Episode 83
#83. Summer Series: Keeping First Things First with Women's Ministry Leader Sylvia Zuiderveen
Do you feel like you are constantly swimming against the current of the culture? This episode will affirm all your efforts and confirm that you are on the right track! Your efforts are not in vain, Mama! Sylvia Zuiderveen is the Women's Ministry Director at Coram Deo Bible Church and she brings biblical conviction with fire in this episode! For more information about pointing your children to the Lord, following the biblical model for your home, and guarding against the influence of culture, check out Entrusted with a Child's Heart.
If you're wondering how to bring Entrusted with a Child's Heart to your church, schedule a call with us by emailing stephanie@ewach.com. We're here to help!
Scripture Referenced:
Psalm 90:12
Transcript
Welcome to the Again
podcast summer series.
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:I'm your host, Stephanie Hickox, and this
is brought to you by Entrusted Ministries.
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:This summer, we've selected some of our
favorite episodes that we think help
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:set the tone for biblical motherhood
in our hearts, but also have great
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:practical wisdom for you to apply.
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:I've shortened these as much as I can,
so you can get what you need as quickly
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:as possible and get back to swimming,
splashing, and snuggling those kiddos.
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:Whether your summer is a bunch of
schedule managing or a blank open
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:canvas to architect, we pray that
you find time to sit at the feet of
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:Jesus and to enter in with your kids.
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:The Lord is so good, isn't he?
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:Do you see him in all the details?
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:Sometimes I even see him in
the things that don't work out.
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:For example, at the beginning of this
summer, I was recording an episode
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:for how you should set intention and
enter into summer setting the tone
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:with your kids so that you can make
sure it's a fruitful, yet fun summer.
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:I'm a goal setter to the core, and
I usually find myself setting goals
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:more than I could possibly achieve.
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:But as I was recording this, the audio
absolutely failed, and I had a tech
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:issue that I've never experienced before
so I didn't release an episode and I
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:just sat with it and I was reminded of
something I wrote down a few months ago.
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:Lord Jesus, forgive me if I ever offer
moms a solution that isn't rooted
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:in abiding and dwelling with you.
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:And I just want all practical advice that
we offer on this podcast to be rooted
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:in that first and foremost, just as Mary
chose to momentarily ignore the necessary
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:things and to sit at the feet of Jesus, I
want to give you permission to do whatever
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:the Lord is encouraging you to do you,
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:and also to encourage you to grow slow.
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:As, my kids are getting older, I'm able
to reflect more and more on what has been
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:fruitful and helpful in my parenting,
and I can definitely see that the things
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:that I've diligently done little by
little are the areas where I see fruit.
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:The years where I have chosen to select
fewer areas of focus have been the
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:years that I've really seen God bless,
and the summers have been the same.
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:I don't know what season you're in
right now as you're listening, but I
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:have a guess that if you're listening
to a podcast on biblical parenting.
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:You probably don't need
another to-do list or a should.
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:Just ask the Lord, what's the one thing
that you want me to focus on this summer?
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:Perhaps there is a conflict with siblings
or an attitude of ungratefulness or
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:disobedience and it probably weighs heavy
on your heart, but maybe that's the one
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:thing that you devote your prayer and
you say, Lord, give me wisdom and how
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:to change the trajectory in my home.
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:Help me be faithful in the things I can
do and to surrender the rest to you.
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:But let me be diligent so I'm
not filling our days with things
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:that won't matter for eternity.
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:Maybe you have one spiritual goal
or relational goal for your kids,
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:and then another practical goal.
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:Maybe it's math facts this summer,
so you can focus on a couple things,
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:but make it as simple as possible.
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:And stay steadfast in it.
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:Write it down.
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:We're so much more likely to follow
through on the things that we've written
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:down and committed to, but I don't want
you to write anything down until you make
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:sure that those are the things that the
Lord has called you to seeing is how.
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:It's mid, mid-June.
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:Maybe you've already started on that.
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:Wherever you're at, I believe that the
replay of this episode, this interview
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:with Sylvia Zider will impact your heart.
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:She is full of life giving
a zeal for the Lord.
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:The fruit of her walking with Jesus
for decades, pointing her children
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:to the Lord and pointing other women
to him through women's ministry.
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:It just all comes out in this interview.
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:So I'm gonna replay part one of that.
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:It does start with her sharing how
Entrusted with the child's heart has
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:impacted the women in her church.
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:And I really do want you to hear
that Many churches are planning what
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:they're gonna be doing for the fall,
and we hope that Entrusted with the
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:child's heart is on your radar and
hopefully coming to your church.
