Living in the Light

Posted by Cindy on March 14, 2008

These are the notes from a devotion I had the pleasure of giving at co-op this week.

Living as Children of the Light Leads Children to the Light

Read Ephesians 4: 17-32, 5:1-33

This passage gives us a very clear picture of living in the light vs. living in darkness.

Light being things like:
Truthfulness
Peace
Honesty
Wholesome talk that only builds others up, words of thanksgiving
Kindness
Compassion
Forgiveness
Purity
Sobriety
Submission to husbands

Whereas darkness would be the complete opposite:
Lying
Arguments, anger, resentment
Stealing
Words that tear down, yelling, coarse jokes, obscenity (or even obscenity that “walks the line” – poopy head, stupid – always ask, does this word build anyone up?)
Slander, brushing people off, refusing to help when there is a need
Thinking only of selfish things, turning a blind eye toward a need, greed
Not forgiving, bringing up past grievances, becoming bitter
Lust, adultery, even feasting upon sexual shows, music or books.Impurity would also include media with coarse language, disrespectful actions, anything that promotes “darkness”
Drunkenness
Being disrespectful to your husband, not allowing him to take the lead in your family, defying him, going behind his back to do something, talking ugly about him to your children

How do our children learn?Does it come from the words we speak to them?Sure. Does it come from the books we give them. Yes. Does it come from the discipline we hand down? Yes.

God tells us more than once in this passage things like:
“no longer live as the Gentiles do”
“put off your old self”
“be imitators of God”
“live a life of love”
“now you ARE light in the Lord.LIVE as children of the light.”
“be very careful, then, how you live”
“make the most of every opportunity”

All of these things involve LIVING our daily life in Him. From what do our children learn most? How we live daily. How we talk when we aren’t teaching, disciplining or lecturing. How we treat others. How we treat our husbands. They soak in more of US than we probably will ever realize. So, “US” – how we live daily – needs to be full of light if we expect our children to learn to walk in that light.

Have there ever been times you’ve watched your child act a certain way or say something that you’ve been horrified about – only to think back that what they did came directly from you? That’s one of the scariest things I find to being a parent. I know I have lots of growing to do in my walk, yet I desire that my children won’t struggle with the same sins I struggle with.

What to do? First and foremost, turn your children over to God .Pray for them to walk in the light daily.Turn yourself over to God. Pray that you will be a good example daily. Recognize your sins and ask forgiveness from your children, as well as God. When children grow up learning that you aren’t perfect and that you see the sin in your life, they are more likely to learn to see the sin in their life for what it is.When they see you actively trying “to put off the old self” and hear you talking to God about it, they are more likely to go to Him with their struggles. And the closer you get to stepping completely out of the darkness, I believe the fewer sins of darkness your children will have to deal with. For what do they imitate? You.If you live in the light, they most likely will, too.

A Thanksgiving Feast

Posted by Cindy on November 19, 2007

We are part of such a wonderful co-op!  Every year we attend a Thanksgiving Feast the Monday before Thanksgiving.  Each year focuses on an historical time period – this year happened to be the 1950′s.  The moms work to prepare eight different stations that teach the children about the food, clothes, games, and general lifestyle of the times.  Groups of children travel around the stations having all sorts of fun!  This year’s stations included clothing styles, fast food sampling, toys of the decade, games of the decade, popular books & tv shows, popsicle stick creations, paint by number, and beaded bracelets.

We usually end the day with a traditional Thanksgiving meal, but this year called for food from the 50′s.  We ate hot dogs, french fries, mac n’ cheese, jello and rice krispy treats.  Let’s just say the kids probably enjoyed the meal a tad more than the adults.

Co-op Competition Night

Posted by Cindy on April 29, 2007

Our co-op has a yearly “Expo” - a night full of competitions that the kids can enter.  What fun it is every year!  It’s such a great place for them to display their talents (and even get a well-deserved pat on the back.)  Mommas, Daddies, and grandparents fill the rooms with proud smiles on their faces, too.

This year, my kiddos entered the art, cooking and woodworking competitions.  They could’ve chosen Bible memorization, spelling bee, speech, knitting/crocheting/sewing, science fair, singing, instrumentals and drama, too.  With a newborn in the house, we entered only a few categories this year.

Here’s a picture of their art and woodworking projects.  Mahayla entered a tissue paper “stained glass” flower in the art(paper) category and a picture of our new foal with its Mom for art(photography).  She made Penne Pasta Skillet for the cooking competition.  Caleb did a printing piece for the art(printing) category, made a sand block instrument for the woodworking competition and made Amish Chocolate Chip Cookies for the cooking competition.

Every child who enters gets a certificate of participation and special certificates with ribbons are given to 1st, 2nd and 3rd in each category.  The awards ceremony will take place this Monday during our regular co-op meeting.  I love that EVERY child gets to walk on stage no matter if they placed in their competition or not.

Oh yeah, after the cooking dishes have been judged, we all get to EAT the food!  That’s a nice fellowship to end the evening.

Updating to add:  Mahayla placed 1st in the Paper Art category and 2nd in the cooking Pasta category!  Caleb placed 1st in Art Printing, 2nd in Woodworking and 3rd in Cookies!  WooHoo!