Wow! Can you believe that the 2018-2019 school year will begin in just a couple of short weeks?  Like a swinging pendulum, excitement and anxiousness seem to be the two primary emotions that battle for control over my household.   

When asked to write a blog relating to "spiritually preparing your kids/family to go back to school" my first reaction was …."REALLY LORD!?"  I don't know if I do everything right in sending my kids off to embark on another school year.  I asked another, more mature and wise member of the Women's Ministry to write the blog.  She declined, but made a good suggestion that we ask the ladies who attended the July "This is My Story" event to give their recommendation as to what seemed to bring success in their homes.   I find it no coincidence that the three suggestions most prevalent seemed to echo the verses from Jesus' prayer to His Heavenly Father for His Apostles just before going to the cross in John 17. 

1) Pray with your child every morning before school and every evening.  Bring any concerns and all praises and place them all on the altar of the Lord. 

2) Be in the WORD with your child, even if it is just one verse for the day.  

3) Let your child know that you are there for them and then be there for your children just as God is there for us when we choose to take advantage of the privilege of speaking with Him.

Like a still vibrant photograph burned into my memory, I can vividly picture the first day of pre-school for my oldest.  I can still feel the raw heartache and nerve wracking fear that accompanied the realization that my precious child, whom I protected and nurtured in the serenity of my home, was now being placed into the calloused and depraved world of school.  Can you relate?  Do you think God knows what that feels like?  Well, I believe the verses from John 17 clearly depict that Jesus felt a lot like we mothers do when He was about to leave His apostles in the world and go to the Cross of Calvary and then home to heaven.  Look intently at what Jesus prayed for to His Heavenly Father in John 17.  Dear mothers, these verses contain all the advice and direction we need to heed IF we want to succeed in "spiritually preparing our families for the school year."

When reading John 17, visualize yourself as Jesus but, you are praying for your babies whom you are placing in the world as you go to work or about your daily tasks.  Notice in John 17:1, "Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven as the hour had come."  Moms, keep your focus on the Lord as another school year begins.  God the Father already knows just what you and your family need.  You need only to be still, humble yourself, and bring your requests to the Lord. 

Verse 3 reminds us where eternal life comes from and that is by knowing God and Jesus Christ whom he sent.  Did you catch that?  A true life on earth and for eternity comes from "Knowing God and Jesus."  How well do you and your family know the Lord Jesus? 

Verses 6-10 are where the prayer gets to the heart of the three suggestions made by the ladies at the event.  Jesus says "I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of this world.  Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7. Now they know that everything that you have given to me is from you. 8. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9. I am praying for them.  I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them."   

Do you see from these verses the importance of being in and teaching the word to your children, giving your children back to God because they are His anyways, and the need for praying for and with them?  Jesus continues to stress the importance of staying in the Word IF his apostles are to remain unified with the Lord and asks for help for His apostles in Verse 11: "Keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. 12. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me."  Ladies, don’t be discouraged if you haven't done as well as you should in praying for your children and showing them in the Bible who God is and why they can rely on Him daily for their needs.  God's grace covers that.  Simply make today the day you become obedient to God's Word.   

I encourage you to read the entire 17th Chapter of John and I close with my final point from Verses 15-19: "I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.  They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19. And for their sake, I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth."  Notice there is no shortcut.  The Word of truth is what we need if we are to be in the world but not of the world.  Think of God's Word as that "moral compass daily reminder" pointing you and your children to the correct path.   Jesus knew the Apostles would require divine protection from the evil one and He made it a priority to ask His Heavenly Father to do just that.  So, don't forget as mothers to do the same for your children.   

Lastly, my sisters in Christ Jesus, note what we are to mimic in Verse 19.  Jesus consecrated Himself, which means He set Himself apart for the Father’s will, in order that believers might be set apart to God by the truth He brought.  Do not delay....go to God today, as Jesus did, and ask the Father to equip you with all you need so you can consistently display Christ to your family.  Keep yourself and your family in His Word and pray without ceasing so that it may go well for your household throughout the school year.  