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:If there's anything I can do to
help you with that, I would love
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:to have a conversation with you.
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:We have so many moms that have
adapted this to make it work just
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:for their church setting, and I
love to help you get creative.
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:We've never seen another program that
dives so deeply into the heart of biblical
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:parenting ministers to moms, whether
they're new to the faith, been walking
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:with Jesus many years, or actually
haven't even surrendered their life to
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:Christ, and then also how it develops the
bonds between the moms at your church.
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:It's been life changing for us,
and we want it to be for you.
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:So if you have questions,
email me@stephanieatewok.com.
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:That's S-T-E-P-H-A-N-I-E at EWAC h.com.
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:We want Entrusted with a child's heart
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:to bless your family as much
as it's blessed ours And we
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:promise we can make it simple.
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:All you have to do is press play.
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:Sylvia.
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:I am just thrilled that
you are here today.
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:I know you faithfully diligently point
the women at your church to the Lord
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:it's such an honor that you took
time out of your day to share how the
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:Lord has met you and your mothering.
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:And how you want to encourage
this generation of mothers.
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:Thank you so much for
taking time to be with us.
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:You are the women's ministry director
at your church, is that correct?
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:Sylvia: Yep.
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:And so that includes everything from
teaching the Bible, training others to
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:teach the Bible, choosing Bible studies.
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:Implementing Bible
studies that are weekly.
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:That's one bucket of our
Women's Ministry program.
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:And then we've also got a
wonderful program called Moms4Moms.
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:And that's a monthly gathering where
we gather moms together and talk
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:on a topic related to parenting.
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:God's at work here and we're
excited with what He's doing.
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:And one of the things He's just
faithfully worked through at our church
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:is using the entrusted curriculum.
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:Um, I love to hear that.
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:And I would love to hear more about
it, but first, can you tell us a
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:little bit about your family and
your children and what age and
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:stage are your kids at right now?
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:Sylvia: You bet.
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:I am married to Mark.
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:We've been married 26 years and
he is a pastor at our church and
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:he's just a wonderful Godly man
and definitely my best friend.
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:He and I met as friends and
then had to reach that awkward
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:point of saying, do we date?
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:Do we not date?
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:I don't know.
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:I don't know.
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:And we both came to the
conclusion that we didn't.
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:Know how we would be able to
live together, but we knew we
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:didn't want to live apart and we
trusted the Lord with the rest.
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:So 26 years in we are still having
a blast together and laughing a lot.
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:And so we're raising two amazing kids.
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:Our daughter Elise is 20.
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:And then our son Zach is 15
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:that definitely sounds like
a dynamic story that I would
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:love to hear you tell sometime.
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:Sylvia: Oh my word.
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:Yeah, lots of competitive sand volleyball
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:Stephanie: oh, that's great.
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:And what is he the
pastor of at your church?
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:Sylvia: He does all operations and media.
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:Basically all things not preaching.
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:Website graphics, communication,
facility, security worship
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:used to be under him as well.
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:Worship and production.
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:He still got the production wing of
things, but worship is not anymore
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:because we also started a school.
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:Honestly, like this is a tangent.
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:I won't take much of your time, but
like he was homeschooled and his
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:dad owned a construction company.
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:So part of what his dad would
taught him growing up was all
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:things related to construction.
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:His degrees in Bible and
multimedia technology.
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:So he never thought he'd use the
construction, but now that we
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:have all this facility growth and
facility need, he's overseen, gosh,
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:I don't know, two or three or four.
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:Buildouts for our church and all this.
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:And of course God had all of
that so perfectly designed and
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:laid out for such a time as
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:this morning it's funny.
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:I was in Psalm 37 and it was that passage
that says, I was young and now I'm old and
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:I've never, Seen the righteous forsaken.
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:Are their children begging bread?
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:And that not only is beautifully
specific to what it's talking about
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:in that passage, but it also gives a
biblical principle that we can stand on.
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:We are not forsaken.
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:Any experience that comes into
our lives is a teachable moment.
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:We To show our children.
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:God is faithful.
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:God has plans that supersede ours.
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:His ways are higher than ours.
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:His wisdom is great.
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:He's supremely lovely,
supremely excellent, and
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:supremely right in all things.
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:So when a trial comes your way,
when a difficulty comes your
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:way, you won't be forsaken.
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:That's consistent genesis to Revelation.
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:God is faithful, and so yeah,
telling our stories is so important
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:to our children and using them.
