Do Not Be Discouraged! – Part III
Part III of this blog is meant to specifically encourage those of you who are ministry leaders for kids. Sometimes after a Sunday morning, I feel harried like I went through a whirlwind and wonder what just happened here. Did anything that happened this morning make an impact on anyone? Recently, I asked a leader who had been off a few weeks and stepped back in to teach, how the morning went. She proceeded to say that “Wow, how the boy dynamic has changed” in our little group. Having taught the previously block of lessons to the same group, I knew exactly what she meant –these kids tended to be squirrely, in each other’s personal space, and at times downright obnoxious. Many times it seemed like I wasn't getting through to them. My husband and son happened to be in the room with her that morning as she led the kids. At lunch I asked how the Remember and Celebrate morning went. My son said it was “good” (more than 1 word would be revealing way too much!) When I asked my husband if they played the review game, he said yes. When I asked him if they knew the answers, he said, “Oh yeah, they knew every one of them!” Okay so maybe they were paying attention.
This story from TruMinistry.org really encouraged me and I’d like to share it with you:
“Do you want to see my treasure?”
God’s grand story had been shared. And the children had moved to tables around the room to create treasure boxes. Each set of hands carefully selected colored jewels and tape to decorate the tops and sides of the wooden boxes. When the final jewels were put into place the children began grabbing up all the extra items stuffing them into their boxes as their greatest treasures.
Treasure boxes filling up with plastic jewels acting as fillers, replacing things absent in these children’s lives: siblings, moms, dads, friends, homes, and love. They grabbed up everything in their reach as if they were able to fill the deep cracks that required more than pretty tape and sparkles.
All but one, girl.
The box fully sparkling and decorated the girl closed the lid waiting patiently. An adult sitting nearby watching the other children greedily filling their boxes asked the young girl, “Don’t you want to fill your box with treasures?” Pulling the box closer to her she said it was already filled with treasure. Then in a hushed whisper she asked the woman,
“Would you like to see what is inside?”
More than curious as she had not seen the young girl place one item in the box the woman responded, “Yes.” Slowly the young girl raised the lid and both heads peered over the edge into the box to see what was inside. A simple piece of paper with a word scrawled in purple marker was lying in the bottom. A backwards “J” followed with “e-s-e-s”.
Can you imagine the leader’s surprise! The one child she thought wasn't engaging and probably didn't understand was the one who “got it”. We can never underestimate what God is doing in the hearts and minds of those around us. All we can do is make ourselves available for Him to use.
Written by Darla Bair
Don't be discouraged! Part 2
As parents and/or ministry leaders for kids it’s easy to get discouraged and wonder if we are really making a difference. This part 2 of a 3-part blog series is meant to encourage you as you interact with your own kids, or serve as a ministry leader for kids. As a parent who is a control freak, I can understand how we jump in and try to fix things and plan the course for our kids without first asking God. Maybe it’s okay if our very talented son doesn't have the best soccer skills coach, but the coach he does have models family values. Do our kids need to have the best piano teacher on the other side of town, or maybe the Christian piano teacher in the neighborhood that’s not rated as highly, is just what God intended for our child. And when it doesn't work out when there’s no spot with the teacher we want, do we trust what our child might learn from that other teacher, is God’s plan, or do we moan about it before God and our child? Many times the conditions we think ideal for our children, are not what God intends to teach them about life, relationships, and Himself.
And on another note, when our kids get really embarrassing, how often do we want to shout “stop that ugly behavior!” Michelle Anthony, in her Spiritual Parenting series talks about what happens if we respond with what she calls “shock and appall, too often. “You WHAT??” – that is shock and appall. This reaction causes children to believe that what they did is shameful. Children can soon learn that any sin may be met with disapproval, so they hide it. The result is that the child doesn’t deal with the sin or heal it, but instead “stuffs’ it. And what is dangerous is that we have a tendency to carry this habit into our relationship with God. And just like God, don’t we want our children to run to us – straight to us – so we can help them and bring them to restoration?