When I was asked on August 16th to write a blog of about 800 words on Christian Living, I happily accepted and thought it would be simple enough.  As God has a way of doing to many of us, He has sent me on quite a thought-provoking journey with this assignment.  What I have discovered is that under the term and meaning of what it is to "live as a Christian," there are so many fragmenting facets.  To be honest, my first inclination was to write about something that has been annoying me lately—these slogans I see strewn about the world on t-shirts, wall décor, coffee mugs, etc.  I see people proudly displaying what is so opposite to what the Bible says and what "Christian Living" is about (i.e., "Do what makes you happy" and "Just Believe" in what?).  However, when I began typing and felt good about myself that I was going to have this blog completed well before deadline, God had other plans for me that would involve more thought and contemplation.   

I often go for hikes in the woods at a park near my home, and the Lord has spoken to me there through nature about His amazing ability to make beautiful works of our lives if we allow Him to care for and nurture us.  I sat down once again, to no avail, to begin encouraging others to look for God in nature while we go about our "Christian Living" (Luke 12:24-34).  

My mother was raised Catholic but has never formerly practiced any form of Christianity.  I have never been shy about sharing my faith and weaving God into the conversation whenever I can.  My family and I have asked her to come to church with us on multiple occasions which she has only accepted if my children had a performance.   She suffers from depression and this last year has had health struggles that doctors can't explain.  I have prayed for her for years and on a trip home from the emergency room explained that I would have no regrets about our relationship, should something happen to either one of us, aside from not knowing if I would see her again in heaven.  I have explained how God could heal her from her anxiety and health problems brought on by depression (Proverbs 17:22, Deuteronomy 7:15, 2 Chronicles 7:14, Psalm 34:20), her depression as a whole, her bitterness towards others, and would bring about a life abundantly full (John 10:10) and with a peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:6-7).  I have asked her to accept Christ as her personal Lord and Savior, quoted scripture, bought the Bible, prayed for her, done all I've known to do and have been met with “dug-in heels,” much to my dismay.  I thought, "Surely this is what I am to write about, Lord.  How in our "Christian Living" we are to lead others to you, even when met with reluctance.”  Instead, God played the song "Even If" by Mercy Me on the radio and assured me His ways are not my ways or His thoughts my thoughts. (Isaiah 55:9)  

I always listened to Christian music, whether at home or in my car, as it keeps me focused on the Lord, keeps my attitude in check (especially while driving), and helps me to extend and display grace to my family and fellow man on the road.  So, I thought, “Well simple enough Lord.  Should I write about our need to be careful with what we listen to and avoid secular music altogether?”  That is when I heard a song I had never heard before.  "This is My Offering" by Third Day and it became so very, very clear what I was to write about.  Yes "Christian Living" does have sub categories that I hope I have the opportunity to write on in the future.  However, what "Christian Living" at its core truly hinges on is an individual humbling of one's self (1 Peter 5:6-8) and choosing (as the Bible states) to deny self, pick up our cross, and lay down our life on an altar as an offering to our Father, Creator, Redeemer, and Savior because He chose to sacrifice His life for ours (John 15:13).  The writer of the song states perfect truth when he writes "the only thing that I can give you is the life you gave to me."  When you think about that, it is so simple, clear and true.  Our God doesn't need our money (Hebrews 13:5-6), good works or intentions, but He does desire a heart that is willing to devote our very life, being, and soul to Him.  Only then can we truly accomplish "Christian Living" and bring all due glory, honor and praise to Him.  He is the one who gives us the ability to "live as a Christian" in the first place (1 Corinthians 2:4-5, Colossians 1:29). 

I don't know why, but I had to chuckle and marvel as I was blown away yet again by my amazing Father and Savior as He patiently, lovingly, and kindly guided me along the way to the conclusion I should have come to immediately when tasked with writing what it means to be involved in "Christian Living."  God always lays His foundations perfectly and that is what He did yet again for me, on time, and accomplished for me a deeper understanding, knowledge and trust in Him along the way.  I pray reading this blesses you the same way.