Oh the fun of Chore Sticks

Last summer I was inspired by my frister (friend and sister in law) to create "chore sticks" for our boys.  We started it with the boys as an incentive to teach them that hard work really can pay off.  Literally.

Basically at our house we have three boys and they have standard chores each week such as, making their beds, picking up their room each night before bed, taking the trash out, setting the table and cleaning the basement when they mess it up.  These chores generally earn them $1 each week.

So what are chore sticks?  They are craft sticks that have chores and dollar (or in our case mostly cents) values assigned to them.

It is a way for our children to earn more than the specified allowance when they are trying to save for something special.  But it has turned into so much more than just chores.

Basically, we sat the boys down and explained that chores around the house are a family responsibility.  This house we have and all that is in it, has been entrusted to us by the Lord and so we need to be good stewards of all things, which means taking care of things and keeping them up.  We also wanted our boys to learn a valuable life lesson...that sometimes there is no limit on your income, if you want to work harder you can earn more, if you don't work at all you don't earn anything.

But then of course, we had to balance this new found source of income with grace and truth and developing a servants heart in our boys.  So, when we sat the boys down and explained that with chores sticks as an option each week, the only limit they have in terms of how much money they can earn is themselves...and yet executing chores is a vital part of keeping our home and family running smoothly, and there are times when chore sticks can be chosen and done, simply to serve one another.

To do so, you can choose a chore and just quietly do it without mentioning it to collect the amount, or it can be done and a parent can be told, so no one duplicates the chore, but with the child specifying they would not like to be paid.

For the year we've been doing them, we've tweaked many things, taught through many scriptures with regard to money management and serving others, and tithing.  We've also been extremely blessed....we have seen the Lord develop servanthood within our boys, particularly the older two.  I can't count the times, my older two have said, "no I don't want to be paid for that I just want to do it for our family."   or "I'd like to do this just to earn money to give to  the homeless or the kids we support through church."  or simply, "I want to put this in the offering at church"

We do limit how much they can do most of the time, but every once in a while, I will dump the entire container out and say...have at it boys....clean the house and there will be no limit.  Today was one of those days, I've pulled my back out and can not clean the house as I need to, and so the boys got to work.  My oldest got to the point after $6 of chores where he said he was working just to serve our family, and the others quickly followed.

So today, I was able to speak to the boys about 'bonuses' a life lesson worth learning early on.  It was neat because as I told them sometimes depending on your job you can earn a bonus, it's a little extra every now and then that is not expected but earned and today because they were all so good, so cheerful and helpful, I  gave them a 10% bonus...if they could calculate and define what 10% was.

They did, and it was fun..because at the end, again, another child said, "I'd like to give my extra 10% to the Lord...can you take it to your offering box with you Mom?"

I am blessed and for sure, it's the little things like craft sticks turned chore sticks that open the doors wide open for life lessons.  Teaching our kids about serving, working, rewards, and even a little extra math lesson (for the math nerd in me).

An Unlikely Audience

Today our school start time came and went.  Two years ago I would've been seriously annoyed, but God has done a work and today I was thankful the boys were getting the sleep they needed and I had an extra hour to prepare

 

We are studying through various spiritual disciplines and this week is prayer...really fitting considering my day yesterday.  So we started talking through 1 Thessalonians 5:17 and Jeremiah 33:3.   The boys began to ask questions and before I know it I was sharing my testimony of coming to Christ with my boys.

Again, with kids, and especially boys you never know how much they actually take in and remember.  

Until this afternoon.   I'm driving them around and my middle one pipes us, "Mommy how did Daddy come to know Jesus as Savior?"

 

LOVE.  IT.   They listened. 

More importantly, God is stirring their precious little hearts with His word.

 

Just two years ago our oldest heard a testimony of a lady in our church coming to Christ.   That evening he asked Christ into his heart.   Sharing your testimony may seem somewhat antiquated.  When I first became a believer, Campus Crusade put a huge emphasis on writing out your testimony and being ready to share it at any given opportunity.  Fast forward eleven years into adulthood and hearing people's testimonies seems to be a lost art.

