Growing in the Wisdom of God’s Word

1301 Pearl St.

Bangor, WI 54614

(608) 486-2641

www.stpaulsbangor.com

Upcoming Dates & Events at a Glance

Wednesday, April 1

Education Committee & Church Council meet at

School 7 P.M.

Thursday, April 2

NO SCHOOL Maundy Thursday Worship 7 P.M.

Friday, April 3

NO SCHOOL Good Friday

Worship 1:30 P.M. & 7 P.M.

SUNDAY, APRIL 5

EASTER SUNDAY WORSHIP 6:30 & 9 A.M.

Saturday, April 11

LALSAC Volleyball Tournament at Luther High

Friday, April 17

WSMA Band Clinic 1 P.M. Lancer Band Students

EARLY RELEASE 1:20

Sunday, April 26

Music Clinic 2 P.M. Adoration Choir

Ring Out The Joy

Tuesday, April 28

PK-3 To Charlotte’s Web at Viterbo 11:30 a.m.

Wednesday, April 29

Donkey Basketball at Luther High

April 2015 ST . PAUL’S EV. LUTHERAN SCHOOL

BA NG OR , WI

The Redwing Report

The 2014-2015 school year theme is “Growing in the Wisdom of God’s Word,” based on Proverbs 2:1-8: “My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.” The sub-theme for the month of April is “Growing in Wisdom of God’s Promises”

The Wisdom of God’s Promises Robert Frost won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry four times. Some may remember

the white-haired New Englander delivering a poem at President Kennedy’s inauguration. He and Kennedy both died in 1963. Teachers who introduce their students to the poetry of Robert Frost probably make a point of covering one little poem in particular, the one called Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. Some of the lines may sound familiar to you. It starts out: Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. The final stanza is the most famous: The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.

Most folks figure Frost wasn’t just talking about the ride home and going to bed. Most see an observation about life – the promises we have yet to keep, miles of things to do before we lay down our head on the pillow for the last time. You and I have promises we have made – to ourselves and others. Weak and sinful, we pause at times in the snowy woods at night and lament the passing of our time and our strength. We say: “I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep.” We promise to do better – but as a fellow named Disraeli once said, “Youth is a blunder, manhood a struggle, old age a regret.” The years evaporate and we learn that we are fi-nite. We cannot take back the stupidity of yesterday. Our promises to do better today or tomorrow have no power of themselves. But in the promised Seed of Abraham, in the Lamb from the line of Isaac – the Lamb who died and rose again – I meet One who forgives the sins of my youth and my many transgressions, who pardons the sins I have done to please myself and the sins I have done to please others, who cleanses me from the evils I have done and from the evil of leaving good things undone, who wraps my tattered life round with His righteousness, who melts my heart to beat in harmony with His, who keeps His promises to me – and who empowers my own promises to henceforth live not for myself, but for Him who died and rose again – who says to every humble and contrite heart: “I will be gracious to you as I have said; I will do for you as I have promised.” ~Pastor Hefti

Hot Lunch Menu

Page 2 The Redwing Report—April 2015

WEDNESDAY, April 1 - Tacos/Fruit

Friday, April 10 - Tatertot Hotdish/Veg

Friday, April 17 - TBD

Friday, April 24 - TBD

Friday, May 1 - TBD

April 19 - Sunday School (Late Service)

April 26 - Music Clinic at School 2 P.M. Adoration Choir and Ring Out The Joy

May 3 - Adoration Choir (Both Services)

Worship Singing Schedule

Volleyball Season Update

BUMP, SET, SPIKE!! St. Paul’s has one volleyball team this year made up of

girls from 4th - 8th grades. The team is young but plays very hard and is fun to

watch. The team’s record heading into the tournament is 3-4. The tournament

will be held on Saturday, April 11th, at Luther High School. God’s continued

blessings this season! Go Redwings!

Applications are now available for the 2015-2016 4K Program at St. Paul’s. St. Paul’s will hold 4K classes all day on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Please inform community members of this opportunity for their young children to learn about the one thing needful. Applications are available in the school office and on the website (www.stpaulsbangor.com).

