of course. But to me this bracelet also reminds me to choose life in all the decisions I make.

Deuteronomy 30:19-20 says, "This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him" (NIV).

Choosing life means choosing God's way. It's choosing to seek Him instead of the world's answers. It's choosing hope, peace, abundance, and faith. It means serving God and loving people, instead attempting to find happiness through live-in boyfriends and all-night-parties. It means not booby-trapping your own lives by making bad choices over and over again.

Each of us will mess up. I know I have too many times to count! But being "grown-up" means realizing those mistakes and deciding to take a better way. As Psalms 119:30 says, "I have chosen the way of truth" (NIV). Truth as Jesus gives it-not as Hollywood tries to display.

So the next time someone tries to give teens a bad rap, be sure to tell them differently. Let them know that you're choosing life. You're choosing not to bobby-trap your future. Choosing blessings instead of cursings.

After all, your choices are good choices when you choose God's choices for your days.

Look at some the techniques used by the parents I surveyed for Generation NeXt Parenting!

Tiffany: Keeping a book of blessings so I can look back over my previous tough times and how God was faithful to us then and remember how he will be faithful again.

Michelle R: Whenever I look at the big picture. I think about eternal things in my weekly Bible study and through reading great fiction and the scriptures. I realize that my life is short and what seems like a big deal to me in respect to eternity is really insignificant.

Lisa: fellowship with other Christian women.

Shannon: I think what really gives me an "eternal perspective" is my love for my children, and my protectiveness of them. I try to protect them, but in the end God loves them even more than I do and He is the only one who can truly protect them.

Michelle H: Psalm 127:3 is a great reminder to me. Because I work at home as a day care provider, my entire world can be consumed by children and housework. It helps to remind myself that the children in my life are gifts.

Robin: DAILY SCRIPTURE READING!

Michelle D: I realize that I should be keeping my eyes on Jesus all along. Psalm 139 is really important to me, because it reminds me that God is ALWAYS with me - right beside me - and that He's in charge. I'm so glad that God is God and I am not.

Rene: Lots of prayer. I pray all the time about parenting, and throughout the day, God gives me a lot of reminders about life, truth, reality. So much of what I experience as a parent happens inside my head, without much fact, which then leads to a lot of fear. God continues to work with me to keep me focused on what is right in front of me and how to deal with that. I also remember that it is through suffering and uncomfortable circumstances that we grow, which is helping me let go a little of the kids and let them experience life as it really is, not the Barney version.