 

Sometimes in the Christian subculture we get caught up in formality or traditions of men.  It's all to easy to do.  Sharing our testimony at church or with a  women's group might seem more appropriate.  After all you'd "reach" more people.
 

But, after today, I'm seriously convicted about not just sharing my personal testimony with my boys, but having an open and on going dialogue about what The Lord is doing in my life.

Why?  It shows Him real to them.  It shows them the reality of an adult "who can do whatever they want."  Submitting themselves to God, being changed, being used for something and someone more important than themselves.  It's more than reading through the Bible with them, it's more than talking at them, it's more than helping them hide His word in their hearts...it's being willing to use discretion and share what is appropriate at their ages and within the confines of a parent/child relationship...to show Christ active in your own life.

Can I challenge you as the Lord has challenged me?  Have you shared your testimony with your kids?  After all, dear friend, it is their heritage as well.   God didn't put your kids into your care by accident.  He chose you to parent them before they were formed in your womb.  He saved your soul not just for you, but to impact those He has given you.

Vacation Ramblings

A friend of mine always posts the most adorable pictures on her Facebook with the hash tag "it's the littles."  I thoroughly enjoy the pictures!  Because isn't it truly all those little moments that take your breath away in varying degrees that make the best memories?  For me it is.

Like right now the sun is shining their is a gentle breeze and the wonder of God's ocean is right at my feet...and yet I'm tucked in quietly listening to the sweet sound of four sleeping boys.  Three are snoring.

There are a lot of defining moments in life.  For me I'd say honestly two stick out to be predominant: salvation..June 5, 1995 and my wedding day July 20, 2002...following these would be the birth of my children.

But often it's all the littles along the way that so often are forgotten...like that day when your baby first ate solid food...or the first time they got potty training, the first time they were able to read by themselves.  Some are amazing and some not so much...they come with tears...like the realization I can no longer pick all my boys up and carry them..my body is too little and theirs are just getting bigger and bigger.

I remember our wedding program shared this verse:

"This is the LORD's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes." Psalm 118:23 All these little things, no matter how I view them are all gifts from The Lord. I can't pick up my nine year old...but I have a healthy 9 year old to love, teach and parent. I may have picked up my kid from class and he was in trouble...but now I have a wide open door to love out instruction, reconciliation and forgiveness with my little one. I don't have the perfect life, perfect home, or perfect kids...but I serve a PERFECT God who has done things marvelously and to Him be all the glory!

I'm in the land of the sticky

Yesterday I had some special time with our youngest.  As a family we try to carve out individual time for each kid with my husband and I and we call it a "special date."   So our youngest is four and the things that come out of his mouth are quite comical.  Constantly. 

For example, we pull into a parking lot yesterday and had to drive slowly around a giant goose.  He looks at it and says, "Hey Mom, a goose...just like Duck-duck-goose...now my head wants to play duck duck goose."  If he thinks something he says it...and it cracks me up.

Needless to say, we are training him that speaking your mind is only good when it honors God.  After all, our thoughts aren't all good, and therefore everything we think we shouldn't necessarily speak.  We have to filter our thoughts through what God's word tells us is speech that honors Him and then choose our words carefully.  But, at four, for the most part his unfiltered thoughts are pretty entertaining.

So after our errands, he asked for a Cliff Bar and proceeded to eat it on the way home.  As I looked at him in the rearview mirror I realized he was enjoying the bar immensely.  He locks eyes with me and says, "Mommy it's like I'm in the land of the sticky...a sticky mess and I'm going to need a wipe again."

