Parenting Points
Over the last few months, we have been given the gift of pause. Before the Coronavirus, “busy” was the adjective that many would use to describe their life. Now that cancellation and quarantine have decluttered our calendars, we have a great chance to begin again and redefine what our lives and the lives of our families will be moving forward.
At the end of Paul’s beautiful explanation of grace in Ephesians 1-2, he paints a picture of who we and our families can be when we begin again: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so we can walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10 ESV). The word “workmanship” in the Greek means a product of creative expression like a canvas or poem. We have been created and redeemed to express the beauty of Jesus to the world around us.
As we process beginning again, we should begin to think about everything that we add back into our lives through the lens of the story we are writing about God and His grace. When people look at our families, do they see lives expressing the worth of Jesus and the beauty of the gospel or are we simply running the rat race of the American dream like everyone else? Here are three questions that we can use with our families to evaluate life as we seek to begin again:
1. What is our purpose? We often do things simply because they are what we have always done. Seeking a purpose forces us to ask the “why” question behind our actions and decisions.
2. What do we value? Our values give us the framework through which we can process the purpose behind our decisions. Without the lens of value, we often trade the best things for good things.
3. What is our mission? The mission keeps us focused on what really matters. The story is greater than us. God is redeeming the world by drawing sinners to repentance and faith in Him. We have an opportunity as a family to join Him in His mission.
Even though many days the last few weeks may not have seemed like a gift, we have been given the gift of beginning again. As we begin to press “go” on our lives and schedules again, let us seek to express the beauty and value of the One who saved us and carried us through.
-Dr. Ben Birdsong 
Writer, Speaker, Minister
