Ten Ways to Nurture Your Child's SpiritualityWritten by Patrice Fagnant-MacArthur
Ten Ways to Nurture Your Child's Spirituality by Patrice Fagnant-MacArthur1)Live your faith. Children learn from example. 2)Encourage them to be thankful people. Ask them each night what happened to them that day that they want to thank God for. 3)Allow time for quiet and reflection. An over-scheduled child doesn't have time to think about "big questions" of life. 4)Treat them with fairness and respect. 5)Encourage awareness of world around them. Appreciation of nature leads to an appreciation of Creator. 6)When speaking to children about God and faith, don't "dumb down" conversation. Children need simpler words, not simple ideas. 7)Belong to a faith community. This will help provide many role models of spiritual living.
| | FOUR DREAMS ON A SATURDAY NIGHTWritten by Irvin L. Rozier
Saturday(April 2, 2005) night, I had four very vivid dreams. Here they are:1. I dreamed I had preached a woman's funeral and was getting ready to preach another. This one was for Ricky, a resident of nursing home where I preach. He had no wife but had two sisters there. The crowd was gathering at funeral home chapel (I recognized Mr. Pearson, funeral home director) as he brought in Ricky (He is one I wrote story Ricky Sings a Song He Did Not Know, posted elsewhere on this forum). Ricky was on a stretcher, and not in a coffin. Suddenly, he sat up and began to sing. I was shouting "Praise Lord!" and everyone was amazed and rejoicing because Ricky came back from dead. 2. I went to my family cemetery where folks were gathered to clean up. As I opened double chain link fence gates, I looked down and saw some concrete. I got a shovel and removed dirt. I uncovered two grave slabs (they were only covered by about two inches of dirt) at gate entrance. On one was inscription, John Milton Winn, (my mother's maiden name was Winn). The other grave was covered by a three hinged door, and as it was opened, I could see body of a 60 year old woman through clear glass that was coffin lid. She looked serene, was wearing glasses, and had on a beautiful blue dress. Her hands were folded over her stomach, and I asked who she was. Someone nearby said, "That was one of John Winn's daughters". Nearby these graves, we uncovered a cabinet of wood about six feet tall, and four feet long. On it were displays of Indian artifacts, miniature horses of various colors, arrows with razor sharp edges, feathers, and necklaces and beads. The cabinet had a built in musical device; I wound it up and it began to play beautiful gospel music. The folks that were cleaning cemetery began to sing and praise Jesus.
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