Feeding His Lambs: Being Responsible for leading ALL Children to Jesus

Day 30 - Fathers and Mothers Devotion | The New Bible.com
Each day I read the bible (or something like it). By going to youversion.com, and doing the devotional titled, "Father's and mother's devotion," I reached day 30 today and it talked about how Jesus was talking to Peter in John 21, and Jesus says, "Peter, do you love me more than these?" and Peter replies, "Yes Lord, you know that I love you." and Jesus replied, "Then feed my Lambs." To Me, this showed the importance of pouring our love for Jesus out by "feeding" each other. I was relating this to the reading and if you click on the link above at the very top, and sign up you can do the whole devotion. Or I'll copy the part that went to this to help you understand what I mean when I'm discussing this.
This is what the devotional to that verse in John 21 said:

It Takes a Village: Feed My Lambs
"Ora na azu nwa"--Nigerian Igbo proverb.
Some of you who are single or married without children may be thinking, “Well, this whole parenting thing is for somebody else.” Not true. The African proverb is right--it really does take a village to raise a child.
You may not have a child but are connected by blood, marriage, and faith to many young ones. God considers you a key part of the discipling process. Parents are often exhausted and overwhelmed by the day-to-day care of their children. They need and welcome as many Jesus-loving, hug-giving adults in their lives as possible.
After his triumphant resurrection, Jesus commissioned believers to feel a sense of communal responsibility for children. He told his main man Peter, 'Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?’ ‘Yes, Lord’, he said, ‘you know that I love you.’ Jesus said, ‘Feed my lambs” (John 21:15).
Whether you’re an auntie or uncle, a Sunday school teacher or a neighbor, a community or church volunteer, a coach or a teacher, Jesus is thrilled that you are willing to be part of his village, thrilled that you place such high value on his little people, thrilled that you are helping to feed his lambs."

This is very true. I believe 100% that Kids DO need as many "Jesus-Loving, hug-giving adults in their lives as possible. For many reasons. of course, to be Fed, but also, To be Loved so they learn to Love. All the 10 commandments are followed by doing TWO things. 1. Loving God Above everyone and everything with all your heart, and 2. Loving Your Neighbor as yourself. We must teach them to Love, not only by emotion, but importantly by action. I believe that when Jesus said to Peter, "Feed my Lambs," he was showing that WE ALL, as Jesus' followers are responsible to look after each other, including each other's children. By doing so we are also following some of his other teachings. We are responsible to feed His lambs. We each have a purpose, but this is a very special one. By feeding His "Lambs" we are following his teaching that we are to keep children innocent. We are to be like kids. Jesus says that if we are not like children we will NOT enter the Kingdom. In Matthew 19:13-15, People brought children to Jesus for him to Place his hands on them and pray for them. These people were rebuked by the disciples because in their minds, Jesus was much too busy to be bothered with some kids. But Jesus made it known: "Bring the children to me and do NOT hinder them. For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these." Then he placed his hands on them and prayed. This TINY passage goes with this reading. We are to BRING children to Jesus' Kingdom and not hinder them from coming. how do we do this?  We Do this by following his teaching to Peter. We feed the Lambs and BAM! It's a domino effect. We are responsible for using our gifts to get to children, our own, our neighbor kids, nieces, nephews, and younger siblings, and feeding them spiritual knowledge. Feeding them love. Feeding them the Word of God. Feeding them kindness, gentleness, and EVERY ounce of Jesus we can. Once The Children are fed, once we have "Fed His Lambs," then we will learn to notice, learn to act like, learn to believe like a "lamb." Once we play with the children, teach them, get to know them, we will then, By Feeding them, learn how to get into Heaven. By being with a child and becoming child like, Jesus tells us that "The Kingdom of Heaven belongs to Such As These." So, we are not only responsible to feed the Lambs, but to become like them. How? BELIEF. Innocence. Children believe us adults out of faith, out of being unable to do much without us, by relying on us. They are so innocent that they have no choice but to believe we will feed them, we will cloth them, give them all they need because through their innocence, they are required to believe us, trust us, and have a strong desire to be like us. Why? Didn't your parent's ever say not to feed the stray cat? Once you feed it, the cat TRUSTS you'll always feed it, care for it, as do Children. We feed the Lambs, And once we feed His Lambs, we will learn to embrace that innocence of a child and enter the Kingdom. We will learn to just accept as a child does that Jesus will be sure our needs are met, and we will enter the Kingdom. They Accept what we tell them, as we need to Be "such as these" and believe what Jesus says. Don't be a "Thomas," who was low in his faith and had to see the sores in Jesus' hands To believe it was the Lord, Thomas had to have it proven to him, he wasn't innocent as a child and didn't just accept it, Jesus showed him his sores where the nails were THEN he believed, don't be like Thomas. But instead, Feed His Lambs His knowledge, God's Word, and in the process, learn to Be as a Lamb and eat Jesus' Knowledge as a child: Innocently, acceptingly, and most importantly with Faith and Strong Belief that what he says is true. As a Child (Lamb) eats the knowledge we read them and teach them of the word, we need to be such as those and eat the same knowledge we are feeding.
So, Always stay alert and Feed His Lambs. Then Become A Lamb yourself.
xoxox,
 Megs

PARENTS: Better Safe Than Sorry, DO YOUR HOME WORK!