Often as parents it’s easy to get in the way of what God is doing. Michelle also talks in her series about how we need to slow down before we “react”, and ask God and the Spirit to guide us so we can come alongside of what He wants to do. I believe one of the most important things we can do is remind our children of who they are and whose they are. Michelle says that part of our children’s journey centers on what we believe about them. They need to believe they are the person Christ identified them to be. Often we make identity statements without realizing it. Things such as “She is shy” or “He’s not very athletic” when instead we could be giving them life by saying “she tends to be quick to listen, taking in her environment” or “He’s gifted in the arts.” In this world, our children are offered many counter-identities every day. It’s a normal process for preteens and teenagers to experiment with several identities, like trying on outfits to see which fits best. But be encouraged that those who have been granted a new identity in Christ are sealed by God’s Spirit. And remember Philippians 1:6 which says “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Lastly, always pray for your child’s heart, knowing that even though the enemy is seeking to devour whatever faith they have, Jesus intercedes for them every day. He is continuing a work in them and let’s not forget that we too, are children of God who bears the mark of His identity.
Written by Darla Bair, with parts adapted from Spiritual Parenting by Michelle Anthony
Do not be discouraged! Part I
As parents and/or ministry leaders for kids it’s easy to get discouraged and wonder if we are really making a difference. This 3-part blog series is meant to encourage you as you interact with your own kids, or serve as a ministry leader for kids. As parents, we want to see our kids “get it. We want to see them live a life that demonstrates a solid understanding of God at work in their lives. We want to see God’s truth lived out in the things they do and say, and we want to know that they trust Jesus and are saved. We do our best, however inadequate that may seem at times, to teach them and train them about faith, and model that for them – and then we pray and trust God to do his work in their lives.
As a parent of two very different children, I have turned to trusting God. My daughter, now 16, accepted Jesus at age 4, was baptized at age 8, wrote a book report on “How to become a Christian” in 2nd grade, in 7th grade was known as the “God Girl” at her school. Now she is a leader at her high school with a reputation for hard work, fairness and kindness. She is also a leader in her youth group and although she struggles in a balance of school work, school and church activities, and having a regular devotion, as many of us do, we know she “gets it”. She is very compassionate, befriends anyone that wants to be her friend and it seems that even now God has set her on a solid course as she plans for college and her future. Things have not always been easy, as we have struggled with typical teenage issues. She has also had many struggles over the past few years with friendships which as a parent I have prayed about for her and had to trust God with. As much as I would like to take credit for how awesome she is, in truth my example to her has frequently been terribly lacking, and it is God that has done the work in her. We wait with much anticipation to see how God will unfold her future.
My 11 year old son, however, while very skilled and talented in many areas, is very happy go lucky, and has not a care in the world. While he doesn’t complain about church, or even home Bible devotions, he just doesn’t seem to care. If you ask him any question about anything he values, you get an “I don’t know, can I go play now!” He simply doesn’t show much interested in the things of God and we wonder if he will ever “get it”. We wonder if we did our part, and then we pray and trust God to do his part. Being that he was adopted, we wonder if the Buddhist influence of his birth culture when he was young has set up a spiritual barrier that in some way needs to be broken through. We wonder that with the comfortable life he now enjoys, what God may do to get his attention. And then there are small signs of hope! Just recently, my husband relayed a conversation that he had with our son. My husband asked him if he thought he was popular at his school and he responded with “Dad, popularity is a dangerous word. If you are popular you have to look and act a certain way. There is a responsibility with being popular. I do not want to be that kind of popular.” My husband floored by his thoughtful response, rushed in to tell me. Whoa! Did those words come out of my son’s mouth! And then when his neighborhood buddies cell phone wouldn’t stop ringing (no our son does not have a cell phone) because of the 5th grade girls calling him and his buddy calling them his “girlfriends, my daughter witnessed him lecture his friend saying “you don’t need any girlfriends – you don’t need girlfriends until you are thinking about getting married.” We presume he got this from many conversations we have with our daughter about the attitudes of her friends towards dating, but obviously he is listening and just maybe something is sinking in and he maybe just believes it - enough that he would share it with his buddy. We wait with much anticipation to see how God will direct our son as well.
