In Real Life

Taking a moment to reinforce God's Word in your child's life doesn't have to take massive amounts of preparation and be part of a big lecture.  One of our Reign Forest parents shared this story of how she ran into an impromptu opportunity to discuss last Sunday's lesson during one of their family's everyday moments this week.

The parent and her child attempted to log onto Netflix on the computer in order to watch a show together.  The website rejected the log-on information repeatedly, until the parent said, "It looks like we won't be able to watch a show right now."  The child replied, "Mommy, try one more time.  I just prayed that God would help it work because GOD CAN HELP US DO ANYTHING!"

The mom smiled recognizing the quote from this month's "bottom line" at church (see right-hand column on this page).  "That's right," she reinforced, "God CAN help us do anything!  I will try again."  She prayed silently as she re-entered the log-on information, but the computer rejected her attempt once more.  She turned to her child and said, "Did you learn on Sunday that God answers our prayers in different ways?"

"Yes," the child replied.

"What are the ways that God answers?" the mom asked.

"Ummm, yes and no."

"That's right.  Sometimes He says YES, sometimes He says NO, and sometimes He says WAIT.  Which answer do you think He gave us just now?"

Big sigh from the child, "He said no."

"Yeah, it looks like He did.  Why do you think He said no?"

"I don't know."

The mom said, "He must have something BETTER for us!"  As they stood up to find something better to do, the mom noticed a misspelling in the user name on the computer screen.  "Wait!" she said to her child.  "I think God just showed me what was wrong.  Let me try again."  She tried again, this time with the correct spelling, and Netflix opened immediately.

Her child cheered, "Yay, God helped us!"

"Yes, He did!  Now, what answer do you think He gave us when we asked for help, was it yes or no or wait?"

"It was yes!"

"And how did He answer in the beginning?"

"He said no," the child responded.

"It sure felt like He said no, didn't it?  What He really said was WAIT.  Sometimes when He says wait, it feels like no at first.  Let's tell God thank you for helping us!"

The two shouted "THANK YOU!" to God and then watched their show together.  The "discussion" never felt like a discussion or a lecture.  It happened naturally and flowed into their daily life easily.

Bottom line?  Ask God to help you train your child His way, and He will bring moments like these into your day.  Remember, "God can help you do anything!"  ;-)


*****If you have a story to share about how your child's lessons have been reinforced at home, please tell us about it in the comments section, or send us an email.  You can also share the story with us on Facebook, or catch up with us at church to tell us all about it!  You may find your family's story featured on this blog soon after.