The rest of the parenting conference was amazing!
Paul Tripp, much like the men at CCEF (the counseling school in PA) and much like our pastor, Mark Driscoll, do such a good job of making Jesus the center. All of those guys preach such a grace filled, glory given, Jesus exalted message.
I left the conference more in love with Jesus and more encouraged to sit at his feet. I love that I didn't leave feeling like I need to go "do" or "fix" a whole host of things. As I reread my notes, you can join me as I type some of my favorite parts.
*What is it that God wants my child to see that he is not now seeing and how can I help him see it?
*We do not believe in a system of redemption - we believe in a Redeemer.
**TALK TO THE HEART OF YOUR LITTLE ONE**
*Be UNwilling to simply constrain behavior.
*When you approach your kids angry, you are NOT ushering in God's kingdom, you're in the way of it!
**TALK TO THE HEART OF YOUR LITTLE ONE**
*You have to start with YOUR heart because your heart will ALWAYS get in the way. If you're not dealing with your own heart ---
1) You will turn moments of ministry into moments of anger because you would rather have your moment of ease than participate in the redemption of your child.
2) You personalize what is not personal - you make it all about you.
3) You're adverserial in your response, you against your child, an obstacle in the way of what you want.
4) You will settle for quick situational solutions that don't get to the heart of the matter
*Incarnate the presence and authority of the God who appointed you. Ask, "Am I representing well His methods, His character?"
*Have gracious conversations again and again - 100s of times, 500s of times, 1,000s of times. Kids are never more creative than when they're excusing their rebellion. Form into that child fear of God. These conversations are a divinely controlled process.
**TALK TO THE HEART OF YOUR LITTLE ONE**
*We don't live in great big moments. We live in little moments. Don't walk away from the little moments.
*Kids have a limited capacity to understand their foolishness. Your child needs to understand what a DANGER he is to himeslf.
*If your child (and you) isn't worshiping God, he will worship something else.
*Whatever rules your heart will control your behavior.
*Don't discipline a child for being a child. Look for direct war against your authority.
*It's your delusions of strength that get you in the way of God's work - not your weaknesses.
*To be consistent, you need to be selfless. Sacrifice for your kids as worship to God.
*Because we don't love God the way we should, we assert ourselves into His position, then we don't love our kids well.
He ended the weekend with this profound illustration ---
God is in the business of painting His grace on the canvas of every soul.
We are God's brushes.
Are you a soft brush in the Redeemer's hands?
Hard brushes scratch the very surface they meant to make beautiful.
One day God will thank His brushes.
THAT is a day worth getting out of bed in the morning for.
Be soft brushes of transformative grace in the hearts of our children!
3 comments:
Sounds like it was a great conference. I am glad you were able to go... glad I am finally able to catch up on your blog as well. ;o) xoxo
So glad you enjoyed the conference - sounds like lots of words of wisdom there.
Wow, I would have loved to join you at the conference. I so need to be reminded to get out of the way and point the boys to Jesus. I finally took a minute to read the rest of your entries. Looks like you are busy with some great stuff. Have fun celebrating Landon!
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