Today we’re kicking off a month of encouragement for moms! Proverbs 31 Ministries is partnering with D6 Family Conference and Ministry, along with Focus on the Family, Barna Research Group, Dave Ramsey, John Trent, Angela Thomas and many more who believe that moms (and dads) have the most important job on earth.
God has entrusted moms and dads with an amazing calling, yet the by day-to-day demands on our time and attention often consume all that we have to give. In survival mode, we lose sight of the clearest command God’s given to us as parents in (D6) Deuteronomy 6:5-9, to make daily deposits of faith into our children’s lives and leave a spiritual legacy.
Mom, there is no one else who can take your place. Being a parent is the most important investment of your time and attention. But don’t let that overwhelm you. You don’t have to do it all and you don’t have to do it alone. Most of all, you don’t have to do it perfectly! This month our hope is to make it more “doable” for you. So, I’ll be writing about my personal journey as a mom, and featuring guests who will share lessons they’ve learned along the way that have helped their family incorporate D6 moments into every day life. And I hope you’ll share yours!!!
Before we get started, I want to share why we think this is so important. Please take a few minutes to watch this video and come back to let us know your thoughts.
We want to hear from you, so let us know what’s on your mind and what your greatest needs are as a mom. How does this video make you feel? What does it evoke in your thoughts? Does it make you want to ask anything?
We’ll be drawing names based on your thoughts and questions from this post today through Friday. Saturday morning we’ll announce the winner of a D6/P31 family gift pak that includes a cool D6 family coffee mug, a D6 t-shirt, a year’s subscription to the P31 magazine for mom and a year subscription to D6 Clear magazine for kids. And be sure to come back for more encouragement and give-aways all month!
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Wow that was a powerful video that really speaks to my heart. Recently, our local pastor’s sermon was also about the need for families to teach their children about God and spiritual issues. I really feel that God is talking to us about this need. What a great ministry to start this D6. I definitely want to know more!
thanks,
Shelley
[email protected]
What a great clip. I plan to share it with my husband this evening. I think that it is important to remember that being a Christian is a way of life. It is how we live our lives and by doing that we are setting an example for our children and including them in this way of life. Daily or evening for us, devotions have become an important part of our family life. There are so many devotional books for kids that touch on different aspects of their lives. These offer a time of prayer and really open up a topic of conversation. I look at Sunday school as a way to reinforce our teachings at home as well as a chance for them to learn and do extra things. D6 sounds like a great ministry. Thank you for introducing it to me.
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I'm so thankful that I stumbled upon this! It was such a fresh reminder of why I do what I do. I talk to my dad the other day about how hard parenting can be with 3 young children & homeschooling. I told him the physical aspect of parenting was not what wore me out, but rather the mental part of it. I thought and though about what I was trying to say so it made more since and it was exactly what was said in this video. It has to be in the fore front of our mind, constantly. It is the constant taking advantage of times to point them back to Christ and not just see parenting as another task. I think I've been trying to fullfill & carry out this pasage in my own strength and sometimes for self glorification, so others will see the fruit of my labor. Rather I need to be relying on God and viewing it as my God given mission.
What do we Mamas need most? Encouragement in all aspects of our lives, most definitely! Being that we are “givers” by nature, we tend to give out so much we “run dry” without realizing it. Mamas need their “batteries recharged” in order to keep giving out to others as we are called to do by our Lord. Thank you for sharing God’s Word that “recharges our batteries” and blesses us to continue encouraging those God puts in our paths each day. Blessings, ~Amy S.~
WOW. My heart feels this call. My first toughts…how? How with blended families where the kids have seen you failed? How with older kids? The more we seem to try, the closer we get to God, the more they seem to push away God…How?
In his Graces~Pamela
Hi Renee!
Wow that was God talking to me!! I have been struggling a lot lately with spending time with my kids. I am so busy working full time, cooking, cleaning, trying to work out, read Bible and find me time and time with hubby.
Each day I get up and say “today I will do XXX..with my kids” and then I don’t. I know I need to open communication now while they are young but I can’t seem to do it. I need prayers that I can find time to listen and really engage them. We are Christian but I have a hard time communicating that with my kids. Look forward to following your blog this month and learning
Great timing on this for me
Gods Blessings
Kim
[email protected]
This moved my very soul for this issue has been on my heart for quite sometime now. Through this past year of 2008 I have made a very conscious effort to rejuvenate the spiritual dryness that had crept into our home as a family unit. I feel I have made a good start in the right direction but I really want to continue focusing on this through the next year with my main objective to turn my home into something more. To turn it into a spiritual haven. Your devotion on crosswalk was a direct answer to my prayer – for I had prayed that God would reveal ways I could implement all these 2009 goals and then I read your blog on the D6 family. Coincidence, I think not. Answered prayer, definitely.
This moved my very soul for this issue has been on my heart for quite sometime now. Through this past year of 2008 I have made a very conscious effort to rejuvenate the spiritual dryness that had crept into our home as a family unit. I feel I have made a good start in the right direction but I really want to continue focusing on this through the next year with my main objective to turn my home into something more. To turn it into a spiritual haven. Your devotion on crosswalk was a direct answer to my prayer – for I had prayed that God would reveal ways I could implement all these 2009 goals and then I read your blog on the D6 family. Coincidence, I think not. Answered prayer, definitely.
