A MOTHER'S TOOLBOX. TOOL NUMBER THREE: PLANNING

Tool number three: Planning

Commit to the Lord whatever you do and your plans will succeed.

Proverbs 16:3

            Every good builder begins a project with a plan. He measures, measures again, draws an outline and verifies that he has all the materials he needs before he begins.

            Likewise, wise parenting involves a certain amount of planning. If you’re like me, you plan everything from meals to vacations and the family budget. I’m so into this planning thing that I just printed out a schedule for cleaning the house in 30 days. Does that mean that on the 31^st of every other month, I get a day off? Yeah, right.

            Then there’s the plans for my son with autism; the yearly IEP meeting (Individualized Educational Plan) with the school staff, his yearly assessments and goal planning with his/her caseworker, therapists and other care givers and his quarterly check-ups for medication checks. Enough to keep my “Mother’s Organizational Calendar” filled up.

            Society thrives on providing ways to plan every area of our lives. There’s nothing wrong with that. But I wonder if there’s one item we don’t always plan ahead. I’m talking about our spiritual life. When we look at the past year, can we see any progress in our walk with God? Are we closer to him than we were a year ago? What about our children? How do we measure something like that?

            When Paul wrote to the Corinthians he reprimanded them for their lack of spiritual growth. They were still in the “infant” stage in their knowledge and hunger for Christ. “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, for you were not yet able to receive it” (1 Corinthians 3:1-2). How sad it must have been for Paul to see the Corinthians resting in their salvation without digging deeper into the riches in Christ available to them.

            So this year, I decided to create a spiritual IEP, to assess where I am in my walk with God and determine my goals for this coming year.

·                     What are my priorities for this year?

·                     What do I want to study this year? (It might be a certain book of the Bible or a specific theme such as grace. If you are not comfortable doing your own study, there are devotional books and guides to reading through the Bible in one or two years available at your local Christian book store.)

·                     What changes do I need to make to ensure I have a daily talk with God?

·                     What behaviors are impeding my spiritual growth?

·                     How will I keep track of my prayer life?

As for my sons, I set two specific goals:

1.    To memorize Scripture on a regular basis

2.    To keep a record of our prayer requests and God’s answers.

The first goal came about when our twin boys were experiencing stressful situations at school. Poor grades, tensions with classmates, difficulty concentrating. So I created verse cards which we committed to memory and the boys carried in their back-packs. We learned verses to counter each of their issues. For “I’m a failure” we memorized 2 Timothy 1:7. “I can’t do this,” became “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13). We aim to memorize a verse per week. That’s fifty-two promises to grow on!

My second goal is to keep a record of prayer requests and God’s answers. Just before Christmas, I bought a notebook/diary for each of the boys. I prayed over them individually, inscribed a life-verse that I’d picked out for each one of them with God’s guidance, then wrote out a prayer for them based upon their own individual characters. Each evening, we have family devotions. I read them a verse which they write down in their notebooks, we discuss what the verse means, then I encourage them to write down their own individual thoughts and prayers. On New Year’s Eve, we each wrote down something special that happened in 2015, thanked the Lord for that blessing then wrote out a prayer request for 2016. I was thrilled to hear Benjamin say that his request is to grow closer to Jesus. There’s nothing in this world that could please me more!

Planning for our earthly life is important. But how much more essential to plan for eternity. Don’t delay. Set aside some time this week to assess where you stand with Christ. If you don’t know him as your personal Savior, I would encourage you to pray the prayer below. If you are a Christian, take time to evaluate your walk with God. Are you where you’d wish to be or do you feel like your spiritual life is stagnant? What steps can you take to move ahead in your walk with Christ? Where do you hope to be a year from now? Write down your thoughts and ask the Lord to help you find ways to grow closer to Him throughout this year. Who knows, 2016 could be the year you and I discover more of the riches God has in store for us.

Prayer for salvation:

Lord, I recognize that I am sinner. I acknowledge my need for a savior. Thank you for taking my place on the cross and dying for my sins. I want you to be the Lord of my life. From now on, I choose to live for you. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.