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:Being raw and vulnerable sometimes to say,
maybe this wasn't what I expected even in
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:my life or dad expected or you expected,
but we can't deny God's faithful hand.
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:It's there.
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:We have story after story
of his faithfulness.
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:So this has a story ready to be written.
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:We just don't know where
it's at in the storyline.
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:That's such a good point.
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:Can you speak to why you have chosen
to use Entrusted with a Child's Heart?
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:And what sets it apart?
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:Sylvia: Oh, it's absolutely distinct
and I'm so thankful for that.
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:I think so often moms are driven towards
method right now and they want to look
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:at results of their children where
what I love most about Entrusted with a
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:Child's Heart is that it starts with God.
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:It starts with who he is and his character
and his nature and why we can trust the
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:Bible and why the Bible has to be the
foundation of everything that we do.
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:And then it funnels into our
commitment to obey the Bible.
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:And part of that includes our marriages.
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:So it's building the foundation wisely.
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:And I think about, how the Bible talks
about building your house rightly and
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:foundation matters and entrusted with a
child's heart emphasizes The Bible and
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:the authority of it and the goodness
of it and the rightness of it And that
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:it gets to have supreme value And so
that then lays the foundation for good
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:parenting and that's what sets it apart
because other studies blogs articles are
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:so quick to go to Instant gratification
and give you the five ways you can do
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:this and the four ways you can do this,
but That is so short sighted to biblical
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:living and so I just appreciate that
entrusted really forces us and allows us
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:the joy of Finding contentment and joy
and sufficiency in the word of God first.
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:Stephanie: Well said, I agree, such
a strong foundation is set and I think
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:we have such a tendency to desire
those, but just tell me what to do.
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:And it's no, we're going to tell you who
to seek and we're going to tell you where
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:to look and we're going to encourage
you to develop that faithfulness with
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:the It's actually more of a to be list
than a to do list, often, and who were
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:to be in modeling it for our children.
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:You said that so well.
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:Thank you.
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:How have you seen women in your church
grow through pressing into the Lord
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:and their parenting through Entrusted?
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:Yes.
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:Sylvia: study is it's the ultimate
outreach opportunity too as a church,
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:because everyone's interested in raising,
they don't know it, they're wanting
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:to raise good kids, we want to raise
kids that know the Word of God, but
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:it's a way to get people in the doors.
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:Of the church that typically wouldn't
come into the church and they'll come
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:in and we've seen women get saved
Through entrusted with a child's heart.
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:And so that's of course our greatest joy
that they've suddenly committed their
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:life To the lordship of jesus christ.
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:And so that's beautiful.
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:That's astounding.
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:It's miraculous.
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:And so we're very thankful for that
The other thing that I see more than
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:anything is women Finding joy in the word
of God and parenting out of the Bible's
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:truth rather than the world's truth.
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:And I think that's the biggest
distinction is we're all over informed
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:we Can all go to the internet
and search up anything and find
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:anything to, answer those questions.
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:But we don't just want
answers, we want truth.
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:And so Entrusted with a Child's
Heart steers us away from worldly
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:wisdom, which we know is fleeting
and futile and unsatisfying, and
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:instead drives us towards the
biblical truth, which does satisfy.
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:And the coolest thing is watching
hundreds of women every year, as
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:we walk them through Entrusted with
a Child's Heart, seeing them grasp
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:it, seeing them get it, seeing them
Really see families transformed.
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:We've seen marriages healed because of it.
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:As women realize, I need
to do this with my husband.
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:This is a joint effort and he can lead
our family and lead our family well.
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:And I'm going to learn
to trust him in that.
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:And we've seen a lot of that.
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:We've seen women find that the Bible gets
to have a place of priority in their life
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:because of taking the entrusted study.
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:And suddenly they realize I
can't parent without this.
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:It's not how do I fit the
Bible into my parenting?
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:It's transformational thinking.
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:Now, all of a sudden they're thinking,
how do I parent out of the word of God?
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:That's now become such a source of
great joy and wisdom in my life.
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:And that's exciting.
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:Stephanie: Praise the Lord.
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:That's so exciting to hear.
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:It really will bless you, eternally
and really every year of your life.
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:I love hearing from leaders
that they watch that play out.
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:Thank you so much
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:Sylvia: of the greatest joys that
I also think is fantastic is the
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:scripture memory and how that
becomes family scripture memory.
