Good evening, Family! 👶🏼
This week we praise God for:
💟 Carole paísed Good for His goodness!
🛐 Vasthi and Angy praised God for the beautiful children in SPLASH, our Children's Ministry group, and the grace they showed their teacher, Ashley while Vanessa was away at a conference. We praise God for the children and their parents for raising such amazing little humans! 😇😇😇
💟 Angy praised God for our young adults who serve God at the Lighthouse so willingly and with such commitment! They host worship, work the technology behind the scenes, troubleshoot, and teach our little ones with love and joy. Please keep them all in your prayers!
She also thanked God for Alejandro, who has a birthday coming up this week. She asked God to bless him on the next step of his journey within the navy. May God bless their marriage and their home.
🛐 Kristina praised God for His faithfulness and the wonderful report from the doctors after the Littlest Lozanos anatomy scan. Everything is going well, and she and her family praise God! 🙌🏽
We are also praying for:
🛐 Each and every silent prayer request lifted.
🛐 Vasthi prayed for everyone to join us for Bible Study each Sabbath at 10 am. She also lifted up the church as a whole.
🛐 Alex asked for his dad to be kept safe on his travels for work, and for him to continue coming home safely.
🛐 Baby Calkins, as Kevin, Kristal and Aindreas recently found out that their family is growing!
🛐 Carole requested prayer for: Samantha on the loss of her beloved pet.
Her brother-in -law, Harry; that he Lord may
touch him with healing from cancer and the problem that has developed with his kidneys..
Carole is also asking that we lift up her dear friend, Ana, who is going through a difficult time.
🛐 Kristina requested prayer for Seth, who is feeling under the weather again. Pray for him to feel better soon,
🛐 María is requesting that we continue to pray for her brother, Manny; that he may continue to heal fully.
🛐 Astrid's aunt, Anicia, who is battling lung cancer which has spread to her bones. She's in a lot of pain and Astrid is asking the Lord for mercy. Astrid also asked for prayer for her aunt's husband, who is paralyzed. Her aunt used to be able to take care of him, but now is unable. Astrid is asking that the Lord help them find a solution.
✝️ María asked that we continue to pray for her dad, who is battling prostate cancer. May the Lord bless and touch him with healing as he undergoes treatment.
🛐 ALL of the children connected by love to The Lighthouse as they attend school with the added worries and stress associated with Covid. May God grant them a year filled with PROTECTION, good health, learning, friendships, memories and new MERCIES, available to them each and every morning! 🌅
🛐 Carole and her family, as they are in great need of prayer
🛐 Catheryn, Connor and their growing Baby. May the Lord watch over and protect them, their new home and their future plans as they continue to walk with Him.
🛐 Protection and intervention on Elijah's behalf while he is in Florida. May God grant him and his family resolution on his custody case, that he might return to his family soon.
🛐 Our Bible Study groups on Sabbath morning and our Prayer Ports during the week. May they lead to stronger and healthier relationships with Jesus.
✝️ Angy's nephew, Jordan, as he recovers from surgery.
🛐 Matthew, as he deals with the pressures of the academy. May God strengthen and protect him as he continues to pursue his dreams in law enforcement.
Tonight's Devotional was shared by Lori, Mom Extraordinaire👩👦 and all I can say is “Wow” and “Thanks so much!@💖
I think parents today have more "bonus" material than any other patent generation! I'm not being a hater...I'm just sayin'. I mean the other day I saw a new parent on social media and she posted a picture of her infant, but I was trying to figure out the design on her blanket for a few seconds. Then I realized it was the number 5 encircled by a movable ring of roses...and then I realized that the numbers 1-12 were also on the blanket. Oh my goodness! All this mom had to do was lay the baby down on the blanket, move the roses to the number that represented her age in number of months, and she would have her first year documented perfectly! I'm lucky if I can figure out how old my son was in any childhood picture if I didn't scribble on the back of it!
My other most coveted bonus today's parents have is those little blackboards kids hold at the beginning of each school year, where they answer: WHEN I GROW UP, I WANT TO BE...a cookie maker, a fireman, a dog walker, a policeman out a baseball player. My son refuses to believe that when he was 4, he wanted to be a zoo keeper! 🐯🦁🐘 If only I had the proof that parents today have so easily at their disposal! 💁🏻♀️ What a blessed generation! I mean don't even get me started on how you get to capture EVERY MOMENT on a cell phone instead of carrying around a lunk of a camera, film, batteries for the camera...I'm sure you get my point!
But all of this got me thinking that today's parents have just about EVERYTHING so much easier! I often wonder...have we gotten a bit spoiled when it comes to parenting?
After having the conversation and some laughs about my son wanting to be a zoo keeper, he reminded me that whenever we talked about his future career choices, I would hug him and tell him that no matter what he did for a living, I wanted more than anything for him to be someone who loved and served God.
That stopped me in my tracks! I tried to remember the last time I had said those words to him. I was mentally searching for a hit when he said to me, "It's good to know you supported that more than my actual careers!" The professional in me made me ask, "How have you felt supported by me in your walk?"
He reminded me that a parents, we don't need to worry half as much about how they'll make their living as much as we do need to make sure of these two things:
Our children must be GROUNDED in God's Word so that they learn to hear His voice throughout their lives. Even Jesus counted on and benefited from His mother's instruction and "He grew in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and people" because of her commitment. His mother also took the time to take him to church, where others would support her efforts and help him learn about His heavenly Father and the scriptures. She didn't have a social media account, but Mary was the original influencer we should all be learning from!
Our children must grow to be FRUITFUL in their SERVICE to the Lord! It's where the deepest sense of satisfaction will always come from! No matter what successes they achieve, and they WILL SUCCEED, there will always be a hearing that can't be filled outside of serving God. We are created to serve Him! What Mary did for Jesus was to teach him at home, and then to place him in an environment where he would keep learning and GROWING! Remember that Jesus was so drawn to His Father and His Word, that he preferred that environment which helped Him learn from it and understand it on a deeper level, to the point that He GOT LOST IN IT!
If our children are going to get lost in ANYTHING, don't we want it to be that?
May God help you take advantage of THIS BONUS MATERIAL for how to be the most influential parents! 😉