i love creating opportunities to have our girls help us in this MPD* journey.
deb and i are creative people. if there’s a project that needs to be done, then it has to be done with creativity and WOW.
when we were in Little Rock this past summer they had some kids of staff members come share their experience in moving to Little Rock and their adjustment to life there. every one of them mentioned that during their family’s fundraising process their parents made some kind of chart for the whole family to see how much progress they’d made.
but for the Laras, we didn’t want to simply do some “boring” thermometer. we liked the idea a family had of making a large magnet of a map from their home to Little Rock that they stuck on their fridge and had a little car magnet that traveled down the road.
but we wanted something even BIGGER. so we figured, “hey, we’re not going to stay in this house forever. why not go crazy and make a HUMONGOUS map on the living room wall.”
so that’s what we did. we announced to the girls that they were going to write on the walls, through a projection of the US on the wall, handed out pencils, and then let them go at it. after we’d put them to bed, mom and dad stayed up outlining it in Sharpie markers, and then we colored in the highway to Arkansas with them in the morning.
take a look for yourself.
As a mother or a father, do you ever feel like you’re floundering with the responsibility of raising your children? Do you have a clear strategy regarding how you will ensure that your kids turn out to be decent adults? Many times I feel lost, like the best I can do is keep these kids alive until they move out. However, I also feel that my children need more; God wants me to give them more.
This past week, during my Bible reading, I’ve read again the story of Esther. This book, in the Old Testament, tells of an incident that occurred in Jewish history. The king of Persia, having disposed of his queen, was in search of a replacement. The king’s attendants suggested that the entire empire be searched for beautiful young women; the young ladies would then be brought into the royal harem where they would receive beauty treatments. Following this time of preparation, the girls would be presented to the king. The woman that pleased the king the most would be made queen. The second chapter outlines how Esther was brought into the fortress of Susa, the location of the king’s harem. Esther found favor with the attending eunuchs; she was treated kindly, given a special menu and received twelve months of beauty treatments in the best place in the harem. When it was her turn to meet with the king, Esther was ready. She had been coached and prepared. She smelled good. She looked good. And she had the aura of royalty. The king loved her, even after their first meeting. He was delighted with her and promptly declared her queen.
What does this story have to do with parenting? A lot. It has changed how I have been parenting my six princesses this past week. My home, anyone’s home, is like that fortress. We all belong to God, but when He calls us into action, will we be ready? Will our children be ready? Will the King be delighted with what we have to offer? Will we exude an aroma of praise or possess an aura of pride? I can prepare myself to meet with the King by reading His Word & practicing a lifestyle of praise. What about my kids? As a mother it is my task to help my daughters become presentable princesses. They must be ready to listen to HIs voice & eager to obey; they must be beautiful with gentleness & kindness. They must know that their time is coming soon- the KIng will call for them. They must be ready. When a child is alone or hurting, will our children allow God to love others through them? Will our kids be characterized by obedience and gratitude? There is another, more masculine, example to follow. The book of 1Samuel shows how a mother gave her son to the Lord, to be “the Lord’s helper,” (1Sam 2:18). And, when the Lord called on Samuel to be His prophet, Samuel was ready & obedient. We are raising royalty. Will our charges be ready when God has need of them? No longer are we nagging parents; it is our privilege & responsibility to make sure that our children are aware of the fact that they were created for a purpose. I am not parenting for my own enjoyment; the mandate is much higher. The King desires that our children know Him and His commands. As parents, we cannot simply feed & clothe our children until they can do it themselves. We must give them the best ‘diet’ & ‘beauty treatments’ so they will be pleasing to the King when He calls for them.abe: “i think i’m falling in love with you again.”
deb: “oh, really? what do you mean?”
abe: “i think it has to do with all the time we’re being forced to spend with each other through this process. and even though the time we’re spending together is spent doing the SAME thing over and over again. it’s just nice to be able to be with you.
we don’t have kids pulling on us, we’re having interactions with other adults and it’s just nice.
it’s nice to be able to be working on this project together”
deb: “that’s nice”
that was a snippet of conversation deb and i shared this past tuesday as we drove home from yakima.
we also happened to be driving separate cars home, and we talked on the phone the WHOLE way home. (45 min) we haven’t had a 1 on 1 uninterrupted conversation like that in years. i might even say since our college days when we’d go for long walks or talk on the phone for hours.
i’m looking forward to not having any appointments this weekend – our kids could use some dedicated uninterrupted “mom and dad” time.
we’re two weeks into this process, and from my post last week , you can tell it’s thrown our “normal” routine schedule into a tail spin. that particular tuesday, we had just gotten done with two appointments with great friends and i had been gone from home since 6:20am and returned home around 10:50pm.
but through this challenging/exhausting MPD* process, i’ve been pleasantly surprised to find myself falling in love with my wife all over again.
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*MPD = Ministry Partner Development – that’s the name given to the process of us raising a team of supporters so we can report to Little Rock as fully funded staff missionaries with FamilyLife
it’s become somewhat tradition to bundle up all the kiddos and see the Balloons launch every year. these pics were taken this morning.
We are now officially commissioned as Missionaries and Members of the Religious Missionary Order of Campus Crusade for Christ.
For His Glory,
Abraham & Deborah Lara
this is pretty much the scene a couple times a week when i’m leaving for work. but this morning it was especially hard to go since i’ll be leaving for 10 days.
we’re heading out to New Staff Training with Campus Crusade for Christ in Orlando, Fl. just like with our trip to Little Rock this past june we’ve been waiting and anticipating for this week for a long time.
we’re so excited about what God is about to do, for all we’re going to learn, and the new friends we’ll be making.
and we also know that people have invested in us and are looking forward to hearing great things from us.
here we go!