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:It's not just mom learning the Bible
verses, the kids are learning them,
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:they're singing them together, the
family's listening to them in the van
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:as they go places, and suddenly now
instead of mom's Bible study being
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:mom's It's a shared experience with
the family and they can all go back to
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:the verses they've learned together.
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:And that's so precious to me.
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:I love watching that.
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:Stephanie: Oh, it is so sweet.
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:And that the kids know where
are our rules coming from?
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:They're coming from the word of God.
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:My mom didn't just pull
this out of thin air.
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:There is a basis for this that
makes it so much more powerful
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:and the authority of God's Word
creating the standards in our home.
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:Tell me a little bit about what
do you see in the moms of today?
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:What are the blessings the Lord
is using with this generation?
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:And then also, what are maybe some
cautions you have for how you see
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:young moms being impacted today?
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:Sylvia: I love that question
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:I am seeing, and I'm so thankful for
this, an increased sober mindedness
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:among moms understanding the high
calling they have to parent children
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:on the authority of the Bible.
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:They're hungry for it.
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:They want to be taught.
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:What's interesting is a lot of our moms
right now didn't come from the church.
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:A lot of them weren't raised in the
church or they were raised without a
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:lot of strong foundation on the Bible.
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:That entrusted curriculum is so
important that way is we need to first
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:and foremost let women understand
a little bit of who God is, share
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:God's nature, share God's character,
share what the Bible is, and what the
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:storyline is, and why the Bible matters.
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:I love that increased sober mindedness.
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:Increased commitment that I see
to take parenting seriously and to
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:be proactive rather than reactive.
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:To see moms that are willing to say I'm
willing to stand against the ways of the
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:world to stand firm on the truth of God.
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:So I see that passion and
zeal like never before.
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:I've been parenting for 20 years,
which isn't a whole lot, but it's
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:enough to have seen a paradigm shift.
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:And I think a lot of moms my
age were a little more okay, we
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:want to have kids that are moral
and mom and kids that are right.
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:But sometimes to make that distinction
of saying, no, I just don't want good.
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:I want Godly.
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:That was more the battle that was
fought in my generation, where with
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:this generation, I see such a fresh
fire to stand firm on the word of God
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:and going into parenting, understanding
that they're swimming against the
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:grain, but they're committed to it.
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:And they're excited about it.
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:So I'm very encouraged by that
in what I see of moms right now.
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:I think probably I have two
great concerns that I see brewing
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:up in motherhood right now.
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:And the first is we're over informed.
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:We're over informed on the
things that aren't formational.
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:So, you know, We're over informed from
blogs and we're over informed from
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:Google and we're over informed from,
Reels and everything coming at us.
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:And yet, we give a lot more time to
articles and even Christian articles and
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:books, Christian books and thoughts from
Christian people before we have done our
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:due diligence to seek the Word of God.
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:And the Bible is very clear.
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:It is the revelation of God.
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:The Bible is not some other man's words
written about God, though those can
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:be very helpful and they have a very
important place at the right time.
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:I, if I could.
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:Wave one caution flag to young moms.
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:It's stop gathering information
until you have sat at the feet of
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:Jesus and sought him in his word.
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:Jeremiah tells us you will seek
me and you will find me when you
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:search me with all your heart.
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:That doesn't mean I want to go to
the Bible and then instantly google
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:what someone else said about it
or go to the Bible And find this
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:resource that shares something else.
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:That's what I believe might be leading
to a syncretistic approach, honestly,
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:in parenting where we're taking God's
ways, but let me just make sure they line
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:up with what this expert says or what
this person told me I'm supposed to do.
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:No, we believe the word
of God is authoritative.
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:It is inerrant and it is sufficient.
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:And so I want to take
its principles first.
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:I want to take its truth first.
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:I want to do my diligence to read
it and seek the Lord and ask him,
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:what does this mean for my family?
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:Before I go out on the internet,
before I go out and seek someone else's
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:words that aren't inspired words.
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:And, implement those.
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:That's probably the first thing that I
see young moms facing the temptation of.
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:And we all have to be guarded that way.
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:I had it this morning.
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:I was in my Bible time and I've got
a dictionary app on my phone and I
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:wanted to look up a word just in the
dictionary to make sure I was thinking
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:accurately about the definition of it.
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:And I looked it up in the dictionary
and next thing I knew I was on email.
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:We all have to All face that distraction.
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:We all get distracted and it's a battle.
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:We have to be ready to fight.
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:We are fighting for the
purity of our souls.
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:It's worth the effort to say, I've got
to walk away from the temptation of that.