All this to say, that while some of us are blessed to see our children embrace God at any early age, I want to offer encouragement to the rest when it seems our kids just don’t have a spiritual bone in their body. The Bible does say, “train up and child in the way he should go and he will return to it.” Proverbs 22:6
If you feel discouraged, or like a failure, as a parent or spiritual leader of children don’t be discouraged. You never know how God in his infinite wisdom, works all things together to reveal himself. The best thing we can do as parents when our children see our failures is ask for forgiveness from them, demonstrate how we can forgive others because of Christ and let them see how God restores us. How many times, I have had to ask my children to forgive me for an outburst of anger towards them or their father. Simply offer yourself to God and trust that he is working in and through you and those he loves to produce spiritual children and every once in a while God can actually use our kids to teach us something about Himself too!
Written by Darla Bair, with parts adapted from Spiritual Parenting by Michelle Anthony
5 love languages of children – Affirmation & Quality Time
The second love language is words of affirmation. In communicating love, words are powerful. Words of affection and endearment, words of praise and encouragement, words that give positive guidance all say, “I care about you.” Even though words are quickly said, they are not soon forgotten. A child recaps the benefits of affirming words for a lifetime. Mark Twain once said “the difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightening and the lightening bug.” So with our children, even if this isn’t their love language, they still need to be encouraged, and even more so if it is.
My oldest daughter Rachel wanted to learn how to whistle; so on her own she puckered her lips and started to blow air. She came to me excited, “daddy listen”, and she puckered and blew. Only the sound of air came out. I said “wow, you are starting to get it, good job! Keep practicing and you will get a lot better!” She now can whistle good enough to fool the birds. Now what if I had laughed and said what are you trying to do? She might have walked away discouraged, and stopped trying.
Whatever our words are, we need to choose wisely, and use words that lift the people around us up. Jesus said “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”
Here is a guide for words:
Describes your child:
Likes others to tell them they did a good job
Favorite words include: Terrific!, good job!, you’re #1!, awesome kid!, you did it!
Some tips:
Write notes on the mirror, compliment, speak positively about them, always say I love you, praise them around others, write a letter to them, come up with a cheer or a song with their name in it, and be specific in your praise.
The third love language is quality time. Simply put, quality time is focused attention. It means giving your child your undivided attention. Even if your child’s primary love language is not quality time, many children crave the undivided attention of parents. Much childhood misbehavior is an attempt to get more time with Mom or Dad. Even negative attention seems better than no attention to the child.
It is easier to give physical touch and words of affirmation than quality time. The reason is because it requires real sacrifice on the part of the parents. Few of us have enough time to do everything we need and want to do; giving a child quality time may mean that we must give up something high on our list of preferences. So what can we do? Is it possible to love a child and still get your own work done? The answer is yes. Consider giving your child fifteen minutes of quality time before you start a task, that may help you be able to get whatever it is done without too many interruptions.
Don’t miss this point; quality time is a gift of presence to a child. It conveys this message: “you are important. I like being with you.” It makes the child feel that he is the most important person in the world to the parent. He feels truly loved because he has his parents all to himself. So, it is not the activity or the event itself, but that you are doing something together, being together.
Here is guide for quality time:
Describes your child
Loves to do things with you: watch a movie, yard work, go out to eat, run errands, play a game. Tries to get your undivided attention. Wants to sit next to you or have you watch them while they are playing.
Some tips:
Run errands together 1 on 1, date night / breakfast 1 on 1, make eye contact, ask about day, pay attention to details, plan special events / trips, eat together as a family, read together, and bedtime routine.
Other resources; 5 love languages of children study guide and the 5 love languages of children profile
Written by Jeff Neeley with portions from 5 love languages of children by Gary Chapman and Ross Campbell
5 love languages of children - physical touch
Is your child’s primary love language physical touch? For children who understand this love language, physical touch will communicate more deeply than telling them “I love you”, fixing a bicycle, buying them a present, or spending time with them. Of course, they still receive love in all the languages, but for them the one with the clearest and loudest voice is physical touch. Without hugs, kisses, pats on the back, and other physical expressions of love, their love tanks will remain less than full. Physical touch is the easiest love language to use unconditionally, because parents don’t need an excuse to touch their child. Think about it, even when we are busy we can still touch their arm, back, rub their head, or touch their shoulder. My favorite is leaping off the footboard of their beds and bouncing on top of them. On the other side of that, when you refuse physical touch it makes your child with this love language feel rejected and unloved.
