“Fear the LORD your god, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you:” One of the things we have talked quite a bit about in this bible study group is the following of only one God. The girls and I have talked about Scientology, yoga, horoscopes, and other spiritually borderline stuff. We have talked about others they know who believe a little of everything to make up what they “justify” as their belief system. We have wrestled with the whys and we have talked about what people “make up” to worship. We have explored where these combo meals get people. The conclusion of these 13 year old girls was that it missed the mark. The full covering came from only one source and there was peace and comfort in all that. The be careful part of this verse is you really have to watch what seeps into your belief system and you have to watch what you pass on to your kids. They are watching who you give all the glory to. Make the choice easy for them; pick only one…THE only one!

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In Deuteronomy 6:10-12 God spells out all the wondrous things we have to rejoice in. They are SIMPLE things like land with cities, houses filled with good things, wells, vineyards and olive groves. What more could you want? They are not the complicated things we have made them to be today. What God originally gave us was all that we needed to live and eat with good things. He needed us to remember where all this came from and in its purest form. What was the big deal about remembering all of this anyway? When we forget to acknowledge who gives us our gifts/blessings, the magnitude of those gifts diminishes. They can fade to the point of feeling like we were owed these things and we forget what it took to make them.

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From the newly released Faith Begins at Home Mom by Pastor Mark Holmen & Maria Holmen

Well, you can be overwhelmed right now or you can just get started somewhere doing something of what God has commanded you to do. To be honest…getting overwhelmed is not an option. Getting overwhelmed is like saying to your child “since I think I might fail at this or don’t want to look foolish in front of you or I don’t have time to add ONE more thing to my plate, then I am not going to try at all.” Sorry, not acceptable. It doesn’t matter if the only thing you start with is saying a blessing before a meal EVERY time you eat. Or asking your child when they jump in the car EVERY day, “Hey, any blessings God showed you today?” Or waking them up EVERY morning with a small prayer of thanks for the day that is to come. Did you catch what was key? EVERY. When the journey begins between you and your kids, it has to be intentional. Without the intent, without the non-negotiable behavior, without the “stick to it” determination, it will fall away like all great things that start on a Monday with gusto and end on Saturday with a fizzle. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

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From the newly released Faith Begins at Home Mom by Pastor Mark Holmen & Maria Holmen

I am finding that my parenting now with my thirteen year old daughter is taking more time than when she was an infant. When she was an infant she needed me for nurturing and general hands on care but now those things have diminished and instead I’m spending far more time with her and her friends. For some reason we have become a “hub house” where Malyn and her friends will come and hang out and I pretty much find myself in the middle of their conversations and activities. A lot of times I find myself wondering why they would invite me into their conversations yet I usually find that the primary role I’m playing is to be a steadying force in their unsteady world. Many times I am simply a sounding board or reminder to help keep them focused on doing life God’s way. In a world of so many options for them, they need a place to turn where they can know what is truly right and wrong. That’s a role we get to play as Faith@Home focused moms.

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From the newly released Faith Begins at Home Mom by Pastor Mark Holmen & Maria Holmen

If you haven’t caught this by now, this is not a light, happy go lucky topic we are discussing. It’s not a casual conversation, happenstance situation or feel good moment. This is a HUGE deal. This child is the best thing you have ever done…remember? It is calculated. It is direct. It is precise. It is intentional. It is bottom lined. And now life is about intentionally and diligently following and teaching them the ways of God so that they (our children and children’s children) may enjoy long life!

So what does intentionally showing your child to live God’s way look like? It is tiny steps taken every single day. It is joyful showing and telling them some of the same things over and over. It is being so transparent with them from day one that they not only understand what the “bottom line” is but also want to reach it with you.

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From the newly released Faith Begins at Home Mom by Pastor Mark Holmen & Maria Holmen

I come to you as a Mom right now that is pleading for one thing. Getting to a place where the faith your child has flows from your gut (or heart) is the base they will need to put all the pegs of their life in place. The only way I know how to do this is to equip them with the “commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you…” God has clearly given us the things we need to know and do to be good moms. He has told us the things we need to pass on yet it is our job to make sure we pass the right things on to our children. If we don’t take the time, effort and love it takes to teach our kids, from birth forward, the “commands, decrees and laws” the Lord has taught us how can we expect them to handle the future and all its wonders? It is like handing them the world in their tiny hands and saying “Here you go, good luck with that and by the way…I love you so much”.

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