New Phase

Lincoln starts Kindergarten next week. And really, I'm pumped. Yes, I'm going to miss him in the house every day - after all, he is my little helper - but he has been waiting for this day to come for 2 years! His little personality thrives around others and I'm pretty confident the American school system will suit him well. The crazy part for me is recognizing this as my first "release". I'll be honest, had I a child to "release" 4 years ago, my mind frame would have been drastically different.
But over the past few years, the Lord has been dramatically cleaning house in mine and Jason's lives. Things I used to think were critical, pale in comparison to the glory of God and the narrow path of surrendering all to follow him. It's forced us to consider how we're raising our children. And I don't mean what we verbally teach and say to them (though important), but how they see us live our lives. We've wrestled through some tough questions lately, and though I feel we're still in the sanctification process on some of these, we have already begun to see layers peeled away as we strive, as a family, to really follow Jesus the way He commanded in the Bible.
 Do they understand that we are wretched and in need of a Savior? Or are we expending all our energy making sure they are shielded from the realities of this truth, trying to make sure they follow every rule and never even engage with people who don't know Jesus? Not that they should be "little evangelists" but are we presenting them with a "cliche gospel" that only mingles with people like them, or a true Gospel that uncovers and displays the need for a Savior? And then what about the day-to-day way we live our lives in front of them? What do we spend our money and time on? How are we setting the stage and standard for the rest of their lives on what's important int he eyes of Jesus? These are some areas in particular that the Lord is really stretching us on (which means it's not very comfortable for me!), but they are questions, which answers have heavy consequences in what kind of "gospel" we present and teach our kids.
We have started on a quest as a family recently to teach the fruits of the spirit to our kids in a very practical way. Before, we had a "behavioral chart" that was Biblical (and not bad by any means!) where when we saw the kids demonstrating things like "sharing" or "diligence" we would give them a "star" as a reward. I have recently felt the Lord leading me in a different direction, however. I cringed one day when I praised Lincoln for sharing and subsequently told Noah he need to "try harder" at sharing.
I never want my kids to just "try harder" and I had been teaching them just that. Now there is a place for trying harder, but I want them to know they can do NOTHING apart from Christ and that every good and perfect gift comes from Him alone - not because of any merit in them.
So now we have on-going talks about the fruits of the spirit. That's our new "behavioral chart" per say, but instead, when I see them displaying a fruit, I call it out and we praise Jesus for giving that to them and placing that in their heart! He gets all the glory! And wouldn't you know, the boys are starting to look for ways to demonstrate fruits of the spirit, can now recognize a few of them when they see it, and Lincoln has prayed for specific ones for the past 2 days. Even better, I have also been on a journey with the Lord revealing to me areas that I quench the spirit. My 2 lately are JOY and LOVE. I do both miserably and it's been a not-so-fun, yet exceedingly rewarding journey for me to be on.
Anyway, I am excited to release Lincoln. I am excited for what the Lord might have with his life and I am even more excited to continue to teach him - even at age 5 - to have open hands to Jesus, ready to say "yes, I will follow You and forsake my comforts and treasures and abandon all to do whatever You will."
The past 2 days he has taken notice of my prayer journal (or "journey with Jesus" journal, I call it) and has asked me to write down his prayers. We did it yesterday and then he sat next to me this morning wanting to pray again and write them down.
His prayers brought tears to my eyes. In the past (like recent past) his prayers usually go something like this: "Dear God, I love you, please help me to be good. Amen".
These were his 5 prayers over the last 2 days which I hold dear and as great encouragement from the Lord as I release him for the first time:

"Dear God, please help people to be nice to the poor people and show me how I can help the poor people."

"Dear God, please help me to be kind to people, and to give my money away."

"Dear God, please help me to go anywhere you want me to go and tell people about Jesus - I'll go wherever."

"Dear God, help me to be kind to others and help me to have grace with them."

"Dear God, help other people be kind and learn about Jesus all around the world and help me go to hard places, ever where you want me to go - wherever."

I know he has lots of mistakes, heartaches, and areas where he will fail miserably ahead, but Lord please give me the grace to continue pointing him to You and not being a stumbling block for Him fulfilling Your purpose for his life!