My youngest, Madison, is a kindergartener, and her primary love language is physical touch. Just this last weekend we went on a scooter ride to a pond to try and catch some frogs. After 30 minutes of not catching a thing (I think the frogs still think it is winter) we headed back. Madison informed me that she was tired and wanted me to carry her, so I tossed her on my shoulders and she played with my face and head the entire way back. In fact at one time she was trying to fold my eyelids in half. She wanted physical touch, and if she had it her way every day would be a shoulder ride tickle fest.
Each of us know that as they get older, the type of physical touch that they need changes. Boys especially can go through a time where they resist physical touch. They suggest that you resist the urge to back off and give them the physical touch they need, however hugging and kissing them in front of their friends is not a great idea. Instead you could wrestle, play a sport, sneak a pat on the back, or foot wrestle. The book (The 5 Love Languages of Children by Gary Chapman and Ross Campbell) does give some really good examples of what physical touch looks like through the years for both boys and girls here are just a couple of examples:
Infants and toddlers: hugs and kisses, piggy back rides, and other playful touches, reading a book in your lap.
School age child: hugs before and after school, wrestling, high fives, bear hugs, and sports.
Approaching adolescence and Teenager: I would suggest reading this part. However, they suggest that the more they feel loved at home, the healthier their relationships are with their parents; they will be better equipped to deal with the negative peer pressure that comes with growing up.
So this week, if you haven’t done so already, take the quiz on each of your children and find out what their primary language is. After that start taking language lessons!
Other resources; 5 love languages of children study guide and the 5 love languages of children profile
Article by Jeff Neeley
Helping your child through tragedy
When faced with tragedy, such as the bombing at the Boston Marathon, we turn our attention to our children. We want them to feel safe as well as have the opportunity to process, grieve, and ask questions. Unfortunately, we ourselves feel ill-prepared or unsure at times on how to discuss such a sensitive subject with our little ones. Here are some helpful guidelines to tackle such questions:
- Make sure to pray before any conversation. God is our ultimate counselor and provides wisdom to those who ask for it (James 1:5).
- If your children are in early elementary or younger, consider asking a question such as, “What have you heard regarding what has happened in Boston?” This question will allow you to respond without perhaps giving more information than they have been exposed to.
- For older children, consider sitting down with them and sharing the basic points of what has happened (i.e. There was a bombing in Massachusetts, at the Boston Marathon and 3 people were killed, one a young boy, and hundreds were injured). If they ask questions after this, you can respond to their level of concern.
- Music is soothing and can bring comfort. You may want to make a special CD To play in your car, home, or in your child’s room at bedtime.
- Endeavor to keep normalcy in your daily routine (i.e. children sleeping in their own beds or rooms, attending classes or outside activities, etc.)
- If your child exhibits unusual fear or anxiety over this issue, consider consulting a school or grief counselor. Pray with them and for them, showing them how they can turn to God in difficult times.
- Allowing your child to do something productive or compassionate during this time gives them a sense of empowerment and hope.
- Life and death topics bring up questions of God’s character and what happens after we die. Remember that while we cannot always explain God, we know from Scripture that He is good and loving (1 Jn 4:8), that He allows us a free will and with that some people choose good and other choose evil (1 Pet. 4:1-8). God is always with us and will not leave us alone (Josh. 1:9). On day God will restore all things to Himself and to perfection (Rev. 21), and that because He conquered death, one day we too can receive life with Him in a heaven that He has prepared for us (Jn 14:1-6).
- CCC has the below books to help you in your discussions about life, death, grieving, and heaven. They are available to check out in the library;
Heaven is No a Crying Place by Joey O’Connor
Your Grieving Child by Bill Dodds
Someone I Love Died by Christine Tangvald
When You Lose Someone You Love by Richard Exley
Article by; Tru Ministry
Your Child's Love Language
One thing that I want to clear up now is that I am not a bookworm. Don’t get me wrong, I love to read. It is a habit that I am getting better at, and I have read books that have changed the way I think and pray. I tell you that because over the next few posts I will be giving you the “Jeff’s notes” version of one of those books, The Five Love Languages of Children by Gary Chapman and Ross Campbell. I will suggest that you do a couple of things that might help you have a better understanding of your children AND it might even help you in your parenting:
- Follow the link and take the short quiz on each of your children. This will help you to begin to identify what love language they speak. Click here to go to that site.
- Find the book and read at least the chapters on your children’s languages.
