Julie Gumm - Author

Do You See Possibilities?

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On the way to a friends house I pass this abandoned, burned out, graffiti’d house.

What do you see when you look at it?

Do you see destruction, despair, loneliness?

I see possibilities.

And I am fascinated.

Every time I drive by I have the urge to drive up the lot, get out and explore. My fear of snakes keeps me safely in my minivan.

I think it’s my love of home improvement projects and decorating that lets me see the possibilities in a house (trust me we’ve a couple gross looking houses over the years).

But I tend to be less about the possibilities and more about the current condition when it comes to other things – like my children. It’s so easy to focus on the negative behaviors (and I’m not saying that they don’t need addressing)  and it takes so much of our energy and time that I am left exhausted.

And quite frankly, sometimes I’m just not feelin’ the love, you know what I mean?

Recently I’ve been really convicted about how critical I can be with the kids. I don’t want to be the mom they remember as always nagging them.

I’m starting with making a point to say one super-encouraging thing to each child each day.

Anyone have some creative ideas on how to encourage children? I’m all ears!

Summer Bible Memorization Plan

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Last March when Mark and I visited Wears Valley Ranch on the World Orphans Staff retreat we were totally blown away by the scripture passages these kids had learned. We’re talking 6, 7 and 8 year olds who can recite multiple CHAPTERS of the Bible perfectly!

We realized right then and there that our kids were capable of so much more than we had been asking of them. They have a weekly memory verse for school but this summer we decided to kick it into high gear.

Each week they will have a new passage of scripture to learn. We kicked around the idea of making it a whole chapter but we felt that individual passages allowed us more freedom to hit on lots of different topics.

We broke out the plan last Tuesday (a day late) with Romans 12: 1-3.

“THREE verses? I can’t learn 3 verses!” was heard from multiple children.

We gave them some encouragement and sent them off with their sheet of paper for 30 minutes of study time. The boys knew it by the end of the 30 minutes. The loudest naysayer had half of it done.

So we have 30 minutes of study time each day. Each night before dinner each kid says it once (or as much as they know at that point) and on Friday before dinner they get the test.

Of course they wanted to know “What happens if we don’t know it?” Why is it that we always want to know the consequences of disobedience BEFORE we decide whether or not we’ll obey? (Yeah, that’s a whole ‘nother post worth of discussion.)

Of course they did brilliantly the first week. Here’s the video of them saying it all together after their test.

Oh yeah, and lest it be in one ear and out the other, they’ll be expected to recite the previous weeks verses each Friday as well…and during random pop quiz times 🙂

Raising Children to Change the World

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The international adoption journey changes you. It changes your family. And not just because you suddenly have new family members. Or because you have ties to another country that now feels partly like home.

But somehow, along the way, it is impossible to not look beyond the children whose faces stare at you from the photo on the refrigerator. And you begin to see the other faces; 143,000,000 orphans, countless single moms struggling to make ends meet, fathers desperate to provide for their families.

For Mark and I, our adoption journey changed the entire course of our lives. The things we learned and the things we saw contributed to a major shift in our lives that caused us to forge new careers and put our family onto an entirely new path.

But next comes the task of influencing that same sort of heart change in our children. How do you make your kids care more about widows than the wii?

That question has been weighing on us even since we had the chance to visit Wears Valley Ranch in March and see their Biblical Family Care model. We realized our kids were capable of so much more than we had been asking.

It was just a couple weeks later that I received an email from Julie Ferwerda asking if I’d like to participate in the blog tour of her new book “One Million Arrows: Raising Children to Change the World.”

Um, YEAH!

One Million Arrows is call to raise our kids to impact their culture, community, and world for Christ  – for them to be sharpened with education, faith and a heart for the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) and then be launched into the world to save lives.

If we want our kids to discover their purpose, if we want them to live with passion for the Kingdom, then WE as parents need to be intentional in our parenting. It is not the churches job to do this, it’s not the job of the Christian school we send our kids to. It’s our job!

Julie’s book includes a whole chapter with the stories of other families, including the Tebows and the McDowell’s, and the intentional choices they made along their parenting journey.

Is it overwhelming? Definitely! Are the outcomes guaranteed? No. But all God calls us to is OUR part just King David encouraged the temple builders.

“Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Don’t be afraid or discouraged by the size of the task, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. He will see to it that all the work related to the Temple of the Lord is finished correctly.” I Chronicles 28:20

There’s way more than one post worth of highlights so I hope to post more as I have time to delve into them even further. I highly recommend this book for any parent who wants to raise their children to make an impact on the world far outside themselves.

Links:

P.S. Check out that World Orphans mention on page 101 🙂

About the Author

Julie Ferwerda is recognized for making the Bible exciting and relevant to everyday life through her writing and speaking. Her articles are featured in many Christian magazines and websites for both adults and teens, and she frequently volunteers her time and talents to international orphan ministry. Learn more at OneMillionArrows.com.