Hi, my name is Leanne Friesman and this is Restoring Word and today I'm talking about
raising godly families.
And you know when I even say that to a lot of women that almost seems impossible in this
crazy world that we live in.
But today I just want to share some common sense, down to earth hints or tips that might
help you.
You know one of the things I love about being a Christian and a believer is that now having
served God for a while, I look back on what really helped me.
And what helped me was when I listened to men and women of God who were open, who were
transparent and who really shared their heart with me about what they did that worked and
what didn't work.
And what's wonderful about that is I actually made some good decisions not because I knew
what I was doing, but because I had some incredible Christians and leaders in my life that I listened
to.
And I went to church on a regular basis and I sat in that pew with my husband and my children
and we're in Sunday school and by example we listened to the ups and downs and highs
and lows of my pastor and what he did that successfully enabled them to raise kids that
love Christ.
And it's a tough job, but you know what?
The most holy, the most sacred thing that you're ever going to do is you're going to
raise your children to love the Lord.
I love the scripture in 3 John, and I've quoted it before, that says there's no greater joy
than watching your children walk in truth.
And it is possible, you know, and I think all kids have phases and they go through things.
I remember Marilyn Hickey sharing stories about her daughter Sarah, who I actually went
to ORU with, and how Sarah loved to do and say shocking things to get her mother's attention.
But Marilyn stayed steady.
She just continued to love her and to speak the word and to pray.
She never varied.
She never wavered in what she believed or what the word said.
And in the long run, Sarah is now a powerful woman of God, loving God in the ministry and
doing things for God.
You know, kids will do and say shocking things to kind of get your attention.
Don't be moved.
The word is true.
Stick to what the word says.
Share with them what you're reading.
Share with them principles of why.
You know, so many times my kids would come home and they would say, Mom, do you know
what's going on with whatever?
And I would say, well, honey, why do you think they're doing that?
Well, Mom, I don't know, but I would say, okay, well, let's go back to what does the
word say about this?
And then we would talk about motives, and we would talk about hurt, or we would talk
about maybe why certain people were doing things to get attention or to be shocking.
Why do kids do what they do?
Well, a lot of it revolves around, you know, attention, the class clown, whatever.
You know, you can kind of put yourself in kind of a tailspin, and you can get so uptight
about what your kids are or aren't doing that it can affect your joy.
You know, as a parent, probably the most important thing you can do is just try to relax and
enjoy the journey.
I think if I were looking back at my younger self, that's probably what I would say.
Hey, Leanne, lighten up, okay?
Be happier.
God's got it.
He's going to work it all out.
I don't know how you're going to empty the house.
I don't know how you're going to get through this.
I don't know how you're going to, but you know, Leanne, you're going to get through
it.
Trust God.
Trust Him.
He's faithful.
He will work it all together for good.
It will all, you know, we can all find things to worry about, right?
I have to really guard my heart and guard my mind and say, Leanne, why don't you go
back and read what the Word says?
Why don't you go back and actually live what you believe and stay at peace?
Why don't you live what you believe and pray in the Holy Ghost?
and quit worrying about things. It's easy to do. I still do it. It's actually making
a choice to stand on the promises of God. Proverbs 14 verse 1, The wise woman builds
her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears it down. There are many things that
we can do to build up our families and there's things that we can do that tear them down.
And I would say probably guarding what you say and guarding what you speak over your
children is probably one of the most important things that you can do. Build your children
up. Establish them in the word. Speak life over them. Even when they maybe don't necessarily
deserve having life spoken over them because they've done something silly. You know, haven't
we all done something silly? Haven't we all missed it? Haven't we all not made the mark?
Haven't we all fallen on our faces? Haven't we all sinned? Haven't we all have failures?
We all do. And the more transparent and honest that you can be about it, the more victorious
you can walk that out with your kids. Because in the long run, I mean looking back over
the course of all these years, it isn't starting the race that matters. It's finishing the
race. It's not how you start serving and raising a Christian family. It's in the long haul.
And yeah, there's going to be detours. And for all the moms out there that maybe your
kids have started a detour, just continue to love them and speak the word. Every kid
is going to make mistakes. Every kid is going to have failures. They're going to come back
home and they're going to look to you and they're going to want to be loved and they're
going to want to be cared for unconditionally regardless of what they've done. Guess what?
When we come back to Jesus after we do something stupid, we want him to love us unconditionally,
right? We want God to forgive us when we do stupid things, right? We want God to restore
us and renew us when we fail, right? God is a restoring God. And we've got to be restoring
parents. There's no such thing as a perfect family or a perfect mom or a perfect kid.
And I am far from that. I am consistent. I mean, I fall down on my face and I keep getting
back up. And I think in the long run, that's probably my greatest testimony. Maybe not
that I did everything right. Maybe it's just the fact that I kept going. Maybe it's the
fact that my husband just stayed steady and never changed. Maybe it was the fact that
he continued to pray in the Holy Ghost even when things went right and when things went
bad. My kids were raised with a dad who prayed in the shower in the morning. They knew what
dad was doing. They could hear him praying in tongues. And not only did he pray in tongues,
but he got his kids spirit-filled. You know, it's funny. Our kids went to a Christian school
where they were filled with the Holy Ghost. My daughter climbed in the car one day and
leaned over the front seat and said, Mom, I can tongues. I said, What? She got spirit-filled
one chapel at school. What a beautiful testimony. You know, children hear from heaven. Children
are filled with the Holy Ghost at a young age. Children, you'll often hear the voice
of God in the voice of your children for good and for bad. They will encourage you and they
will correct you. Trust me, especially when you goof it up. And I was famous for that.
They can give you all of them. Mom was far from perfect. No, but you know what? I just
kept going. And that's what you need to do, too. Trust Him. He will restore you. He will
restore your children. All those prayers that you've prayed over your children over
the years, God seeks to fulfill His Word. God looks to those who will speak the Word
of God and stand and believe in truth. God looks for voices and people that will pray
and will stand in the gap in the earth and will speak the Word of God over their children.
You know, regardless of what detour they take, you want them to come back on track.
Didn't you take a detour? Didn't you miss it? Didn't you fall on your face? Didn't you
make mistakes? Guess what? He's a restoring God. And as parents, we can
can be people that love and restore. Because in the long run, it's maybe not how well you
run the race or how fast you run the race. Maybe it's just about the fact that you kept
going and you stayed steady, and you didn't shift, and you didn't vary. And here you are
years later, still doing the same old, same old, reading your Bible, speaking the Word,
worshiping Jesus, loving Him. That's really the example that this generation wants to
see. I'm working with a couple right now down in Atlanta, Georgia, and they're doing an
amazing work helping older people get their message out on social media. Because guess
what? We're not really that savvy about producing videos and putting stuff out there. And you
know one of the most interesting things that Lindsay said to me was, Leanne, our generation
needs mentors. This generation of kids, they want to see people who are successfully sticking
by the stuff, who have successfully not given up. Maybe they aren't doing it so well, but
at least they haven't stopped, they haven't quit, and they keep going. And it's joyful,
and it's worth the battle. Stay by the stuff, stick to the Word, stick to what you know.
Just keep running your race. He's faithful. He will enable you, by the grace of God, the
strength of God, by His supernatural empowerment, He will enable you to keep going. He's a good
God and you can trust Him. Thank you for liking and sharing and subscribing. Restoring
Word will never ask for an offering. If you see someone out there that looks like me,
it's not me. It's a fake person. I'm never going to ask for money. I'm never going to
ask for a place to preach. I'm doing this simply to encourage you, the body of Christ,
to continue to serve Jesus. Thank you for listening and have a great day.
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