THE BACK STORY

THE BACK STORY

  • JOURNEY, Testimonies

THE BACK STORY

Here is the back story of our online Kingdom parenting class. It was evident God was doing a good work in us as He taught me how to partner with Him in my parenting. He was showing up in all sorts of messy places and encountering my children. I was working on my computer when I heard the Lord say to post on FB how He had just encountered my son to bring healing. I heard it again and obeyed, feeling a little vulnerable. Instantly people started liking the post, but it wasn’t my Christian friends who liked it. It was my non-Christian friends. One comment said, “Now, that is the God I want to follow.” A few days later, I heard Him say, “Now post this” (another example of Him showing up). It became a lifestyle for us, and I would often share how God was parenting with me. One day God told me to gather 12 moms and sow into them so that they, too, could learn how to partner with Him as a lifestyle and not just an event. I invited them, and they eagerly agreed. Since they were all over the nation, I decided I would write out some of my thoughts to teach them in an online classroom format. We were all set for a given date, and in the weeks building up to it, I could not seem to get anything down. Writer’s block is a real thing. I assumed He would show me on our upcoming vacation – nope. I thought He would show me if I went away to spend time with Him – nope. I assume He would show me if I got up extra early to be focused – nope. The night before the class started, I still had NOTHING. It wasn’t that I didn’t know what to share; it was that I didn’t know how to organize it to share it clearly. I went to bed and soaked my pillow with tears. Apparently, I heard wrong about gathering these moms, and the only thing to do at this point was to come to them humbly in the morning and tell them I was wrong. I woke at 2 am, and it was like a computer download showed up in my brain. I could not turn my laptop on fast enough, and I typed for an hour straight, just releasing what was coming to my mind at record speed. I hit the send button (Lord have mercy, the spelling errors that were in that first draft) and sat there saying, “Jesus, I don’t ever want to feel that again. What do You have for Day Two of the class?” I labored ALL day long with nothing. I went to bed and cried again, assuming it was just going to be a one-day class and that I would have to wake early to tell the moms. At 2 in the morning, I woke up with my brain on fire again and raced to my computer to type as fast as possible. I told the Lord again, “I don’t ever want to feel that again. What is for Day Three?” and all day, I labored over the material, which produced nothing. I went to bed with tears… this went on for TWENTY-ONE days/nights. I never did catch on that He would be faithful to give me the message as He had done the day before. I walked those mamas through the material and assumed I would remain with them, but they had so much fruit in their parenting that their friends came to me and asked if I would mentor them, too. Easy enough now that the material was already written. And the following month, more people came again and again. Years later, God still keeps bringing people.

Here is the link to register for the class: Journey – ONLINE CLASS – Let the Children Fly

INVITING CHILDREN INTO OUR DEVOTIONS

Testimony from a mom in class: “I desire my children to be sensitive to the spirit. I can’t imagine my job as a mom having any greater value than pointing my kids to Him. I have been incorporating what I am learning in your class in our family devotions.”

What I love about this testimony is that she is taking what God is teaching HER and allowing her children to reap the fruit at the same time. The best Christian material, devotions, and studies are simply bringing your child into your own journey with Him.

BIG BROTHER

For Hudson’s 8th-grade mission trip, he was offered a chance to work in the church nursery and would tell me about this boy named Micah. His parents took my parenting class, so I reached out to Kelly to tell her how precious it was that they had connected. She said Micah talks about Hudson all the time. Clearly, God was on the connection, so we decided to get them together. When Micah came running out the door to greet us, I was so taken aback by how much he looked like Hudson at that age. Their bond is precious, and I am so thankful for the scores of men who have sown into Hudson over the years and that he has a grid and understanding of what it means to sow into someone’s life. It is so fun to watch your child receive and then grow up to be the one who values passing that gift onto someone else.

JESUS IS ALL YOU NEED

I wrapped up six weeks of classes at the local rescue mission for moms with drug and alcohol addictions in an 18-month program. Let me tell you – when Jesus is all you got; He becomes all you need. These ladies are so precious, and the transformation was visible. They shared stories of how they are learning to partner with God in their parenting. So many reported that the entire house is calmer, and the kids are much more at peace. They are learning to see, really see, their children for the first time, and the fruit has been incredible. Jesus, you are so amazing, and I am so thankful I know you and get to tell others about you.

DON’T GIVE UP HOPE!

I received this from a mom who took our online class: “DON’T GIVE UP HOPE!!! If you’d have told me two days ago, that my teen daughter would talk to me till 1 am in the morning, I’d have said it was impossible. If you’d told me that my defiant, self-harming, oppositional girl would also hold me tight and hug me for almost a full minute, I’d have cried, longing for you to be right. If you’d told me that this self-proclaimed atheist girl would tell me that she is ‘giving God another shot,’ I’d have wept, thinking that day would never come. YES… all those things happened last night. I was the hopeless person on this FB page all the time. Some of you have supported me so much through this hard journey and remember my girl. I just HAD to take time to write here that THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED!!! She is still proceeding with caution, and I am parenting her with SOOO much grace and mercy, and love. DON’T GIVE UP HOPE!!!”

OBEY

I seriously LOVE how God networks between people. He is a perfect economist and never does it just to bless one side. A neighbor had a very serious situation with her son that was made public. I felt it in my heart to reach out to her, even though we had never met, and let her know we were praying for her. She was deeply touched by my message. We became FB friends. She saw the girls doing a bake sale for school to raise money for missions and stopped by unannounced with a bunch of cupcakes. I was deeply touched by her random kindness. We chatted over meals, attended groups together, and she came to my parenting classes. She became my friend. One day, she called me out of the blue and said, “I didn’t want you to worry about dinner tonight, so I bought you Papa Murphy’s pizza for dinner.” I cried as I put dinner on the table. Sometimes it is nice to have someone SEE the load you carry and love you in such a tangible and practical way. The moral of the story is this – OBEY when God gives you a nudge to love someone. Oh, the plans He has for us.

YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT GOD CAN DO!

“It’s amazing to see how much faith our children have. The other day our son was having pain due to a mouth sore. My wife was going to put something in there before he went to sleep, but he told her not to put anything; that God would heal him. What moved us was when he said, ‘You have no idea what God can do!’ His faith was so strong that by the next morning, he didn’t have pain anymore, and his sore was healed! We were amazed at how God taught us a faith lesson through our son. We need to play more in God’s Kingdom with our children and encourage them to continue believing wholeheartedly despite what we (parents) tell them.”

DO YOU KNOW THE GOOD NEWS?

Share this with your children and let them know it is okay to be brave and bold.

“My son Preston was at school today, and a girl his age (10) asked him if she could share with him the Gospel (good news of Jesus Christ). He responded, ‘I already know the Gospel, but yes, tell me…’ She told him how Jesus died on the cross for his sins… How cool is that?”

YEARNING FOR MORE

This is the BEST response from a mom about our online class: “This whole class has made me yearn for connection and peace.”