After laughing to myself...I kept thinking over his words.  Isn't sin just like the 'land of the sticky"  It becomes a sticky mess that ensnares us, gets us dirtier than we'd ever want to be and most definitely creates a need for a cleansing.  Proverbs 5:22 tells us, "The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, and he is held fast in the cords of his sin."  God calls for holiness in our lives, lives cleansed from sin.  That cleansing can only come from Jesus.  We can grab at 'wipes' the world offers to clean up our own messes....but it's not until our soul cries out, "Create in me a pure heart O God and renew a steadfast spirit within me" as David did in Psalm 51:10 that the Lord Himself will take away all the 'stickiness' of sin, all the shame, the guilt, the failures.

The older I get and the longer I walk with the Lord, I am absolutely stunned by the depths of the cross.  Christ's intentional sacrifice to cleanse our sins.  He chose to provide forgiveness for us and He didn't stop there, He washed our sins away, cleansed us from all the residual stickiness and stands us up on solid ground.  He redeems the sinner, and He grants us grace and favor to honor Him even in the midst of our sinful flesh.  He takes up residence in our hearts through the Holy Spirit and enables us to chose not to sin.

Next time you're tempted to get into a sticky mess of sin or when the log is removed from your eye and you come to agree with God that you are struggling with a sin simply cry out to Him, just as David did.   He will forgive, restore and redeem.  That's our God.  He is a God of restoration, healing, redemption and forgiveness. 

It feels good to be cleansed from all the stickiness.

No distinction

Happy New Year!!  I love a new year.  It's such a neat time of year.  People start thinking about things they want to change..my kids start thinking about their birthdays...honestly for me I am usually getting geared up to start my bible reading plan all over again. 

Last year I did something drastic for a type A+ like myself...I changed up my reading plan...from through the Bible in a year...to follow along with what my church was reading.  Sounds silly that it took me a while to adjust, but it did. Finishing it this December and looking back on all the Lord has taught me this year...I am so incredibly blessed by His word, His faithfulness and His grace.  His goodness is all around, and all over my family...I am so grateful.

So, I started praying a few weeks ago what Bible plan the Lord would have me read this year...I didn't just want to default back to what I read through the previous six years.  I want God's word to be alive and fresh to me each and every day.  I am so continually encouraged by friends on facebook posting Scripture in versions I don't normally read, or blogs that I follow that are rich in Scripture.

I'm so very excited, because what my husband and I are going to try and do together, is read through the New Testament in 90 days, (a plan I found on www.intothyword.org) and then alternate with 5 Psalms and a Proverb....every three months.  I am super SUPER excited about this!  First because I am reading through Scripture in a new and fresh way.  I love the NT.  Just love it....particularly the Pauline Epistles and the Gospels....but I also LOVE the Psalms..........it's just such an amazing combination, that I am just honestly not that creative to think of....but God's amazing grace always guides us. 

I started today in Matthew.  Rich in history and full of truth.  Today, I was so immensely blessed by the genealogy detailed in chapter 1.    I particularly loved in Matthew 1:16, "and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Christ."   Mary married into Joseph's line.  She wasn't "born" into that family line.  I love how scripture shows us there is no distinction.  Family is family.  Married into, adopted into, born into.....no distinction.  The family God puts you in...that's your family....because ultimately God through Christ, adopts us into His family.  No distinction......in Romans 10:12, "For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him."

One of our family goals is to give our children a strong family identity.  We strive to teach them that our family is much more than just one member.  That we've been put together for a purpose...to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ and to make Him known.   

This year, I'm looking forward to growing in Christ, with my spouse and my kids...and serving Him as a family.  I'm excited to be transformed by His word...and to watch His word transform the hearts and lives of those around me.

I'd like to lovingly challenge you to pick a bible reading plan and ask the Lord to give you the grace to stick with it.  It's not about checking it off, it's about intentionally being before your Savior daily in His word, to be transformed, to hear His voice, to worship Him, to make Him known by sharing His word.  You will richly be blessed by faithfully being in His word!!!  I think your heart will be blessed as you read and study just Who your Father is as you study His word!!!