I’m Raising a Cheerleader
I am raising a cheerleader. Well, minus the short skirt and pom poms.
As a PW, I am always looking for ways to teach my daughter to love God and His church. I love the local church and not just because my husband is a pastor. The local church is dynamic and full of stories of people whose lives have been radically changed by the grace and mercy of God. The local church is a place that offers hope and healing for the broken. The local church is the Bride of Christ and He is returning one day for His bride!
I want my daughter to not just love Christ Fellowship because she grows up there, but I want her to love God’s global kingdom. I want her to be a cheerleader for The Bride. She will catch a heart and vision for the local church, if she sees me model it.
Part of possessing a love for the church is understanding that other churches are not competition. Area churches are our partners. We want to pray for and support pastors in their ministries.
So, on Saturday we drove to area churches to pray for their Easter services. We stood in their parking lots to ask God to bless their services. It did my heart good to see my little toddler pray for area pastor’s by name! Check out Bruce’s video blog at 1year2live about praying for area churches.
As a first time mom, I am learning a lot of stuff on the fly. So, I’d love to hear from you how are you teaching your kids to love God and the local church?
WOW…it’s so good to hear of other Pastor’s praying for the local churches. Sadly, you don’t see that often among many of churches. We are fighting that here in Albany. If everyone had that love you mentioned imagine the city transformation that would take place and the lives that would be changed!
We serve with a local Mission Group here in town and take our children with us. They love being able to serve the homeless and those who are less fortunate. Our children are 14, 11, & 5 and they will sit and chat with any of these people we are serving. We’ve explained to them how God has called us to love our neighbors and these people are our neighbors. They are learning to love God through seeing His hand in everyone’s lives. They see how blessed they are and what it means to truly “be the church.”
Love your posts…so glad I found them today.
jaye, thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment! i think it is great that you take your kids with you to serve the hurting and broken. you are giving them a worldview that will impact how they know and experience God….kudos to you! may God richly bless your ministry and your family!
I see the short skirt and pom poms have been respectfully replaced by a pink accessory – her purse! Love the post!
lissy, praying is so much more fun with a pink sparkly purse!
great ideas, Heather!! Thanks!! I want to do more of this with those around me…
Yes… this reminds me of something that Harold Bullock, a pastor in Texas, impressed on me once in a conversation I’ll never forget– it comes from a cool illustration by Dawson Trotman called the Big Dipper, who says: “The minute we hear of another Christian work or ministry, we should take time to find out, not what’s wrong with it, but what’s right about it and encourage them and give them a lift….” (see http://www.discipleshiplibrary.com/pdfs/NET00510.pdf ).
thanks for sharing the link, martha! gwen and i pray for you regularly during the day!
Heather – love the fact that you are raising your daughter to love the church. I’ve been a Pastor’s wife for over 30 years. When we were raising our sons, people would ask how they could pray for our family. Our answer was always the same – that our boys would love Christ and love His church. Today they are 30 and 27 and both love the Lord and His church! There are huge spiritual dividends to teaching our children to love the church! BTW – looking forward to hearing you @ the Pastor’s Wives Session @ the SBC in June!
Jeana, thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment! I am very encouraged by your example and love that both your sons are cheerleaders for The Bride of Christ! I look forward to meeting you in June and being at the PW session. God Bless!