4K Program Now Enrolling for 2015-2016

Divine Call Extended for Principal and 7-8 Teacher

The Voting Members of St. Paul’s met on Sunday, March 8 to extend a divine call for principal and 7-8 teacher. Led by the Holy Spirit, the voters called Mr. Greg Obermiller to serve as our next principal and 7-8 teacher. Mr. Obermiller is currently the principal and 7-8 teacher at Trinity Lutheran School in Marinette, WI. Please keep Mr. Obermiller in your prayers as he continues to deliberate where the Lord can best use his gifts and abilities.

To help the Education Committee study the current school facility, we are asking school parents and congre-gational members to take a survey about how our current facility meets the educational needs of our students. Meeting the learning needs of our children is the most important part of the study and project. The survey’s website link is listed below if you didn’t get the survey emailed to you (if you’d prefer an emailed version, but weren’t on the email list, please contact Mr. Payne). Not everyone is comfortable taking an online survey, so a paper copy of the survey is available (ask Mr. Payne or Mike Langrehr). Parental and congregational participa-tion is very important to the study because you are the subject of the survey. Thanks ahead of time for your help! (FYI—what looks like a capital O in the link is the number zero.) http://goo.gl/Lq0Apj

Facility Study Survey Now Available! Please Participate!

Page 3 The Redwing Report—April 2015

The Redwing Report - (Continued)

Spring Science and Fine Arts Fair The 5th-8th grade students had the opportunity to participate in a variety of activities for the Science and Fine Arts Fair held on Saturday, March 8th at Luther High School. Students participated in the following activities: Piano, Instrumen-tal, Forensics, and Science Projects. It is wonderful to see the students use so many of their God-given talents to praise Him in so many different ways. Thanks to the teachers and coaches who have helped and supported the students in their endeavors. The results of that Fair are as follows:

Science - Participant: Zachary Lazzaretti Carter Horstman/Grant Manke Tyler Kaiser Brayden Horstman/Bo Langrehr 2nd: Vicky Melcher/Allison Hoth Sam Wittmershaus/Josh Stratman Kaitlyn Stratman/Grace Manke 1st: Madisyn Herman Zach Kotek/Michael Lazzaretti Nathan Lockman

Instrumental: 1st: Michael Lazzaretti Josh Stratman Kaitlyn Stratman

Piano: 2nd: Tyler Kaiser 1st: Madisyn Herman Nate Lockman Josh Stratman Sam Wittmershaus Interpretive Reading:

Solo Readers 2nd: Vicky Melcher 1st: Madisyn Herman Allison Hoth Michael Lazzaretti Sam Wittmershaus Tyler Kaiser Duet Readers 2nd: Madisyn Herman/Allison Hoth 1st: Zach Kotek/Nate Lockman Josh Stratman/Kaitlyn Stratman

Trio Readers 2nd: Madisyn Herman/Allison Hoth/Vicky Melcher Michael Lazzaretti/Zachary Lazzaretti 1st: Nate Lockman/Josh Stratman/Sam Wittmershaus

WSMA Piano and Vocal Results Three students participated in the Wisconsin School Music Association’s piano compe-

tition at Luther High School. Samuel Wittmershaus performed a Class C piece and re-

ceived a 1st place. Grace Manke and Kaitlyn Stratman performed Class B pieces with

Grace receiving a 2nd and Kaitlyn receiving a 1st.

Three students participated in the Wisconsin School Music Association’s vocal compe-

tition at Melrose-Mindoro High School. In Class C, Grant and Grace Manke received a

1st place for their duet. In Class A, Grace Manke received a 2nd for her solo and the

Kaitlyn Stratman / Grace Manke duet received a 2nd.

Congratulations! Way to continue to use all of your talents to the Glory of God!

2-3 News (Mr. Groth)

4-6 News (Miss Bauer)

Page 4 The Redwing Report—April 2015

7-8 News (Mr. Payne)

Our focus for religion classes this year is to cover the Old Testament stories and how they point to the Savior of the world, Jesus. We finished studying the kings of Judah and have moved on to studying the captivity of God’s People in Babylon. Our inaugural year of MLC Meet Math competition was pretty successful. We tied for 9th out of 25 teams in our division. I’m proud of the efforts of the students who were brand new to this type of competition and the tough questions that were involved. It is a team competition, but individual scores are kept as well. Kaitlyn Stratman tied for 3rd highest score by an individual student. Way to go! In History news (is that an oxymoron?), we did a brief study of World War One and will be looking at the Great Depression followed by World War II. The research report will take up much of English class in the next month. We are a little over half-way reading The Bronze Bow. Assigning parts for the end of year play is coming up soon. Blessings on the quarter of school! - Grace and peace, Mr. Payne

