Conquering Family Hurdles! Series

"Conquering Family Hurdles!"

"More than a SURVIVOR" series part 3 of 4

Text: Prov. 31:26-28 & Selected

Cross Creek Community Church

Pastor Dave Martin - May 13, 2001

www.crosscreekcc.org

God’s Word is Powerful, Relevant, and Life Changing!

Happy Mother’s Day! We are in a series entitled "More than a Survivor". This series is a take off from the popular TV series SURVIVOR. Why just survive when we can thrive? When we can actually be a conqueror in Christ. This week we will be looking at "Conquering Family Hurdles!" What do I mean by family hurdles? These are the common problems we all face in our families. Problems such as being disconnected from other family members, maybe having a splintered family, maybe the hurdle of a lack of love, or financial, or bad relationships. Maybe it’s a hurdle of being critical or nagging all the time. Let me ask you a question, are you facing any family hurdles today?

I believe the three top family hurdles we face today is proper training within the home, correct attitudes of the family members, and communications. In fact when I asked my three daughters what they thought was the biggest hurdle or problem in the average family, they said communications.

We are going to look at conquering family hurdles in light of MOM. In a few weeks we will be looking at the role of the father in the home, today it’s mom’s turn! Without mom, none of us would be here. How important is the mother in overcoming family hurdles?

"Once the New York Times was asked to help a group of club women decide on the twelve greatest women in the United States. After due consideration, the editors replied, ’The twelve greatest women in the United States are women who have never been heard of outside of their own homes.’"

The author concludes, "I ask you, who was greater, Thomas A. Edison or his mother? When he was a young lad his teacher sent him home with a note which said, ’Your child is dumb. We can’t do anything for him.’ Mrs. Edison wrote back, ’You do not understand my boy. I will teach him myself’. And she did, with results that are well known. Morning Glory, January 8, 1994

* The role of motherhood is greater than you will ever know.

* As a mother, realize you are having an impact which cannot be measured (good or bad).

* Teaching how to eat for themselves or to tying their shoes, to instilling Godly values.

The average mother spends 3.5 more hours a week doing housework than would a woman without children, plus 11 hours a week on child-related activities. This adds up to an additional 754 hours of work every year-the equivalent of three months of 12-hour, 5-day work weeks.

Signs of the Times, May, 1992, p. 6

Let’s read our text:

Proverbs 31:26-28 "She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. 27She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. 28Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:"

The three biggest family hurdles today...

1. COMMUNICATIONS

God says, SPEAK with Wisdom.

Proverbs 31:26 "She speaks with wisdom... "

* She speaks with wisdom - which is, as a mother, you have practical discernment.

* You’re thinking and living as God designed you to live. Your words are correct and beneficial.

Ephesians 4:29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

* We are living in a splintered family society - TV/computer/Internet in different rooms of the home.

* Families are becoming isolated - communications becoming more and more stained.

* We allow programs on TV to communicate with our families. Television is nothing more than communications.

* Either you are going to communicate with your families or someone else WILL.

* Children are losing their childhood. Tim Smith writes in "The Relaxed Parent" the top 10 reasons:

Lost Childhood

1. Less supervision (moms at work, single parents)

2. Too many choices (ex., TV channels)

3. A rush to adulthood

4. Loss of innocence

5. More single parents

6. No more heroes (celebrities, but not heroes)

7. Blurring of roles and boundaries

8. The end of play

9. Critical decisions too early

10. Receiving parents’ money instead of time

Tim Smith, The Relaxed Parent, p. 8

A true story of missed communications, tells of a couple who went to the Far East during a holiday. They wanted, besides their own supper, something to give their poodle. Pointing to the dog, they made international eating signs. The waiter understood, picked up the poodle, and set off for the kitchen-only to return half an hour later with the roasted poodle on a platter.