Preparing for your children

I recently took my son on a canoeing trip with some other dads and their sons on the Namekagon River in Wisconsin.

I have been deliberate about helping my son along his journey to manhood. One book that has been helpful in my teaching is "Boyhood and Beyond" by Bob Schultz.

According to the book, Schultz recommends that boys start to think in their teenage years about what they want their kids to be like. Schultz learned this from God when asking what to teach his daughter:

On January 11, 1978, God gave us our first child. That evening my wife went to bed early. Our daughter Molly lay beside me on the couch. I watched her like any new dad would, thoroughly amazed that she belonged to me. I knew that I was responsible for her life. She was under my care, to protect, to provide for, and to train. Never having children before, I felt somewhat overwhelmed. 'What will become of her life?' I wondered. I purposed at that moment to plan her education.

I picked up my Bible. Beginning in Proverbs, I read, looking for things to teach her. After an hour I was getting nowhere. I couldn't put my random thoughts into any sort of plan. 'God,' I asked, 'what do I teach my daughter?'

He gently answered in my heart, 'Be what you want her to be.' I didn't expect that answer. I was thinking about molding her; God was thinking about molding me. 'She will be what you are, not what you try to teach her.'

In general, children act the way that their parents act. They follow their parents' example. It's never too early to think about the example that you want to make for your children, as that will influence their children and beyond.

The voice of God in Belarus

Judy Dennis of New Bern, N.C., for the longest time felt a calling to work with special-needs people. But she ended up working in retail -- until 1988, when she became an interim special-needs teacher at a local elementary school. That led to a full-time position, she told the Sun Journal, and she taught special-needs children for seven years until retiring -- or so she thought:

'I experienced burnout like many people do in jobs,' Dennis said. 'The children needing shoes tied, little tables and my arthritis didn’t go well together.'

She went on a mission trip to Belarus this March, where she visited orphanages and schools. She worked with children from 4 to 13 years old. It reminded her of American children with special needs.

'While on the trip, God spoke to me and said I wasn’t through with special-needs kids,' she said. 'He wants me to do something more with children.'

Dennis now is looking at starting a special-needs ministry for children at her church.