4 - 6th graders, growing in wisdom: In God’s Word we are going through the life of David. God promised David that he would be king, and a kingdom is what he got. With David we have been promised a kingdom too. We live in that Kingdom every day and look forward to being with our King in Heaven. In this Lenten season we thank our Lord for the sacrifice He made so that we may be part of that Kingdom. We rejoice that our King is Risen indeed! In science we are realizing that God has created many forces around us that make life possible on this earth: gravity, friction, etc. We are into the pattern 4 sentences in English, which includes predicate nouns and are now doing great with verb tenses. The 4-6 graders are busy with geometrical ideas, probability, ratios and all kinds of wonderful concepts in math. The 4-6 girls are now playing volleyball with a couple of 7-8th graders. They are doing well and learning many skills. The 5th and 6th graders did very well with their science projects and their readings for forensics for the Science and Fine Arts day at Luther. These children are blessed with many gifts. -A joyful servant in Christ, Miss Bauer

March is now leaving like a lamb as we remember how the Lamb of God gave himself as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. The students have recently reviewed the passion history of Christ and will soon be making their way back into the Old Testament and reviewing the kings and the prophets of Israel. We will also be making our way down from the stars and the clouds and begin re-viewing the wonders of God's creation - plants and animals. The 2nd graders will be going back into their Reading Textbooks until the end of the year as the 3rd graders begin Charlotte's Web in preparation for our field trip on April 28th. Keep an eye out for infor-mation on going to the Children's Museum. Please make sure your students are keeping up with their memory work and their Log-gers Baseball Reading Minutes. I would like each student to have 750 minutes read by May 15th. -God's Blessings, Mr. Groth

PreK News (Mrs. Schmeling)

K-1 News (Mrs. Manke) This week in our Word of God stories we learned about a future king of Israel, David. We learned how God helped him fight off the giant, Goliath. We also are learning about three brave men who were thrown into a fiery furnace because they would not worship the king’s image of gold. Ask your child what happened while the men were in the fiery furnace. Kindergarteners are working on story problems in Math and still working on adding and subtracting math problems. First graders are working on three digit math problems, and will be starting to learn about regrouping in Math. This week the kindergarteners learned about Mr. R. Mr. R. has lots of rainbow ribbons because he raises roses. First graders are continuing to work hard on their fourth hard cover book. They are now mastering many words with blends and digraphs in them. On Wednesday we are having an Easter egg hunt. We still need to wear our boots and snow pants as the playground is still quite mushy and sloppy. Thanks for all the beautiful cards and kindnesses shown to me in memory of my mom, Carol Proeber. Thank you also for the beau-tiful stone bench. It will be a wonderful remembrance of my mom! Have a blessed Easter! -Yours in Christ, Mrs. Manke

March came in like a lion. In fact, most of our preschool days were “lion-like.” That didn’t stop us from playing outside at recess and building one last snowman! We also enjoyed a special day on March 17th! No, not St. Patrick’s Day. It was Mrs. Larson’s birth-day and we enjoyed special treats and activities. During this month we have noticed spring weather and other changes and studied the rainforest. In our Bible time we have studied the stories of Jesus’ suffering, death and the happy ending of Jesus’ resurrection. We were privileged to sing in church twice this month; once with the K-1 class and on Palm Sunday with the whole school. We are looking forward to warmer days ahead and preparing for Parents’ Night in May. Happy Easter!!!

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W hen my husband and I weredeciding on a name for our first

child, we received this advice: “Standon the back porch and yell the nameson your list. If you don’t like yellingthe name, it’s no good.” What was themessage? Yelling is a part of parent-hood. Yes, it is . . . and it’s on the rise.A study published in the journal