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:So I think the over information is one big
pocket that we Just have to be cautious
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:of and be vigilant to fight and battle for
the glory of God and the joy in our homes.
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:But I think not only over
information but over opportunity.
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:And so whether that's the perfect
person to teach your child art lessons,
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:the perfect sport club for your child
to belong to the perfect this, the
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:perfect that, and so we have so many.
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:Opportunities that we really need
to seek the Lord, like Psalm 90,
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:12 says teach me to number my days
that I would have a heart of wisdom.
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:We have to be vigilant to fight for how we
spend every minute of our time because as
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:good as those opportunities are, they're
taking family away from the kitchen table.
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:They're taking family
away from the family room.
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:They're taking family away from shared
experiences and they're sending.
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:Mom, one place, dad, another
place, kids, another place.
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:And I'm just very concerned about that.
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:And I think that's a big opportunity
as well for us to challenge moms with
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:we see the passion, we see the fire.
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:We're so grateful that
you want to raise kids.
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:Godly children, not just good children.
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:You're not looking for moral children.
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:You're looking for children that will
love the Lord their God with all of
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:their heart, soul, mind, and strength.
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:So how do we walk that calling out?
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:Number one, we're gonna
fight over information.
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:Number two, we're gonna
fight over opportunity.
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:Hmm.
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:Preach.
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:That's such a good point.
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:Stephanie: And the Bible does say that
it's wise to have a multitude of advisors
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:and that can be true in certain things,
but I think we have to be careful to
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:say, I'm the main disciple of my children
and I don't need to contract this out.
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:And, can character be developed there?
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:Yes.
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:But also, do I need to be faithful
to train and minister to my children
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:and to have confidence in the
position and authority the Lord has
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:given us in our children's lives?
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:That if we stay faithful, that
we're not getting distracted and
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:running all of these directions,
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:how can we point our
children toward the Lord
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:Sylvia: and yet also recognizing
and celebrating the beautiful
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:creativity of our awesome God.
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:We've had multiple opportunities.
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:For instance, with my son actually got
to participate in the junior Olympics.
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:He's an athlete to the core.
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:And gifted so by God.
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:He's a musician to the
core, gifted so by God.
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:He drums for our church and for different
gigs within the community on a drum set.
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:And we have had to
meticulously guard his time.
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:And, I will say this, the bigger thing
behind that, it's not the opportunity.
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:It's the idol of your heart
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:Stephanie: hmm.
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:Sylvia: prey to.
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:So is it, Is it a Desire to please
people that you might feel like,
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:okay, oh gosh, I'm letting down these
people by not giving my children
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:these sporting opportunities.
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:Like you said they won't stand before
the Lord and give an account for
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:how your children were parented.
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:You and your husband will.
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:And I want to seek the Lord and say,
how have you gifted my children?
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:How have you gifted them?
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:And how does that gifting fit into the
priorities that you identify in the
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:word of God that we can honor you with?
404
:So for instance, if I
have an athlete, awesome.
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:I am going to.
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:Encourage those skills for the
glory of God, not for the glory of
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:my child, not for the glory of my
family, not for the glory of a coach,
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:not for the glory of a community.
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:And those are all things vying for our
attention and our heart and our love.
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:It might be that.
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:Idle of people pleasing
that we have to flush out.
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:It might be that idle of performance or
perfection or applause or other things.
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:So I think that has to go into our
decision making with how we prioritize
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:our time and honestly for us It
comes down to who do we worship?
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:We worship God alone.
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:He's a jealous God.
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:And I trust that.
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:I trust that if he has gifted my child
in the area of sports, or if he's
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:gifted my child in the area of art or
music, and there are opportunities,
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:but there are opportunities that
conflict with my ability to worship God.
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:God, or my child's ability to worship God.
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:And God's design is, yes, we
worship him individually, but
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:yes, we worship him corporately.
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:So if that's something that's going to
pull my child or my family away from
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:the meeting of the saints on Sunday
morning, it's not going to happen.
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:It's not going to happen.
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:And again, this from someone who has an
athletic child who's gifted and has been
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:given numerous opportunities that way.
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:But ultimately I will not bow down to the
cultural idols that throw opportunities
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:that really are going to puff up.
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:Self yes, character.
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:He has learned character
extraordinarily well through sports.
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:He's learned character
extraordinarily well through school.
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:He's learned, character can come in the
most mundane moments and often does.
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:So we don't need to fall into that
temptation that our child won't learn
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:work ethic or time management if we
don't plug them into all these things.