I think this is a great idea and opportunity for us all! We are a Christian, church-going family, but there is a need to do more within our home. This will be very beneficial to me!
Joni Moore
[email protected]
Thanks Renee for being a voice of hope to families.
We need this D6 Conference and now is the time to create a movement of Moms and Dads sharing their faith with their kids. Look out but when this happens then we are going to see a revival in our nation!
I just want to say that I have lost my way as a mother. It started when I lost my job. I had it in my mind that that was what defined me as a person. I was so devoted to the job that I felt helpless and incomplete without it. I want to tell you that I want to say thank you for clearing up that thought in my mind! I just started to read the messages on this site yesterday and I have been given a new lease on life. I have been a christian for over half of my life and a mother just as long. When I was young and didn’t work I put all of my energy into my children. We went to church on a normal basis, had dinner together every night, prayed every morning, meal and night, and I would teach my children about God and his love. When I had to get a job to help out. My mind must have changed somewhere in all of that. I have had a major eye opener today in reading this. I realize that I have lost my way and in turn have not been doing my job as a mother to the children that God has entrusted in my care. I know that I need to get back to what I really need to do and show my children what life is really all about. Thank you so very much!
I think that the greatest need that I have as a mom is to really connect with my kids on a daily basis. It’s hard with all of their plugged-in activities. I just have to make a concerted effort to connect with them.
Hello Renee. I really enjoyed this clip. Felt like it was just for me. It is amazing how God knows just what you need each day. I am married and have 2 children from a previous marriage ages 10 (girl) and 7 (boy) and my husband has 2 children from a previous marriage ages 6 (boy) and 4 (boy). I never realized how hard it could be having a blended family. We have become a very spiritual family just over the last 1 1/2 years. God has really done AMAZING things for our family in this time. I have been born again since I was a teenager, but got away from the Lord for a few years. Now, we are trying to instill in all our children how important it is to make God FIRST in your life! We pray daily with them and are looking for ideas we can do as a family to worship him other than going to church. Since there is such a big age difference between the girl and boys in the house, it is hard to include her in the same worship time as the younger boys. The mother of the younger boys does not attend church and the father of my two does not attend church..so it really is a challenge for me and husband to teach all the children to worship the Lord at ALL times, even if you are not taken to church. I hope one day I am able to attend the D6 conference! I will share this post will all the families I know and I look forward to reading your blog all month, it is really an eye opener!
This moved my very soul for this issue has been on my heart for quite sometime now. Through this past year of 2008 I have made a very conscious effort to rejuvenate the spiritual dryness that had crept into our home as a family unit. I feel I have made a good start in the right direction but I really want to continue focusing on this through the next year with my main objective to turn my home into something more. To turn it into a spiritual haven. Your devotion on crosswalk was a direct answer to my prayer – for I had prayed that God would reveal ways I could implement all these 2009 goals and then I read your blog on the D6 family. Coincidence, I think not. Answered prayer, definitely.
Renee,
I posted yesterday about wanting to have answers to difficult questions. Last night my 8 year old daughter starting asking questions about sex. I got my husband and we sat down together and explained things. I think we did alright. I was asking God to give us the right answers for her the whole time.
It was a little unnerving. God had been putting this discussion in my mind though, so I wasn’t entirely suprised. I’m grateful that our daughter felt comfortable enough to ask the questions. We told her to never be afraid to ask about anything. We would rather have her ask us, than someone at school. Lord, grant us wisdom!
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Hi from UK
I’m a 57 year old Grandmother who also used to work with children and families. I can certainly agree with the idea that parents shape children more than school church etc. Except where the Holy Spirit uses something heard/taught at Sunday School or church and lodges it in the heart. I was only converted 12 years ago after years away from church, but I had attended regularly until age 18. So when I came back to church and was converted it was as if the floodgates of previous information opened and I suddenly understood so much. Take heart all who teach Sunday School. God’s word is indeed living and powerful and able to convert souls. Thanks for blog. I’m currently trying to use a different approach to my husband (recently retired through ill-health)and grown-up son (who lives a distance away from home,)using more biblical principles. I used to be a bully based on feminist principles and have lots of past horrors to change with them both.
Thanks for the useful guidelines based in Deuteronomy 6.
Wow..what a great video. I spend a lot of time with our kids as a stay at home mom. But I really need to work on many areas after seeing this video.
Well…my kids are all grown. This video makes my heart heavy, because in some ways I almost feel it’s too late. Don’t get me wrong, I still try. My oldest just became a father for the first time, and I am determined that he raises his son in the ways of the Lord. My younger two are both in college and have gotten caught up in the world. My heart aches when I remember them worshipping God as teenagers. But I know the Lord has plans for them…and I believe they will come back.
My husband and I have been “adopted” as parents by a young lady who has two young children of her own. She is struggling with behavioral issues and negative attitudes. She is at the end of her rope. She grew up in a drug addicted family and has been clean and living for God for three years now. She’s determined to leave a different legacy for her kids than she was left. I’m sending her a link to this video. I KNOW it is exactly what she needs to encourage her and give her the strength to be a great mom. Thank you so very much for sharing it with us.
This is so exciting. I can’t wait to hear more. It is such a wake up call. I’ve relied on the church to teach my children and hope they see my example as well. Now with teenagers it just gets harder and harder. I’m really looking forward to hearing more ways in which I can be a better teacher and leader in the spiritual journey.