Name that Tune

Welcome back!  Thanks for joining me again and I apologize it has been so long.  I have about 12 blog entries sketched out in my head and am finally taking a moment to put one of them down to digital paper. 

Let's start out with a game.  Without cheating (meaning you can't phone a friend especially if that friend is named Google,) who can guess what song these opening lyrics belong to?  Ready?  Here we go:

Clue #1
   "The times are tough now, just getting tougher
     This old world is rough, it's just getting rougher"

Has anyone got it yet?  Ok, we will do two more clues.

Clue #2
  The song album was released in 1984 (one of the best musical decades EVER!)

Did that help?  Ok, final clue.

Clue #3
  The artist was born in New Jersey which means he was "Born in the USA."

And the answer is (silent drum roll in your head, please)..."Cover Me" by Bruce Springsteen.

This song, written over 30 years ago, is still pretty spot on.  The times ARE tough and they are just getting TOUGHER.  What are we to do to protect our children when every day brings new headlines of the terror of ISIS or the last 24-hour death toll in St. Louis, or another missing child, another child left in a hot car, another church shooting, theater shooting, highway shooting?  And the list goes on.

There is one type of parenting that seems to be more and more prevalent these days.  It's not even really a "method." I say it's a type of parenting because parents are doing it.  The catch generally is they aren't even aware that they are.  There's even a name for this type of parent. They are called "helicopter parents." 

Here is the official definition:  "a parent who takes an overprotective or excessive interest in the life of their child or children."  The repercussions are "an over-indulged generation lacking in resilience." I will discuss this in more detail in another post as I want to use this post to primarily focus on the single, greatest, and most important thing you can do aside from introducing your child to Jesus.  What is that?  The answer is praying for your child.  Instead of being a "hover" parent, be a "cover parent." Cover your child in prayers. Every. Single. Day.

What does the Bible say about prayer?

Matthew 7:7  “Ask, and it will be given to you seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."

Matthew 21:22 "And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

Mark 11:24  "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."
John 14:13-14 "Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it."

And for parents who tend to give into worry (like me), remember what Paul wrote in Philippians 4:6-7 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."  If we turn to the Lord and trust in Him for the small things, why wouldn't we trust Him with the big things - like our children? 

I believe that next to His grace, our children are the greatest, most beautiful gifts He gives us.  I am far from perfect in every aspect of my life including my role as a mom.  But I want my children to know that I pray for them.  All the time.  About everything from test scores to their health.  From their friends they choose to their future spouse they may not have even met yet.  From a good day at school to safe travels wherever they may be going.  I pray that not only do they live their faith but that they also share their faith.  I pray for the struggles they are going through and for the ones they don't even realize they have. 

My children, all of them, be they bio, bonus, or unofficially "adopted," know they are loved - immensely and immeasurably.  But I want them to also know they are prayed for.  They are "covered" until the day the Lord calls me home.

I will try to post some links for prayers parents can pray for their children.  These are just to help you if you need it but remember, praying is just having a conversation with the Lord.  They don't have to be fancy.  Just talk to Him.  That's all He asks.

Now for some follow-up on my first post, "TD 7" -

How are you doing on giving God your first fruits of the day?  I admit - it can be hard.  I have discovered the way I can do it is to just get up earlier than everyone else.  It's quiet and well, once others are up, my day gets rolling in my other roles - wife, mother, employee.  That being said, I firmly believe the "snooze" button was invented by Satan!

On another note pertaining to "TD 7" -

We traveled to our son's AFROTC Field Training graduation on August 11th.  I found out at that time, that on Training Day 7, the day I wrote my post because I was really missing him and thinking about him and therefore turning to the Lord with my feelings, our son was so dehydrated he had to have two bags of IV fluids.  But the Lord looked after him and he was able to continue on in his field training.  He was even bumped up a few points in his ranking for his warrior spirit in battling through the dehydration that was so bad every limb was cramping including his fingers in angles not natural to the human body.  I know it wasn't a coincidence that I wrote about "TD 7" on the same day this was happening as there are no coincidences with God! I thank the Lord for bringing him through it and am continually amazed at all the ways God communicates with us.

Until next time, may the Lord bless you and keep you safe!

