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Breathe! Reframe! Transform! Responsibility can actually be SWEET!
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Let's take a minute and recap last nights HOW GOD DOES FAMILY CLASS:
- Our "hands on" activity had all of us knowing what our roles were - except for Sherwin. We were supposed to give him non-verbal cues to help him figure out his role. We just weren't good enough actors/actresses to do that. So, here was a man who didn't know what his role was! Doesn't that describe many of dads, moms, and children?
- Steve discussed the Genesis - Ephesians connections of HOW GOD DOES FAMILY: RESPONSIBILITY. God lets us know our roles/responsibilities!
- We broke off into discussion groups. If you were in one of those discussion groups would you mind sharing with us here what your group talked about or at least email me. Garth has already emailed us comments from his group #5, so I'll add them after I list the groups here:
- GROUP 1: IF THERE WERE NO RESPONSIBILITY...
- GROUP 2: RESPONSIBILITY HELPS TO DEFINE WHO I AM!
- GROUP 3: GOD HAS RESPONSIBILITY OVER US! GOD HAS RULE OVER US! GOD IS SOVEREIGN!
- GROUP 4: THE LANGUAGE OF RESPONSIBILITY...
- GROUP 5: RESPONSE TO YOUR ABILITIES...
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HERE ARE GARTH'S COMMENTS FROM GROUP 5: "We had the last part of the handout which gave the key points. We talked about rules and consequences. God gave Adam rules to follow in the garden and with that there were consequences. Therefore, it's important to make good choices. From here the discussion went to the idea of working for something helps us to place a greater value on the thing achieved... ...Here are some additional things that I was thinking about from the lesson tonight:
- I think that it is an important lesson when we see how much responsibility God gave to Adam. God told him to rule over the creation. I think this meant that he should take care of it, and not do with it what ever he wished.
- The responsibility that God gave to Adam was to be governed by Gods' sovereign will. Not Adam's will. Adam chose to play by his rules instead of God's rules and in this way he acted irresponsibly.
- Perhaps this is where we miss the point sometimes with our children. They need to see things from God's point of view."
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Thank you, Garth! Well written!
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Each of us has ability! Our response in how we use that ability...what our focus, diligence, perserverance, and attitude is...is so important!
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4. At the end of the class, we threw out some practical "where the rubber meets the road" suggestions on teaching day to day responsibility. After all, since responsiblity is a lifelong imperative, we might as well have SWEET FELLOWSHIP with it along the way..."Burdens are lighter when cheerfully born!"
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- MATURE CARDS: After re-looking at these, I was so convicted that I have decided that tomorrow I am going to start using the MATURE cards again. I'll keep you posted! If you don't know what that is, see my July post on M.A.T.U.R.E.
- AGE APPROPRIATE TASKS FOR 'T'...here are a few in ABC format:
- AGES 2-3
- Away – puts away toys
- Books - puts books in stacks/piles
- Clothes - picks out clothes
- Dust – dusts assigned furniture
- Eager – eager to clean up spills
- Feed – feeds/waters pets
- Get - gets dressed w/some help
- Hamper – puts clothes in hamper
- AGES 4-5
- Ask – How can I help?
- Bed – bed made (bedroom “tidied”)
- Clear – clears table
- Dishwasher – puts away some items
- Empty – empties waste basket / trash
- Flowers – inside flowers to water
- Gardening –plant/water/pull
- Help – help make meals
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Much more on the topics of BLESSING, BEING POSITIVE, CHOICE, RESPONSIBILITY, CONSEQUENCES...will be in our book once we finish tweaking the materials this quarter.
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Think about this one, sister:
I believe my responsibility is HELPER! What an honor! That's the same responsibility of the HOLY SPIRIT!
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Genesis 2:19-23 “And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. 20 And the man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. …23 And the man said, "This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man."
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1 comment:
Here are the summary thoughts of groups ones discussion: The importance of developing responsibility in our kids and in ourselves is clear. How this is accomplished for our children has become somewhat more difficult since our society moved from the Agrarian Age into our present Technological Age. In the past, many kids grew up in households where there were many chores associated with farming, animals, upkeep of the land, the family trade, etc. Today's kids have so much just handed to them. But even today, we can find responsibilities for our children to take on. These can include helping to put things away, helping to clean the home, caring for pets, helping with laundry and helping with meal preparation & cleanup. We discussed how children can learn the value of money by giving them an allowance based on the completion of their tasks. Once the children realize that they have their own money they will no longer need to go begging to their parents when they see something in the store that they want (toys, candy, etc.). Instead they can use the money that they have earned to purchase these items. In the process they will learn the value of hard work, saving, budgeting, comparison shopping and delayed gratification.
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