He pulled it out and tossed it in the garbage. The colorful Bird of Paradise plant in front of the house had become infested with ants. We had not noticed, but our landlord did. He got on his hands and knees and pulled out the corrupted plant, its beauty destroyed by a silent invader. In its place stood a big, gaping hole. I was sad to see it go. Weeks later, I started noticing that the plant was coming back, but in a disfigured form. Apparently, our landlord had not pulled out all the roots and hoed the area completely, and now small shoots and weeds were growing in the dirt. The area needed tending. Tending to my family is similar to gardening. I am called to spiritually cultivate the hearts of those God has entrusted into my care. I need to water. I need to be vigilant so that silent invaders don’t come in and slowly destroy the beauty that God is planting and growing. I need to pull out spiritual weeds from the root. I must be willing to get on my knees and fight for my family. Prayer is an invaluable spiritual gardening tool. Regularly, I pray Scripture over my husband, my children, and my extended family. I pray for their roots to be firmly planted in soil that is well-watered by the Word. During the month ahead, I challenge you to pray through this Scripture from Ephesians Chapter 3 daily for your family. Choose one family member for each day of the week, and insert the individual’s name into the prayer as I have for my husband. Lord, May Bruce be strengthened with power through Your Spirit in his inner being. May Christ dwell in Bruce’s heart through faith. May Bruce be rooted and grounded in Your love. May Bruce have the strength to comprehend with the breadth and length and height and depth of your love. May Bruce know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. May Bruce be filled with all the fullness of God. May Bruce know that Christ is able to do far more abundantly than all that he asks or thinks according to the power at work within him. In Jesus’ mighty name, Amen. About Lyli![]() Lyli Dunbar loves teaching. For 17 years, she mentored teenagers in the Christian school setting, and now she has serves as Associate Director of Curriculum at Trinity International University Florida. Lyli married her Prince Charming in her 40’s and has a heart for encouraging young couples and singles in God’s waiting room. She enjoys road trips with her husband, connecting with women through Bible study, and reading way too many books. Lyli writes about life lessons and faith on herpersonal blog. You may also connect with her on Facebook,Twitter, and Pinterest. Want to read more from this contributor? Put her name in the search box at the top.
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The Shocking Truth about Colleges & Universities & 8 Ways to Prepare for the Spiritual Battle.7/11/2013 "I like the Bible, I like the pages to wipe with."
"If you're a Christian, raise your hand. You wont be by the end of this class. I teach evolution and if you don't like it, you can get out." These are direct quotes said by professors to me and my friends. Hearing things like this from the Professor you look up to, is it any wonder that 85% of students who grow up in the church walk away from God when they go to college? College is a battlefield. Here are 6 ways you to prepare (or help your kids or other students you know going away to college) and fight the battle well.
Summer's here!
Hearing that brings about feelings of excitement for picnics, being outside (and hopefully getting a tan) and adventure. But with 4 kids 5 and under, it also brings about a tinge of fear and worry. What in the world am I going to do to keep them occupied for 1400 hours this summer?! I love my kids and love spending time with them but... my boys... well, they are boys and given too much free play someone gets hurt every 30 minutes. So I need a plan. I've come up with a flexible summer schedule but I don't want to just entertain them but foster a sense the world is bigger than them and doesn't revolve around them. So I thought of 25 summer missional activities for kids I hope to incorporate into our summer schedule. 25 Summer Missional Activities for Kids
To download the free printable, click the image below.
1. Chalk Messages. Draw pictures, verses and sayings like “Jesus Loves You” on the sidewalk. About Laura![]()
Laura, the creator and host of Missional Women is married and has four kids, two of whom are adopted. Laura and her husband have been missionaries to college students for 11 years serving with Master Plan Ministries. Laura is the Staff Women's Development Coordinator and has discipled over 150 girls, led over 30 Bible studies and speaks 10-20 times a year. Laura is an award winning author of a 12 week Bible Study on First Samuel, Beholding Him, Becoming Missional, recently released Reach; How to Use Your Social Media Influence for the Glory of God, and A Devotional Journey through Judges, a devotional to accompany the free online Bible study at TheBookofJudges.com. You can find her on facebook,twitter, pinterest and youtube.