- If you like what you read, there is a study guide that you and/or your spouse can do. It is also available for free. On average there are 3-5 questions per chapter. Click here to go to that site.
Alright, by a show of hands, who would say that they love their children? Would you say you love them unconditionally? Here is how Wikipedia would define it… ”Unconditional love is known as affection without any limitations. An example of this is a parent's love for their child; no matter a test score, a life changing decision, an argument, or a strong belief, the amount of love that remains between this bond is seen as unchanging and unconditional.”
Here’s the catch: no matter how much you know that you love your child, your child may not be feeling loved. For a child to feel loved, we must learn to speak his or her unique love language. Every child has a special way of perceiving love. There are five primary ways people speak and understand emotional love. They are: physical touch, words of affirmation, quality time, gifts, and acts of service. If you have several children, chances are they each speak different languages. When I walk in the door from work, my youngest daughter, Madison, asks me for tickles while she is in the middle of hugging me with her legs wrapped around me. My oldest, Rachel, loves to spend time doing things with me no matter what the activity. If I tickled Rachel like I do Madison, she might wonder why I was hurting her. While both ways are healthy examples of showing you love somebody, if you never speak the right language to them, they may never feel that they are completely loved.
By speaking your child’s own love language, you can fill his “emotional tank” with love. When your child feels loved, he is much easier to discipline and train than when his “emotional tank” is running near empty. When we are filling their tank with unconditional love, it can help them have the emotional strength to get through the challenging days of childhood and adolescence. Just as cars are powered by reserves in the gas tank, our children are fueled from their emotional tanks. Unconditional love is a full love that accepts and affirms a child for who he is, not for what he does or does not do.
You may find it helpful to frequently remind yourself of some rather obvious things about your children:
- They are children.
- They will tend to act like children.
- Much childish behavior is unpleasant.
- If I do my part as a parent to love them, despite their childish behavior, they will mature and give up their childish ways.
- If I love them unconditionally, they will feel comfortable about themselves and will be better able to control their anxiety and their behavior as they grow to adulthood.
Article by Jeff Neeley
Blessing Your Child
My children are 6 and 8 years old, and they are bundles of creative energy. For a long time, we have had the same bed time routine (alone time, read a book and the Bible, vitamins, pray, sing, lights out.) In fact you may have experienced this -- my youngest is queen at milking every extra minute out of her bedtime. Don’t get me wrong, my oldest does try to stretch it, but her approach is more direct. However, Madison will ask any random question knowing that I always feel compelled to answer, and she will keep going with follow up questions until I cut her off. The longest she has ever stretched me has been 35 minutes, not my best performance. This has also been the time when both of them have asked the most questions about God about which we never stop until they are done. As parents, we are the primary spiritual leaders in our children’s lives, and it is important for us to create an atmosphere in our homes where they feel comfortable coming to us with any question about anything at any time. We need to be prepared both in season and out of season (2 Timothy 4:2).
One way that we create that space is by praying with them every night and trying to always end with a blessing. The blessing can be done in many ways, but the more intentional you are about it, the more powerful it will be. Since my children are already tucked in, we hold hands as we pray, “God, I pray that You would bless Rachel, that Rachel will know how crazy You are for her, that she will know Your voice when You are talking to her, and that when she hears You that she would listen and obey because she loves You, amen.” I also try to say something about what we read that night; for example, if we read about the 10 lepers, I would add something about having a thankful heart for all that He has done for her.
You can also encourage your children to hold out their hands, palms up, as a symbolic posture of receiving—expecting to hear and receive from God. You can put your hands on your child’s head … or kneel and look him in the eye as you bless him. This time of blessing provides another great opportunity to integrate your use of the Bible into the worship experience, reinforcing to the children that these words come straight from the Word, God’s Word.
A blessing can be a prayer of commission, a portion of Scripture, encouragement and guidance. A blessing can be offered in order to ask God’s Spirit to overflow from the child’s life in such a way that blesses others, while it can also be prayed over a child for the purpose of declaring God’s protection, joy, or wisdom.
Article by Jeff Neeley
(Portions taken from Tru curriculum)
Stand in the gap and pray! (Cont.)