EVERYDAY I pick up the news paper. EVERYDAY-give or take one or two a week there is someone in the paper for Child Molestation!!! As a mother, a Christian, and a HUMAN BEING, I can't imagine what, why or how someone could take the innocence of our children and not see anything wrong with it. It is amazing. The people I know-(I know a lot of people), are always bringing this subject up as well. I was reading up on it, to try to understand it and although I CAN'T grasp it, I did learn a bunch. I found out that a child molester is most likely someone who knows our kids. A family member, a neighbor, and often at one point even our priests.
Although we can not stop it from happening, we can lessen the chances of it happening. If it did happen we can stop it from continuing.

1.  Do your homework. There are 47 sexually violent predators and a total of 53 people on Megan's law within a 25 mile radius from my home. I showed my daughter photos of the ones who lived within 2-3 miles, and explained if she sees them not to talk to them. I KNOW people change. But, these are our kids. I'm not taking any chances.
2. Do your homework. If your child shows the warning signs as listed below, talk to your child. You can easily say, "You are not in trouble, and have done nothing wrong. Did somebody touch you in your private areas in a way they shouldn't."
3. Do your homework. Check Megan's Law to keep you and your children aware of anyone who has harmed children in the past. They show photographs of the predator every six months at least.
4. Do your homework. Look for warning signs.

•  Extreme fear of someone shown by your child. Your child may not know that something wrong has happened, but they may lose interest in being around the predator, or show anxiety when they are mentioned.They may even break down emotionally or throw an unusual fit when they know they will be around the predator.
• Loss of interest in playing with friends, and doing activities that they normally love to do. They may even lose interest in school, refusing to attend.
• Shame: a child could suddenly become over obsessed with their body in either negative or positive ways. Normally, it's negative. They may even state that their body is hurt, bad, or not good anymore. 
• Unfortunately a child who has been hurt in this way is exposed to sex before they should be. So of course, they may talk about it, when you as the parent may not have brought it up yet. The child may even introduce sex into play with dolls, figurines, or even friends.
• Behavior changes. Since children have trouble expressing how they feel, they may channel their anger or hurt into acting out. They may end up with a behavior issue, where as before they didn't have one. They may even channel this anger towards other people, even those they love most because they aren't sure how else to say they are hurting, angry, mad, confused, or any emotion for that matter.
• PHYSICAL CLUES: Don't make a huge issue of it at first, because these signs don't mean your child has been hurt FOR SURE in this manner. Do a physical examination. Watch your child. Does it hurt when they sit down, are they having trouble pooping or peeing, wetting the bed unusually, swelling and or bruises in the vaginal area, redness or blood.
• Loss of sleep: Child wakes more than normal, is suddenly afraid of the dark or has more nightmares than usual. Your child may ask for a light when they did sleep in the dark.

I was astounded at the amount of people in my hometown-small home town who are child predators. you can check your hometown, or a specific person by clicking on this  link:
Megan's Law Registry for The United States of America 
So parents, do your homework and don't be afraid to discuss this with children. Child abuse is on the rise. If your child, your child's friend or someone you know is being harmed, or you have a suspicion that someone is hurting a child, sexual, physical, mentally, or emotionally, don't let it continue. YOU alone make a difference. Call the National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A CHILD (1-800-422-4453) where there are counselors available 24/7/365. Or click this link, and once you are there click on the purple tab that says "GET HELP" for more information on this service. Here's the link: Find resources, information, statistics, stories, or get involved by helping, even if you don't know anyone who's been harmed.
I hope you found help, or will now use this knowledge, as I will to help children in the future or present.

xoxoxox
Megs

10 Tips for Praying as a Couple, Christian Engagement, Newlywed Couples

10 Tips for Praying as a Couple, Christian Engagement, Newlywed Couples

I FOUND THIS SITE TODAY. IT HAS EVERYTHING I NEEDED TO HEAR, AND I GOT SOME ADVICE ON MAKING A STRONGER MARRIAGE. I WILL SAY CHRIS AND I DO PRAY TOGETHER. THE FAMILY THAT PRAYS TOGETHER STAYS TOGETHER. IT IS COMFORTING KNOWING THAT I HAVE A HUSBAND THAT IS WILLING TO PRAY FOR ME INSTEAD OF POINT A FINGER AT ME. ITS COMFORTING WHEN WE TAKE TURNS PRAYING TOGETHER AND WE TAKE THE WORDS OUT OF EACH OTHERS MOUTH OR WE ARE ABLE TO SEE HOW EACH OTHER ARE GROWING IN CHRIST. p.s. this pic is not of Chris and I. It's from the website.

5 fun ways to show love to your spouse

5 fun ways to show love to your spouse
I FOUND THIS WEBSITE HELPFUL. IT'S GREAT WAY TO WORK ON A ROCKY RELATIONSHIP OR TO KEEP A GREAT ONE GOING. CHECK IT OUT.  BELOW IS MY HUNNIE AND I WHEN WE FIRST GOT ENGAGED AND WE DO MOST OF THESE TIPS AND STILL HAVE A GREAT RELATIONSHIP. HOPE THEY HELP YOU
XOXO~
MEGS

How to pray for your spouse & grow not hurt them.

I found this and believe its great rather than complaining about all he does wrong. I can now prey with gratitude that He will make my husband grow.

I found this thru: gypsy jane