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Reflecting on growing up, I remember life changing moments… packing up and moving from several of our homes to begin new adventures in new places with new friends. I remember my parents opening up and sharing when we were struggling with finances and that as a girl of 10 or 11 realizing for the first time that God provides even in the toughest of situations.
Now that I am a mother of two little ones, I think back on those great moments that lasted from my childhood. Some of my strongest times of growth as a child and teenager were when my parents would talk to us about what God was doing for our family and what they were learning and growing in. I loved when my parents were real with us girls. Did you know 85% of kids who grow up in church walk away from God when they get to college? That's crazy! From what I've experienced working with college students, I believe one of the reasons is because these kids didn't have an intimate relationship with the Lord in the first place. They went to church, youth group and/or awana, but they didn't have an "I know you Jesus, we do life together, remember that one time You came through for me" relationship with the Lord.
Being a mom of a 1 month, 2, 4 and 5 year old I know when my kids get older I can not control what they will do with their life. I can't make them walk with the Lord. I can't make them live on mission. But now, during these formative years I can model a walking, intimate relationship with the Lord. And I can help them store up experiences of depending on the Lord; opportunities for them to get to see Him use them. And I can deposit helpful, encouraging and challenging information in their minds, pray the Holy Spirit helps them understand it in their heart and gives them opportunities to work it out with their hands. Here are a 8 tools helping me do that. See this face right here? This is the face of our 5 year old evangelist! Shelby loves to tell people about Jesus. One day she ran over to her 1 year old sister and practically yelled in her face “AMELIA! You are a sinner! But God loves you and sent Jesus to die for you, AMEEELIA!” To Shelby it is pretty clear- there is nothing more important than people hearing that Jesus loves them.
I want my children to grow up this way. Looking down the road, I want my kids to enter college with crazy goals like sharing the gospel with every student in their dorm or being bold in their classes! Shelby is fearless now, but will she always be this bold? My family recently moved back to the Carolina’s to work with a Church plant in Hendersonville, NC. At the time we thought that was the only reason God was moving us. We planned to move in with and help my husband’s grandmother until we got our feet on the ground, since we didn’t have promise of a job or any income.
It didn’t take long for us to realize God’s plan was at least two fold. We had known for a few years that his grandmother was suffering from dementia, we had no idea how quickly and significantly it had progressed to Alzheimers. My husband and I were told we had unexplained infertility. But through that the Lord gave us and our boys incredible stories that show God to be a great orchestrator. You can read Asher's story here and Uriah's here. And the Lord knows I'm a sucker for a good God-showing-off story.
The boys have always known they were adopted, we talked about it with them and others since day one. We believe adoption is not something to be ashamed of or hidden but an incredible gift that shows the world what God is like. My seven year old daughter recently came home with an assignment she had completed at school. Her task was to finish the sentence, “If I had 100 dollars I would…” I was thrilled and a little bit proud when I read what she had written:
“I would give it to the poor. Because they would be so happy. They could maybe even buy a house. I love seeing people happy”. My first thought after reading that was to utter a sigh of relief. “Yay, we are doing something right!” In the midst of a world where kids are taught to be consumers and seek after “more” and “better,” I was thrilled that she had some concept of other people and chose to answer the question that way. Growing up I dreamed of having two boys and two girls. After being asked, "How many kids do you want?" and hearing, "You're going to be a good mommy," so many times, it became ingrained from birth that you have kids. Everyone has kids. Our culture’s norm is to go to college, get married, and have kids. So I went off to college and got married and then came time to have kids but there was a slight problem, when the time came, I didn't want to.
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