Friday April 15, 2011

Speaker: Ben Sigman

Theme: What every child needs

Weekend Music links on iTunes: Today Is The Day, Holding Nothing Back, Jesus Paid It All, I Will Follow

Read: Ephesians 6:1-4

Think: Think back on a memory with your mom and/or dad. What was it? Was it a good memory or a bad one? Parents, you will always create memories with your son or daughter, whether that's developed from fun family vacations, birthday parties, road trips or painful times of hardships and trials. 

What kind of memories are you creating with your son or daughter? When I used to work with adolescents, this was a question I asked frequently. I remember a time when a high school boy told me, "my most vivid memory of my mom was her yelling at my dad and yelling at me for no reason." That was it. That was his memory of his mom. He knew her as an angry unforgiving person who was constantly irrational and yelled more than talked with a normal tone. He felt like he was walking on eggshells and couldn't wait until the day he moved out. 

Whatever your parenting strategy is, just remember that you are creating memories with your child. Make it a positive one- memories that are filled with laughter, hugs, kisses, forgiveness, understanding and conversations. Remember, you can still have positive memories amidst conflict.

Do: Give yourself one hour a week to spend quality time with your child. Turn off your cell phone and your child's phone and do something fun and memorable! 

Pray: God help me to find ways to prioritize my time, keeping my family high on that list. I pray that my son/daughter will remember the great times we've had and he/she sees me as a mom/dad that has tried my best!

The eDevotional is written each week by a team of volunteers from Timberlake Church.