Teaching My Children to Pray

I clearly remember as a young man sitting in a Lakota Inipi (Sweat lodge) and hearing my Uncle Tony Killscrow pray these words "God, let me teach my children how to pray."

I'm not 100% certain I knew exactly what Uncle Tony meant at that time. I could however understand the emotion and sincerity with which he said it. Enough that it was impressed upon my heart and etched into my mind. 

As  I've grown older, devoted my life to God, and had children of my own, I've come to understand the meaning of Uncle Tony's prayer. It's not about teaching a certain prayer to your children, "Now I lay me down to sleep", or teaching them a pattern for prayer. Although those things aren't bad to do either. 

It's about teaching your children to speak with God. It's about letting them know that He is closer than a brother and a constant comfort. It's about teaching them to develop a friendship with and pour out their heart to someone that will never leave them.

I believe the prayer Uncle Tony prayed is also about this:

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. -Proverbs 22:6

Parents have responsibility to their children. They are to meet the child's physical needs: food, water, shelter, etc. They are also to meet the child's mental/emotional needs: love, affection, affirmation, etc. 

Most good and well meaning parents do the aforementioned activities. But, how many of us parents help meet the child's most important need of all: Spiritual needs? We are Spiritual beings with a physical body. That being said, there is no way we should neglect the responsibility we have as parents to introduce our children to a relationship with God. This relationship is built through prayer. 

So today I say the same prayer as my Uncle Tony Killscrow did so many years ago... "God, let me teach my children how to pray."

What are Your Kids Eating?

Parents, let me encourage you today... Feed your kids well. I didn't say a lot, I said well. 

As most of you know, the percentage of overweight or obese children in America is on the rise. This is happening due to a number of lifestyle factors and I don't want to address them all. I want to address one major area in this blog post, Food!

Take a second to answer the questions below:

Who buys the food in your home? Parents or children
Who makes the choices of what foods are purchased at the store? Parents or children
Who normally prepares the food in your home? Parents or children

There are many areas in life that we have no control. There are also many areas in life that we do have control. I believe it's our responsibility to control what we can and then trust God to help with the rest. Notice I said responsibility, not optional or when we feel like it. 

The food that our kids eat at home is our responsibility as parents. We are the adults and we should be making the choices about what our family is consuming. If we prepare a healthy meal and the kids want junk, sorry kiddos, you eat what we've prepared. I'm old school in this way. You eat what's placed in front of you or you go to bed hungry. Believe me, giving in and feeding kids junk because they are "picky" is not doing them any favors. 

One rule that we follow in our household for the adults and for the children is the 90% rule. We eat healthy 90% of the time. The other 10% allows for a little flexibility and some "cheat foods" like pizza, burgers, or candy (insert whatever junk food you like). Many Americans flip this rule on it's head and eat junk 90% of the time while sprinkling in some "healthy stuff". 

We also try to make healthy meals fun by adding a lot of color (easy to do with fruits and veggies) and creativity. Every meal includes lean protein, good carbs, and good fats. When this becomes the norm for eating at your house, your children enjoy it and gain the health benefits. 

Let me close with this statement: "When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required." Luke 12:48b

Parents, we have been given and entrusted with much when we have children. This means that much is also required from us. Parenting isn't easy and we can't control everything, but we can control some things. Let us step up and take that responsibility seriously. 

Your Body: A High Performance Machine

I see many people worried about the scale and also what they "are not supposed to eat". So, let's address two areas today... the Scale and Nutrition. 

The Scale: Your weight can fluctuate a few pounds up or down each day for many different reasons. The goal for our bodies should not focus on the scale, but rather health and body composition. Let's continue to build muscle and lose fat. Muscle weighs more than fat, so the scale is not always a true indicator of what's going on. If you lose dress sizes, pant sizes, but weigh more or your weight doesn't change... You have added muscle! Congrats!

Nutrition: My motto is "Don't count calories, make your calories count." If you feel you need to monitor calories, that's okay if that works for you. The main thing is to focus on eating good healthy foods, multiple times per day, and watch portion sizes.

Perspective is important when thinking about nutrition. The focus shouldn't be on things like "I can't eat bread" or many other food trends. The focus should be on eating nutrient dense food like lean protein sources, good grains (including bread), fruit, veggies, and Good Fats! Eat the foods you like and figure out how to prepare them in a healthy manner, always being sure to include the categories listed above. This is a lifestyle, not a diet or food fad. 

I want you to view your body as a High Performance Machine. High performance machines run on high quality fuel in order to run at an optimal state! 

