I am just coming off a great experience in Atlanta Georgia. I had the blessing of attending the Catalyst Leadership conference. If you ever get a chance to sing worship to our great God with 10,000 other Christ followers jump on it! It is a little glimpse into heavenly worship! Very powerful!
Anyways one of the speakers was a pastor named Reggie Joiner. He is the author of the book, “Parenting Beyond your Capacity” and others. He is the founder of the Orange foundation, which is a resource and training non-profit that helps churches maximize their influence on the next generation.
I want to share what I learned from him. So here are my notes a 45 minute talk, I will sum it up in a some bullet points.
-You will be remembered by the people you know NOW.
-You will die sooner than you think, and you WILL be forgotten. ( sounds harsh , but think about it how many of us even know our great great grandparents?)
-You have 936 weeks from the day your child is born till they turn 18. If we think about the time we have we get serious about the investment. He recommended putting 936 marbles in a big jar and each week that passing take one out so you can see how much time you have left to fully invest)
-Psalm 90:12 “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Understanding our limited time on earth helps us be wise, and the opposite of wise is stupid, none of us wants to be stupid!
-Putting time on parenting, or anything for that matter, helps us to make the matters, matter most.
-We are not God, we are not the Holy Spirit, We can NOT change anyone not even our children. We must focus on what we can do and do our part, trusting God to do His part! And this leaving a legacy!!
-Remember God pursued a people (Israelites) over and over again. In this He showed His love and desire for a relationship with them. He proved His love over time. This makes His love more believable.
Love over time gives a sense of worth.
Fun over time equals connection
stories over time gives perspective
Tribes over time equals belonging.
A collection of time results in results. Be patient with your parenting and remember you are leaving a legacy IN your children. A legacy lives to give the applause to another, it is more about others then yourself, has to do more with being ordinary and depends on consistancy.