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:Or, Oh no, they're eight.
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:Other people are starting
these things at age eight.
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:And if we don't start it now, they're
going to get behind on everything.
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:That is a lie.
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:If God has gifted your child and his
plan is for your child to exalt him
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:on a court or around a track or on
a football field, his will prevails.
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:Your child will be out on the
field doing that because that's
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:what God has ordained for him.
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:But if we are trying so desperately
to train something into our children,
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:which God in His creativity doesn't
have for them, we may need to search
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:our soul to see if we're content with
the children that God's given us and the
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:way that He's gifted them for His glory.
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:And so I am a firm believer in
saying, those formative years,
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:Statistically speaking, George
Barner writes a lot about this.
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:By age 13, our children's worldview
is solidified for the most part.
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:Now, we know God is able to do all
things above and beyond what we can ask
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:or imagine, and he can save people, at
age 60, 70, 80, we see it all the time.
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:He's a miracle worker
and he is always working.
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:That being said, statistics do show
that for the most part, a child's
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:worldview is formed by age 13.
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:If I'm sending my child away every
weekend to become the best wrestler
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:in my community, what worldview
have I instilled in my child?
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:It is not.
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:Worship the Lord with all of your
heart, soul, mind, and strength.
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:It's worship Him at your
convenience, and that's not worship.
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:So we aren't training our children
well if we are setting them up
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:in a position where they have to
forsake the meeting of the saints.
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:Stephanie: Well said.
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:I, yes.
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:Sylvia: feel very strongly
about that, sorry.
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:Stephanie: I'm so thankful.
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:I agree with you.
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:This has come up even in my small
group this year, we were studying
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:Daniel, and for the first time
as I studied it, I thought about.
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:The pain that he must have felt
as he watched all of his people
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:bow down we know this is wrong.
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:We were instructed we
do not worship idols.
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:We do not bow down.
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:And to watch all of his people
fall into that temptation must
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:have been so difficult for him.
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:And I think when we see it in others,
it is right, and it's Godly to call it
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:out and to say, We actually were created
to be a blessing to the body of Christ
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:and to bring God glory, not to fall
into this individualistic mindset where
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:we're all about developing ourselves and
our children and living through them.
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:So I think that is a worthy soapbox.
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:Sylvia: I trumpet that one loud and clear,
but I do it because I love our women.
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:I love the women in our church, and
I love the Word of God, and I've
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:seen it, what's that old hymn, 'Tis
So Sweet to Trust in Jesus, right?
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:Just to take him at his word.
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:When we trust in him, I do, I trust him.
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:The things of earth grow strangely dim
in the light of his glory and grace.
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:So if those things are so visible
in my life and so shiny to me and
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:so appealing, I just have to ask.
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:Am I basking in the light of his glory
and grace or have I started basking
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:under the glory of something else?
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:And for me personally, when I fall
prey to that with my scheduling or
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:opportunities or anything like that,
most of the time for me, I'm not speaking
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:this for everyone, but for me, it's
because there's something about the.
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:lure of the world that I am
falling prey to that I, and I
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:just need to do a heart check.
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:What is my motive for sending my child
out to all of these activities that
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:are exhausting them when we know our
children need sleep, that are putting
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:other influences to train them up in
character and in the way they think
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:and in the formation of their mind when
that's my role as a So to give that away
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:to someone Is a precious entrustment.
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:I want to make sure that those people
speaking into my children's lives
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:are speaking in a way that at least
aligns with the values of the Bible
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:and the moral standards of the Bible.
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:And sometimes we have had
coaches that are unGodly.
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:We have had teammates that are unGodly.
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:What that then requires is a commitment
on the parent to, Talk about all of
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:it to flush it out with them, to take
them to the Bible and say, what does
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:the Bible say about that response?
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:We want to teach our children that
the word of God prevails and that
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:every word they take In, needs to be
critically thought through and identified
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:as either biblical or unbiblical.
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:And if we aren't taking the time to
do that with opportunity, thought,
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:information, absolutely everything,
we're not setting our children up to live
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:rich lives for the glory of the Lord.
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:I told you she's phenomenal.
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:I hope that brought some great
conviction to you, but also gave
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:you a hunger to be in God's word and
to make sure that everything you're
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:believing and that you're thinking and
acting out and speaking to your kids
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:comes from the truth of God's word.
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:I pray you continue to press into
the Lord for discernment to swim
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:against the culture and raise
children who are ready to do the same.
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:We'll see you back next week
for something a little bit
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:more practical, meal planning.