Happy Fathers Day!

Dad, Your Child is You-nique!




Every child is born with a unique blend of strengths and characteristics. Don’t see your child as a blank slate awaiting your pen, but as a written book awaiting your study.

What is the S-T-O-R-Y of your child?

1. What is their Strength? Master pianist Van Cliburn, at the age of two, could pick out a song on the piano simply as a result of listening to lessons going on in the adjacent room. His mother spotted this and, as a result, gave him daily lessons. The little kid from Kilgore, Texas won the International Tchaikovsky Piano competition in Moscow. Why? Because a parent spotted a skill and strengthened it.[1]

2. What Topics turn their heads? Numbers? When are they delightfully lost in a project? John Ruskin said, “Tell me what you like and I’ll tell you who you are.” [2]

3. What is their Optimal setting? Pine trees need a different soil than oak trees. A cactus thrives in a different environment than a rosebush does. What about the soil and the environment of your child? Some kids love to be noticed. Others prefer to be hidden in the crowd. Some relish deadlines and challenges. Others need ample preparation time and help. We each have a different optimal setting.

4. How about Relationships? When it comes to people, what phrase best describes your child?

“Follow me, everyone.”
“I’ll let you know if I need some help.”
“Can we do this together?”
The loner is not necessarily aloof; the crowd-seeker is not always lacking focus. They may be living out their story. In which environment does your child flourish? And, when do they say:

5. “Yes!” What gives them satisfaction and pleasure? Do they love the journey or the goal? Do they like to keep things straight or straighten things out? What thrills one person bothers another. The Apostle Peter liked to keep the boat steady while Paul was prone to rock it.

Strength. Topic. Optimal setting. Relationships. Yes! What S-T-O-R-Y is God writing with your child? God doesn’t give parents manuscripts to write, but codes to decode. Study your kids while you can. The greatest gift you can give your children is not your riches but to reveal to them their own.

(adapted from Cure for the Common Life, ©2005, Max Lucado)

Sheep Can’t Sleep

Millions of Americans have trouble sleeping! You may be one of them. Only one other living creature has as much trouble resting as we do. They are woolly, simpleminded, and slow…sheep. Sheep can’t sleep! For sheep to sleep, everything must be just right. No predators. No tension in the flock. Sheep need help. They need a shepherd to “lead them” and help them “lie down in green pastures.” Without a shepherd, they can’t rest.

Without a shepherd, neither can we! Psalm 23:2 says, “He, (the Shepherd) makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.” Who’s the active one? Who’s in charge? The Shepherd! With our eyes on the Shepherd, we’ll get some sleep. Isaiah 26:3 reminds us of the promise, “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You.”



From Traveling Light

Your Stuff Isn’t Yours

When one of the wealthiest men in history, John D. Rockefeller, died, his accountant was asked, “How much did John D. leave?” His reply? “All of it!” No one takes anything with him. Think about the things you own—all your stuff. Then let me remind you—your stuff isn’t yours. And you know what else? Your stuff isn’t you.

Jesus explained in Luke 12:15 that life isn’t defined by what you have, even when you have a lot. Contentment comes when we can honestly say with the Apostle Paul, “I have learned to be satisfied with the things I have. I know how to live when I am poor, and I know how to live when I have plenty.” (Philippians 4:11-12).

You have so much! You have a God who hears you, the power of His love behind you, the Holy Spirit within you, and all of heaven ahead of you. You have everything you need!

From Traveling Light

The Prison of Want

Today's MP3
Come with me to the most populated prison in the world. It’s name is WANT—the prison of want. You’ve seen her prisoners. They want something bigger. Nicer. Faster. Thinner. They want a new job. A new house. A new spouse. If you feel better when you have more and worse when you have less—you’re in the prison of want. If your happiness comes from something you deposit, drive, drink, or digest, then face it—you’re in the prison of want!

The good news is, you have a visitor. It is the psalmist, David. “I have a secret to tell you,” he whispers, “the secret of satisfaction.” From Psalm 23:1, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” David has found where discontent goes to die. It’s as if he’s saying, “What I have in God is greater than what I don’t have in this life.” Oh, that you and I could learn to say the same!