Last tip: Add World Class nutrition products like AdvoCare to help you meet your health and fitness goals to the suggestions above. These tips will help your body stay healthy, gain muscle, lose fat, have energy, feel great, and run at an optimal state like a High Performance Machine! 

Ask God Into Everything (Ed Red Eagle Sr. Wisdom)

Former Osage Nation Tribal leader/elder Ed Red Eagle Sr. once told my Dad and me "Ask God into Everything You do".

Uncle Ed Red Eagle Sr. was a Wise and Godly man. He always imparted wisdom into his conversations and never left God out of the mix.

I want you to notice the wording Uncle Ed used when he said " Ask God into EVERYTHING You do".
He didn't say...

"Ask God into Church, but leave him out of work."
"Ask God into Prayer, but leave him out of sports."
"Ask God into some things, a few things, maybe one important thing?"

 Nope, he said Everything. You get the point.

Consider the words in one of my favorite scriptures:  ^"Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done." -Philippians 4:6

Uncle Ed understood that we as human beings are also Spiritual beings. We are created by God and created to be in relationship with God. There is nothing to Big or to small in our lives to ask God into. That being said, here is something that I believe Uncle Ed knew and was passing on to us in that statement. Prayer is important. 

You see by asking God, we are actually praying. That's what prayer is, a conversation with God. So, when we are asking God into everything, then we are by it's very nature praying about everything. We are asking God to be in the midst of all we have going on and are doing in our lives.

If you ever had the opportunity to listen to Uncle Ed pray... Then you know that he had an intimate relationship with God. You know that he asked God into everything. Ed talked the talk and walked the walk.

I'm not sure who this is for (hopefully for a lot of people), but today I encourage you to consider the wise words of Uncle Ed Red Eagle Sr. and "Ask God into Everything You do".

I-E KA-SHE-NUH E-KI-PSHE KO^-BRA

Embrace the MESS

Wow! Sometimes it's like God hits you upside the head with the same message multiple times in a short time frame. Okay, maybe that's just me because I'm a little hard headed (just a little, haha).

In the last week, four message's with similar content have fallen into my lap and all three have spoken to me Big Time. The overall message can basically be summed up with this phrase... Embrace the Mess.

I have always been a clean and organizational freak. Then I got married to a beautiful woman who is more laid back than I am about messiness. Still, no big deal as she she has helped me relax a little and not have to space all my hangers evenly in my closet.

Now we have three children and a life style that always has us on the go. Add this up and what do you get.. Mess! It seems like we clean, organize, turn around, then do it again and again and again. You get my point.

My personality + mess=Stress.

Now to the messages that have been speaking to my innermost being. I will list the messages and then below list some of the things I have learned from them.

1. The first message came in the form of a podcast from Pastor Steven Furtick of +Elevation Church. This is message is entitled: "How to Love the Mud". Here is a link for those who'd like to see it online(It's Awesome!): How to Love the Mud

2. Then I read a Blog from one of my favorite authors +Andy Andrews entitled "The Source of True Happiness". Read here if you'd like: The Source of True Happiness

3. The third message came when my oldest daughter ask my wife "Why is Daddy always cranky?" Ouch.

4. The last message came this morning as I did my Bible study. It was from Pastor +Joel Osteen. Here is a link to the message: Catch the Little Foxes

After listening to the podcast, reading the blog, having my wife relay the message from my oldest daughter, and reading my Bible study here is what I've gleaned:

• Stop stressing over things that don't really matter. Why? In the grand scheme of things... they don't really matter is why. 
• Be thankful for the toys, clothes, food, etc. on the floor, it means I have children. There are a lot of people out there that would give anything to have children. 
• Who cares if there are bills and mail piled on the counter, it means I have a house, electricity, and running water. A lot of people don't have any of these things. Plus, I have eye sight to see the mess!
• So what if the laundry is piling up, this means we have clothes to wear. 
• My kids are being loud and fighting (this gets messy believe me). Again, I have children and that's an incredible Blessing. Oh, and I can hear! 
• My perspective determines my attitude. My attitude determines how I feel. How I feel determines my actions. So the proper perspective is critically important in this entire lesson. 
• Embrace the Mess with a Grateful Heart!

One additional thought about this topic of embracing the mess. In the words of my friend and top notch Pro MMA fighter +LC Davis ... "You chose this life Homie!" (LC tells himself this when life gets hectic). 

Indeed, I did choose this life and love it. When things get messy and my attitude gets bad I have to remind myself that I chose this life and be grateful for every second of it. I have to Embrace the Mess!

EMBRACE IT!