Continued from February 26, 2013 I've often used written prayers to give me ideas on what to pray for my children. Stormie Omartian has some good books on praying for your children. The chapters deal with different character traits and issues and it gives great insights on what and how to pray effective prayers. I've prayed with a group of moms for years and we've used a prayer book to help us focus on an attribute to pray for our kids. There is a so much power in praying with other parents who can support you and give you insights that you overlooked. I would encourage you to find some parents from church or school to meet with weekly to lift your children before the Lord and stand as a strong, united front against the enemy.
There may come a time in your child’s life when they choose not to follow the Lord. God has given everyone the free will to choose Him or not. You can’t force your child to follow the Lord, but no one can stop you from praying for them to have their hearts turned toward the Lord and open to receiving true life from Him. By praying you can help them to hear from God so He can lead them to do what He wants. Pray like the life of your child depends on it, but then also rest in knowing that the God who loves them most already has the victory. Worry and fear only discourage you and waste precious time that would be more effectively spent in prayer.
I love the verse, “the prayer of a righteous man (or woman) is powerful and effective” (James 5:16) and I've found this to be true so many times in the lives of my kids. I may not say the most elegant words, but God knows the intentions of my heart and delights in answering my prayers. I can take heart that with God, the victory is certain and my prayers made a difference in the lives of my kids.
Article by Dawn Belknap
Resources:
- The Power of a Praying Parent by Stormie Omartian
- Biblical Virtues to pray for your kids bookmark by Bob Hostetler
Praying for your kids
- Find one or more people to pray weekly with you for your children.
- Pray as a couple
- Turn off the radio in your car and use the time to connect to God in prayer
- Fast from something and use the time spent on that activity to pray.
- Use bedtime as a time to pray your desires for your children in their presence.
Stand in the gap and pray!
Nothing brings out the Mama Bear reaction in me as quickly as when I feel my kids are being attacked. It makes me bear my teeth and claws and feel ready to jump into action to protect my kids. It’s easy to want to defend them against bullies and seen forces, but in reality my kids are being attacked by an unseen enemy whose desire is to kill, steal, and destroy them. I've often chalked up hard times to “bad luck” or “stages of life,” not even thinking that evil forces could be at the heart of my child’s struggles. It wasn't until both of my kids were struggling in their teen years that I learned to stand in the gap and pray in the power and authority of Jesus’ name for them. God makes His power available to us. Ephesians one says, “I pray you will begin to understand the incredible greatness of His power for us who believe in Him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead.” God gives us that power to speak in the name of Jesus and His power “is far above any ruler or authority,” including Satan. We can speak victory over our children. I often pray that if the struggle my children are facing is coming from Satan, that God would be their defender and I command Satan to leave in the name and authority of Jesus living in me. When we use the name of Jesus, Satan has to obey! In my early days of prayer I would pray for very specific things for my children, usually with regards to some circumstance they were facing. Now I’ve learned to pray more for what they will learn through that circumstance and how God will build their character. For example, instead of praying that they will pass a test, I pray that they will learn the value of hard work and preparation and be rewarded for their efforts. In effect, I feel this is praying not for MY will to be done but rather for God’s will to be done in their character and spiritual formation.
Praying scripture is a perfect way to pray God’s will for your kids. Find verses and insert your child’s name. Here’s how I would pray Proverbs 3:3-4 for my daughter, “May Brenna wear kindness and loyalty around her neck and never let them get away from her. Write them deep within her heart. Then she will have a good reputation and find favor with both God and man.” I might then pray further about her reputation or other things God would want to write within her heart. Continue to claim God’s promises for your children and even memorize the verses so you can pray them at any time. God’s Word is powerful!
When your children are facing a strong challenge, God encourages us to fast and pray. Somehow when we are at our weakest, it releases God’s power to be even stronger. Choose a time frame to fast from food or something else that consumes your time, and use that time to be intentional to pray for your child. I usually get past the point of being hungry and tired and get to a new heighten awareness of God’s presence where He gives me a deeper understanding and more focused prayer. Fasting is a powerful weapon God gives us that is largely unused by Christians today; but I can testify that it works! You may need to continue to bring the same requests to the Lord until He either changes the situation or changes your child’s heart. Luke 11:9-10 says, “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And the door is opened to everyone who knocks.”
Come back next week, for the second installment and some great resource material.
From Dawn Belknap