Years ago our
youngest son, Tim, served on the State of Alaska Board of Education as the
youth / high school member of the board under Commissioner Larry LeDoux. Tim was very active at that time in student
government at Palmer High School, and active in student government around the
state, so he was chosen to serve for a year and a half. Tim would come home from these meetings, held
around the state, and share with us the various efforts which the state of
Alaska was making to improve education for the students of our state. I would listen to Tim tell about his
experiences, and then I would do “the dad thing;” I shared my opinion. “Tim, I know this is not very politically
correct. But, I believe the best thing
the state of Alaska could do to improve education would be to work to strengthen
homes and families.”
Last week my wife
read me a Facebook post, reported to be from a first grade teacher. Who knows if this post really is from a
teacher – it’s Facebook! Yet, I did hear
truth from this post, truth which reflects my Christian values, and truth that reminded
me of my conversations with Tim. The
teacher wrote:
“When I
look around my classroom I couldn’t tell you who crawled first, who walked
before one or spoke in sentences by 15 months.
I can’t tell you if their parents breastfed or bottle fed. No clue if they still wear pull-ups at night,
because I’m sure many do! I don’t know
if they potty trained at 18 months or 4 years old. I don’t know if their mom ever left them to
cry it out for a few minutes or if they strapped them to their bodies 24/7. You know what I can tell when I look at my
kids? I can tell which families value
kindness and manners in their homes. I
can tell when a child feels loved and secure at home (and at school which sadly
isn’t always everyone’s school experience!)
I know who has pizza and movie night Friday nights and which mom reads
in different voices for bedtimes. I see
how kids handle scary situations like thunderstorms. I can see who has a solid routine at home and
who has chores and responsibilities. I
can hear how you speak to your children by how they speak to others. When I look at my little friends I don’t see
their milestones, I see who they are: their heart, their actions, their inner
voice, their struggles and triumphs, and I see you, and all the love you pour
into them. We are always supposed to
talk about testing and benchmarks and data during parent teacher conferences
and I had a mom last time look at me and say, “I don’t worry about all the
reading and math, she will get there. I
want to know . . . how she is, as a person?
Is she kind? Does she include
others?
That
took my breath away and is something that will always stick with me!! Go easy on yourselves mamas, just love your
little ones . . . it’s all they need.”
God created
families as cradles for faith and love.
Yet, so much pulls families apart today, whether busy-ness, or assaults
on morality and faith, or even our own personal struggles. I see those struggles in my own parenting, in
my own children, in my grandchildren, and in the families of St. John. No wonder my wife, Kathy, says, “Satan
attacks Christian faith by attacking families.”
Kathy has also shares with her fellow nurses at work, “Anyone can be a
nurse. No one else can be your husband’s
wife, or your kids’ mom!”
This devotion is
not meant to scold people who feel inadequate as parents. We could all have done a better job of
parenting at various times. But, I do want
to share the assurance that God is with parents as they seek to do one of the
most important tasks God gives them, raising their children in faith and
love. In Matthew 18 Jesus speaks about
the importance of children in the eyes of our heavenly Father. “10 See
that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that
their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. 11 12 What
do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will
he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that
wandered off? 13 And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about
that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 14 In the
same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones
should be lost.” (Matthew
18:10-14) Our Lord in heaven has special
care for children AND gives them special protection. We have called that protection, “Guardian
angels.” (verse 10) God cares about
every child, and He is with parents as they seek to raise their children. When our Lord sent His only begotten
Son into this world to save us, God placed Jesus into a family, a family who
protected and loved and taught Him. Our
Heavenly Father helps us teach faith and love if we allow Him to help us. Some of the best ways to teach values to our
children are through home devotions and through regular attendance in worship
and Sunday School.
I have served as
a substitute teacher in the Mat-Su School District during the last two years,
and I have been impressed with the quality of teachers in our schools, and impressed
by what they are teaching. However, I
still hold to what I told Tim, “I believe the best thing the state of Alaska
could do to improve education would be to work to strengthen homes and
families.” In fact, healthy Christian homes
would not just make schools better, but would improve our whole community. People would act in faith and love, not
because they are afraid of punishment, but because they want to serve the Lord
who loves them and saves them.
Parents,
grandparents, please know that God loves your little ones, and He is beside you
helping you through all the challenges you face. I pray for my children and for my grandchildren
daily. I also pray God’s blessings and
help for each of you as you seek to teach your children faith in our Lord and
love for others, as you teach them that which is really important.
A Child of God, Praying
for Faith and Love in our Homes and Families, and in our Community,
Pastor Jonathan
P.S. Great News!
St. John member, Grace Miller, made the 2022 US Paralympic Team for
Bejing. Congratulations, Grace!! Here are a few pictures. https://photos.app.goo.gl/5UsdYJTGrbKF8fgW9
P.P.S. On January 24 I went fishing in Alaska and
found 4 feet of ice! On January 31 I
went fishing on the Suwannee River in Florida.
Local Floridians were saying it was cold because the high temperature that
day was only 69. J But, I did catch fish.
·
January 24 ice fishing: https://photos.app.goo.gl/u24YH9LMQuZAw3kt9
·
January 31 bass fishing: https://photos.app.goo.gl/3x5XJcXbE2KUR6N76
·
On February 1 I went fishing with my
brother-in-law, Mark Reaves. We didn’t
have any bites, but we did see an otter, a deer, and heard some owls. https://photos.app.goo.gl/cjdxHCmqb8XipAip9
*****
ABOUT THIS DEVOTION - I retired at
the end of August 2019 from serving as senior pastor of St. John Lutheran
Church in Palmer, AK. I was writing a weekly devotion previously entitled,
"Thoughts from the Pastor." When I retired many asked me
to continue writing these devotions. So I have continued writing.
However, with life's changes I now call this weekly devotion "Journeys
Through Life as a Child of God." Since I am no longer senior
pastor at St. John, I felt it right to only send this message to those who
asked to receive it. (Though I am now serving again part-time at St. John
as assistant to the pastor.)
So, if you stopped receiving these devotions and wondered why, now you
understand. And, if you are now receiving these devotions and do not wish
to receive them, please let me know, and I’ll gladly remove your name from my
distribution list. My e-mail address is jonrock53@mtaonline.net.
My prayer is that these devotions help each of you in your daily walk with our
Lord, Jesus.
*******
Jonathan Rockey
Child of God
Husband, Father,
Son, Grandfather
Pastor Emeritus,
St. John Lutheran Church
E-Mail: jonrock53@mtaonline.net
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