We are delighted to welcome Kate Millington as our guest author this week.
Building and Maintaining our Spiritual Life
As the summer draws to an end and I’m getting my children ready for the start of the new academic year I’m thinking about the wonderful summer we’ve had. We were very blessed this year in the UK with lots of sunshine, which made our holiday in Devon feel as though we could have been in the south of France! I’m thinking about all the quality time we had together as a family, one on one with both of my children but also time spent with extended family and friends and feeling sad that it has come to an end. Now don’t get me wrong, we have got to the point where we are ready for the ‘normal’ routine to resume! I love routine but this summer has particularly shown me how important it is to have times of rest and fun together as a family.
Emotional security
In the Time out for Parents – The Early Years course – we talk about our children’s ‘emotional bank account’. Time out for parents says ‘helping our child to develop emotional security is a bit like putting money in the bank. All the positive and helpful things we do over the years are like deposits or credits in our child’s bank account. Credits are like positive attention, kind words, encouragement, having fun together…as long as there is enough in the bank, a child can cope with a certain amount of difficulty.’
Thinking about all this I was drawn to revisit Becky Floy’s talk on the secret place Matthew 6: 5-13. Becky encourages us that the reward of intimacy with the Father happens in the secret place. When we spend time engaging with our heavenly Father in the secret place victories are prepared for us. She exhorts us to nurture and maintain our inner life with the father, drawing near in relationship; encountering, discovering, longing for and pursuing him just as He does with us.
Firm foundations
In Matthew 7 Jesus talks about the wise and foolish builders. If we put into practice the words of Jesus we will be like the wise man who built his house on the rock so when the storm came the house did not fall because it was built on firm foundations.
Just as we need to be intentional about spending quality time with our children, family and friends we also need to prioritise the secret place and be intentional about prayer. This autumn lets be proactive at investing in our spiritual bank account so when the summer has gone and the seasons of life change we have some credit we can draw on because we will be firmly placed on the rock.
Song: Build my life by Brett Younker
‘I will build my life upon your love it is a firm foundation. I will put my trust in you alone and I will not be shaken’.
Thank you Kate for your insight.
