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Raising Kinsey
By daniel | April 13, 2005
Just a few thoughts here… I've been thinking about not just the ways we train our children in the here and now, but what sort of ways can I plan ahead to make their transition into disciple (should they, hopefully, take that path) easier? I've heard a story and thought of one thing myself, so here goes, story first:
A friend's brother-in-law had a son who saw someone buy something old and beat up from a garage sale. The son asked why someone would buy something so worthless and beat up. The father answered him that the man who bought the item had the ability to make the item work well and look good again, and that the item was valuable and useful to the man who bought it, because he was able to fix it up.
My tendency at this point would be to say, That's what Jesus does with us, yadda yadda, in words my little girl doesn't understand — this father, however, just says, That's what it means to redeem something. Can you say redeem?, Thus planning ahead for when the boy can make the connection. Brilliant.
My thought recently has been for the time when my daughter is old enough to notice that on everyone's birthday, they get presents, and on Jesus' birthday, everyone but Jesus gets presents. So I plan on, from Christmas #1, giving to charity (everyone should do that), but in a visible way that my daughter can participate in. Like have her help us do an angel tree thing, or something, perhaps simple like that. Then, when she's old enough to ask the question, why doesn't Jesus get presents on his birthday, she'll probably be able to understand the answer, Jesus says when we give our angel tree (or whatever) present each year, we are actually giving to him. I want my daughter to grow up with a generous spirit, especially towards those have less. Perhaps this sort of thing can help her make a foundational, maybe even subconscious connection between helping her neighbor and helping Jesus.
Now, it's your turn! What else can you think of that can help to “prep” a child? Does this apply to adults, too?
Topics: Spirituality - Thoughts |
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