Child Development in 2014 caught a lotof people’s attention. The study, con-ducted by Ming-Te Wang and SarahKenny, surveyed almost one thousandtwo-parent families over a two-yearperiod. Parents were questioned abouttheir parenting and disciplining styles.Then the children were interviewedseparately for their perspectives onthe same issues.Here is how Sue Shellenbarger of

the Wall Street Journal reported the

findings: “Parents have been condi-tioned to avoid spanking, so theyvent their anger and frustration byshouting instead. Three out of fourparents yell, scream or shout at theirchildren or teens about once a month,on average, for misbehaving or mak-ing them angry.”This raises a lot of questions for

parents: Just what do we mean byyelling? What triggers yelling? What is a Christian parent to do? The type ofyelling we are discussing here is notthe “calling kids in for dinner” yell. Itis not the warning yell you give whena child darts out into a parking lot orstreet. It is not the “I just washed thefloor!” yell of exasperation.The type of yelling we are discussing

here involves making accusations, curs-ing, or using belittling language. It

includes the “You always . . . ” “Younever . . . ” statements. It can alsoinclude the times we completely loseour temper in front of our kids. I amgoing to go out on a limb and suggestthat the actual numbers on how muchparents yell are probably higher. Afterall, would you fess up to a completestranger about how often you “yell” atyour kids? Our sinful nature screamsat us to lie. What triggers yelling? According to

Elizabeth Marshall, school psycholo-gist and counselor, “Some commontriggers of yelling include parentalstress, parental disorganization, andlack of compliance by children toadult direction.” Did you notice twoout of the three are “parent” issues and not “child” issues? Ouch.

Linking parents to one another and the cross

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Raising Our Kids Without Raising Our Voices (Too Much!)

Heather Bode

You might know someone who hasa short fuse. This type of temperamenttends to be used as an excuse. ButMarshall says, “Yelling is a behavior,so it can be changed like other behav-iors. It takes motivation, planning, andpractice to accomplish.”What is our motivation to change?

As Christian parents, we know Godhas given children to us as gifts. Westrive to do our best with our childreneveryday. We knowhow Christ wants usto talk. The Biblespeaks to this subjectmany times. Here’sjust one example:Ephesians 4:29 says,“Do not let anyunwholesome talkcome out of yourmouths, but onlywhat is helpful forbuilding others upaccording to theirneeds, that it maybenefit those who lis-ten.” Are we “buildingup” our children withour words or tearingthem down? We needto ask ourselves, Arewe giving glory to God by the way wespeak to our children? What about the planning? Marshall

says, “A key to behavior change isreplacement of the current behavior.Yelling has to be replaced with some-thing. You don’t want to replaceyelling with sarcasm.” Remember thestudy? Our parenting public decidedspanking was unacceptable. But in theabsence of it, there was no plan.Spanking was replaced with yellingand screaming. Guess what the studyshowed? Yelling, as defined in this arti-cle and the study, is just as damagingas physical punishment. This isn’t sur-prising, is it? After all, we are dis-cussing sinful parents trying to raisesinful children. Nothing scientificabout it: This is not going to be easy.But having a plan helps. Think of thetimes you yell. Does it happen at theend of the day? during the morningrush? Is it on Friday nights as you col-lapse on the couch and survey the

wreckage of the house? Analyze your-self to find out when and where youare when these episodes occur. Thenlook at triggers other than the kids.Did you have an exceptionally busyday at work? Were you hungry? Didyou not sleep well the night before?Once you have this figured out, planwhat you will do instead of yelling. Many parenting experts suggest giv-

ing yourself a time-out when you feel

your heart racing. Try counting to 10before responding to a child. Theseideas might seem a bit childish to usas parents, but they are the same ideasJames touches on in chapter 1, verses19 and 20: “Everyone should be quickto listen, slow to speak and slow tobecome angry, for man’s anger doesnot bring about the righteous life thatGod desires.” Also, talk to your chil-dren ahead of time. Explain to them at breakfast that you had a hard timesleeping. You are worried about a pres-entation. If your kids are in school,they understand this. It happens tothem too. Even younger kids knowwhat it feels like to be tired. Ask themto recall times when they felt that way.Then they can better understand yourdisposition. Practicing is a part of parenting. If

yelling is a concern in your house, itwill not disappear overnight. It takespractice—like teaching a baby to walk,like teaching a kindergartner to tie

shoes, like teaching a middle schoolerhow to use a homework planner, liketeaching a teen to drive. Remember,we have the reassurance of Christ’sforgiveness for every time we fail! And don’t be ashamed to apologize.

Children need to see how we cope withour own imperfections. Rememberthese points:• Parents are role models. Childrenmodel our behaviors whether they

are good or bad. Ifwe yell and screamon a regular basis,so will our children.

•Choose yourwords carefully.Don’t fall into thetrap of saying, “Iam sorry, but YOUmade me.” Instead,say, “I am sorry. Ihad a bad day atwork and I amtired. I would really appreciateyour help.”

