Parenting The Wholehearted Child - Chapters 5,6,7

Chapter 5 -
"He searches me and knows my heart." I think this is so important because as hard as our days get the easier it is to end in an emotional mess.  But I find that as long as I stick firm to the fact that he does know the desire of my heart to parent my children in a calm and christian way, I can take a deep breath and realize I can not do this without him.  There is just no way.  I love the concept of praying scriptures over our children.  Even just using the verses I have already printed and inserting the child's name in them helps a lot for direction in prayer life for others.  At dinner I think I am going to start with the "High, Low Game"  Have each child tell me the highlight of the day and the lowlight of the day and have us pray for them right then.

Chapter 6 -
"As I meditate on God's words, my courage increases, my heart softens, my guard comes down, and my trust grows."  This is huge because his words are the light to my path.  If I am not looking for the light and just fumbling around in the dark, I'm not so sure I am doing anyone any good!  I need to start my day with some light and make sure to read the word and spend some time in prayer.  I need to feed myself before I can feed others.  The end goal is for my children to see God's light in me and spread it to him.  I guess I need the light first!

Chapter 7 -
Ephesians 6:17 "The sword of the spirit, is the word of God"
I have spent some time looking on the web and was flooded with all kinds off free printables.  I am aiming for one a week and have them out.  We will see how this goes.

Phil 2:13 "Lord please work in me and give me the desire and power to please you."  This is huge for me daily.  Who am I pleasing?  Is it God or people.  Nine times out of ten it is people.  I find when I search my heart, I am fast to see that I am following my own desires and not his.  I am looking for gratification from people and not God.
Psalm 139:14 "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made, your works are wonderful"
We have to have a confidence in who God made us and why, before we can look in the mirror and be pleased with what we see.  Are there improvements?  Of course, and our journey to the improvements can be the exact thing God uses to share his love with others.
Jeremiah 29:11-13 "For I know the plans that I have for you, plans to prosper you and not harm you."
This is it!  He wants us to prosper.  I would have loved to have verses for my children.  I am going to really look through some journals to see what God gave me during their births.

Parenting the Wholehearted Child - chapter 2,3, &4

Chapter 2 -
".....my love for him was unfazed by his wrong actions"
I see this daily with my children, yet why am I so blind to see this in my relationship with the Lord?  No matter what wrong actions I make his love for me is unfazed. He may have to use his hand of obedience to get my thinking back in line, but he still loves me and knows the desires of my heart. If I can truly embrace this daily, I am sure that the fruits of the spirit could flow a little better through his grace that he gives me.  This would build up my confidence in doing the hard and new things that need to be done to change the patterns of behavior in my household.
"....obedience can change the heart."
I have found when I have had obedience in training for athletic goals, I tend to meet the over all goals if I stick with the training plan.  Why can I not view this in my pârenting patterns? Why do I tend to fly by the seat of my pants with my emotions and my children's? This book has already made me see the value in creating a parenting plan and an action plan for success.



Chapter 3-
".... But when his grace begins to transform our hearts, it also begins to transform our parenting. It's not about what we do, it is about what his grace does through us."
Sometimes humbling ourselves allows us to see gods greatest wonders.  If we are constantly looking to ourselves for strength and direction we will fall short of the glories that we have in store from him. By forgiving ourselves and others we are forgiven. So the more we live in this grace instead of just looking at it, the more we can really begin to feel the faith moving in us and around us.  This application can be the one thing that leads to our children actually seeing the spirit move in us.  When faced with trails do we look down, where we are, then look up for his guidance, and then look in front of us for his action plans and not our own.   I have had a bad problem on not pausing before reacting. He is a big surprise my reactions are often based on my feelings and not my faith.

Chapter 4-
This chapter really made me realize That I need to action plans on how to show my children the fruits of the spirit.  I can do this by starting the day with my gratitude jar and asking them what they are thankful for.  I can also start the day by reading my scripture verse allowed and including them in on what I am doing daily to seek God's spirit in my life.  I am going to make an action plan for the next week to address one of the fruits each night at dinner. These will be our topic at dinner.  Ps - this will hold me accountable to actually sit down myself.

Parenting The Wholehearted Child - Chapter 1

Please visit this you tube video and get an introduction from author and book.

http://youtu.be/VpLJuXbmy4s

"...the more focused we become on perfect parenting the worse it gets."
This really hit home for me. Since I am a mother of three young children I find the more I focus on all the small details the worse it seems to get. I find myself focusing on what they are wearing and what they are doing instead of who they are and who God wants them to be.  I find myself focused on the outside of parenting instead of focusing on what parenting I'm doing on their insides.