Tracy






http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/8-great-bible-verses-to-pray-over-your-child/
https://www.reviveourhearts.com/articles/31-biblical-virtues-to-pray-for-your-children/

TD7

Hi, there!  Thanks for finding me.  This is my first post in a blog I never thought I would have.  "So," you ask, "why do you have one then?"  That is a question I will answer in an upcoming post as I do have to try to keep you coming back!  :)

I actually created the blog a couple of weeks ago and then struggled with what to write my first post on.  Should I just introduce myself and be witty?  Nah. Not very original and chances are that if you are reading this inaugural post, you already know me.  Back to the drawing board.

In the meantime, while the blog was backburnered (spell check doesn't like that word either with a hyphen or without but all you moms know exactly what I am talking about by the term "backbackburnered" so I am leaving it - but I digress,) my 20- year old son, Logan, left for Air Force ROTC Field Training Camp aka FT.  Most of you, if you haven't blocked me from your Facebook feed, know this too.

What you may not be aware of though, is the cutoff of communication between the cadets while they are at FT and everyone else.  Oh, we can send cards or letters (absolutely no care packages though!) and they can send letters back.  But I am not holding my breath on receiving one.  I did send one SASE for my husband and me and one SASE for my mom.  We shall see.  If he only has time to get one out, I pray it's the one to my mom.  After burying a child in May, she really could use the sunshine a letter from him would bring.

But, if we don't receive any correspondence from him, that's OK.  I know he is busy from 4 a.m. PT (physical training) to lights out curfew at 9:00/9:30 p.m.  (He told me what the curfew was but I am old and can't remember exactly.)  And for inquiring minds who want to know, I have sent four cards to him already through Training Day 7 (TD7).

So TD7 doesn't include the one day of travel to get to his camp.  It has been over a week now since I last talked to him, texted him, saw him on Facebook, read a tweet, etc.  Nothing.  Nada.  Zilch.  Zero.  And it sucks.  I am not going to sugarcoat it.  During his college terms (he will be a junior), I have gone five or six weeks without seeing him and probably several weeks without talking to him (which in a way is kind of good because it means he hasn't killed any more laptops -  that's a whole post in and of itself. ) But we text frequently.   Teenagers nowadays prefer to text over talk anyway and I actually do, too,  in most circumstances.

So the other night, on TD5, as I was preparing for bed and wondering how I was going to make it to TD26 when we get to attend his FT graduation ceremony, it hit me.  Stopped me in my tracks like a lightning bolt.  What is "it?" Well, it was a whole lot of conviction from the Holy Spirit and then the Holy Spirit telling me that this topic is to be my first blog post.

You see, our Heavenly Father waits to hear from us, too.  He LONGS to hear from us just as I LONG to hear from my child.  Are we keeping Him waiting?  Are we just throwing Him a morsel every now and then similar to a "k.  <3 U2" text from our children?  Are we giving Him leftovers?  A few scraps of our time?  Don't get me wrong.  I am just as guilty sometimes hence the conviction I felt. 

If God is first in our lives, shouldn't He be the first one we meet with every day?  Shouldn't He get the best of us?  He deserves a gourmet 4-course meal from us not leftovers.  But, you say, what about my spouse and kids?  Trust me, if you give the Lord your first and best, everything else will fall into place beautifully.

The Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is full of references to firstfruits.
Proverbs 3:9-10 (NIV)
 "Honor the Lord with your wealth,
    with the firstfruits of all your crops;
¹⁰ then your barns will be filled to overflowing,
    and your vats will brim over with new wine."

Firstfruits represent a token of gratitude and humble thankfulness.  They also represent "the best."

So let's give the Lord, our Father, the firstfruits of our day.   I challenge you to try it with me.  Instead of hitting my phone and social media the first thing in the morning, and then praying on my way to work (when I also have to pay attention to the road and other crazy drivers and not give the Lord my full attention), I am going to spend the first ten - twenty minutes of my day with our Father who is patiently waiting to hear from me on TD18646 (coincidentally my initials and the number of days since my birth - yep, I found a cool website that will calculate that!)

Feel free to comment about how you're putting this into practice and also to let me know how it's going in your life when God is getting your firstfruits and I will report back on mine.

Thanks for staying with me to the end of this!

In His Name,
Tracy