"...confession leads to the naked truth."
I really need to focus on confessing my faults to God so I can see the naked truth of my parenting. I have found that it is more me focused, than God focused. I find I am self seeking gratification in my parenting plans and action instead of his.  When I daily fail, I need to finally realize that this is the most important thing I am doing and I'm not really doing it that well.

"God doesn't want something from us, he wants us."
I want my children to want God in their lives. What am I constantly telling them when they do not see him in mine.  I am so excited about starting this journey of learning how I can insert activities, faith, and readings into our daily lives.  I'm also realizing that God is my parent and I am his wholehearted child! 😋

Final Day!

Day 30:

Galatians 5:16–24
Keep in Step with the Spirit

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy,[d] drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

As you launch out on a new lifestyle of gratitude, use today to set some goals for what you want God to accomplish in your heart, being specific about the ways you intend to practice ongoing thankfulness. For example, if you want to become more deliberate about writing thank-you notes, how many would you like send in a typical week or month? What Scriptures do you plan to memorize and meditate on in relation to thankfulness? Whom will you ask to hold you accountable for specific areas where you need to grow in the grace of gratitude?

Whatever mechanics it requires to get it up and running will soon fall away to the freedom of pursuing it with passion. Are you ready to experience the life-changing power of Christian gratitude? Then let the Lord help you decide what your next steps should be.

Write a simple prayer, expressing to the Lord your desire to develop a radically grateful lifestyle. Thank Him for His supernatural grace that will enable you to “abound in thanksgiving.”

Imogene~ Each morning I am going to pray and thank him for all me blessings. Can not wait to see all the little treasures he has for me each day!

Ready for this change!

Day 29

Day 29:
Deuteronomy 6:1–12

6 “Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules[a]—that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, 2 that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. 3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[b] 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

10 “And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build, 11 and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, 12 then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 13 It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. 14 You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you— 15 for the Lord your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.
If you’ve been blessed with children, you know that gratitude doesn’t come naturally for them. But few things are more remarkable (and unusual) in children today than when they’re known for their thankful, contented spirit.

While teaching and instruction have their place in growing gratitude in our kids, the best teacher of all is our example. Do your children hear you thank your husband when he tackles a home repair job? Do they hear you express gratitude to the Lord and to others for both little and big things throughout the day?

Conversely, do they hear you grumble when your husband delays dinner by needing to see one extra client or when you get a flat tire or the sun doesn’t come out for a week?

Gratitude is more effectively caught than taught. How contagious are you, especially at home?

Sit down and talk with your children about the high value God places on gratitude. Tell them how they’re going to start seeing some “gratitudinal” changes in you. If you don’t have children of your own, think about who God has placed in your sphere of influence. What are you teaching them about gratitude by your lifestyle?



Just watched this movie and what a great example of how to lead by example. Love over all!

Day 28

Day 28:
Philippians 1:3–11
Thanksgiving and Prayer

3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace,[d] both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

If expressing gratitude is to become a way of life for us, we can’t treat it as an optional exercise. If it never gets beyond our wish list, if it nestles down with all the other nice things we hope to get around to someday, the “someday” of gratitude will never roll around on our calendars.

So I want to encourage you to think of gratitude as being a debt you owe, the same way you’re called upon to pay your monthly bills. Start a list designated as “Gratitude Accounts,” specific listings of individuals to whom you owe a debt of thanks. By doing this, you can make it a point today to make a phone call just to thank a friend for the way she’s shown her concern for you during a difficult time. When the Lord opens a window of opportunity for you to jot a quick thank-you note this evening, you’ll have a ready-made list of people to choose from.

We all have gratitude accounts. There just aren’t many of us who keep them paid up. Make sure you’re becoming the type of person who stays current on your bill.

Day 27

Day 27:
1 Timothy 4:11–16


11 Command and teach these things. 12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. 13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. 14 Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. 15 Practice these things, immerse yourself in them,[c] so that all may see your progress. 16 Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

As we near the end of this gratitude challenge, take a little quiz today to see where you’re growing and where you still need work.

Try answering these questions candidly—not just yes or no, but with supporting details that come to mind:

Do I often complain about my circumstances, feeling like I deserve better?
Do others hear me voice more complaints and negative comments than words of gratitude about the typical events of daily life?
Would others describe me as a thankful person?
What evidence is there that I have a grateful or an ungrateful spirit?
How often do I begin statements with these words: “I am so thankful that . . .”?
Do I more frequently display a pessimistic, negative outlook or a positive, grateful perspective?
Am I reserved or eager when it comes to expressing appreciation to others?
My most recent expression of gratitude was …

If you haven’t done so already, consider taking this gratitude challenge into an accountability setting, letting others help you stay true to your commitment, while being there to offer your support to them as well.


Look to him!