•Acknowledge mistakes and askfor forgiveness.Something simplelike, “I lost my

temper. I should not have yelled atyou. It was wrong. Please forgive me.” Then use the episode as anopportunity to talk about God’s grace and forgiveness.

Scientific studies are a great sourceof information, but we are blessed tohave a resource unlike any scientificstudy: the Bible. Go back to it. Searchit for advice, for wisdom, for under-standing, for parenting guidance, forforgiveness, for strength. Lean onGod’s Word and pray for help so ourwords to our children may be likethose mentioned in Proverbs 1:8,9:“Listen, my son, to your father’sinstruction and do not forsake yourmother’s teaching. They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.”

Heather Bode lives in Helena, Montana, whereher husband serves as pastor for Valley ViewLutheran Church. They have been blessed withfive children.

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Raising Our Kids Without Raising Our Voices (Too Much!) . . . cont.

“Yelling is a behavior, so it can be changed

like other behaviors.”

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Egg DecoratingFinish the picture on each Easter egg. Celebrate that Jesus lived, died, and rose for you!

A Week of WorshipInvolve the entire family in making a display about Holy Week. The Bible readings tell about Jesus’ perfect life,loving example, and fulfillment of his Father’s plan of salvation.

On the Saturday before Palm Sunday, lay a white cloth on a table or a mantle. This represents Jesus’ perfect life.Read 2 Corinthians 5:21 and Romans 5:8. On Palm Sunday, lay a branch on the left end of the cloth and read thesuggested passages. Continue in this manner each day of Holy Week. The remaining items are a Bible, a heart, oil,a towel and rope, a cross, a closed tomb (drawing or clay tomb and a rock), and an open tomb and butterfly.

Palm Maundy Good Easter Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

Celebrate Easter!

angel

cross

lily(new life)

butterfly(new life)

Matthew Matthew Matthew Mark John John Matthew Matthew21:1-11 5:17,18; 22:34-40 14:3-9 13:3-17; 19:16-30, 27:62-66 28:1-10

12:17-21 18:1-8,12 38-42

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M ike eased the car to a stop, jumpedout, and hurriedly hugged his two

children as they struggled to shouldertheir backpacks. Then they were off,running up the ramp on the way totheir classrooms. They would be justin time, but he would be late for work. As he merged back onto the

expressway, he took a deep breath and tried to relax. “I guess this is justthe way it is going to be,” he sighed tono one but himself. The ever-increasingtraffic was making the drive to theLutheran elementary school morechallenging. For the third time in twoweeks, an accident had brought trafficto a near standstill. What was normallya 35-minute drive had become 55minutes. He knew he would get somecross-eyed glances from his coworkersas he walked in late again. But when Mike and Shelly had made

the decision to send their children tothe Lutheran elementary school on theother side of the city, they knew therewould be challenges. They readily, andeven gladly, accepted those challenges.They knew they were the challengesChristian parents face. They wantedtheir children to receive an educationthat was focused on God’s Word. They recognized that their children

were growing up in a world in whichSatan’s voice is loud and clear. The chil-dren heard his voice on the television.They heard his voice in the musicstreaming through their earbuds. Theyheard the echo of his voice in thethoughts of their own hearts. Mikeand Shelly had wanted their childrento receive an education that wouldhelp them recognize the voice of Satan.They wanted them to attend a school

that would be allowed to use the lawand gospel when disciplining theirchildren, instead of mere behaviormodification techniques. They wantedtheir children to be able to hear thatthey were forgiven because of Jesus.They wanted their children to receivean education in a place where theatmosphere was permeated with thelove of God. So they gladly accepted

the challenges that went with it—thecost of tuition, the time spent on theroad, the wear and tear on the car(even the frustrated glances fromcoworkers when Mike came in late). But Mike knew that was the easy

part of being a Christian parent—justone small slice of the responsibility he shouldered as a key spiritual trainerin the family.

He played his major role in thehome. It was there that he faced moreand even greater challenges. And itwas there that the most important partof the children’s Christian educationwould take place. Shortly after Shelly had given birth

to Micah, their first child, Mike’s fatherhad handed him a card on which hehad written the following words:“These commandments that I give youtoday are to be upon your hearts. Impressthem on your children. Talk about themwhen you sit at home and when you walkalong the road, when you lie down andwhen you get up. Tie them as symbols onyour hands and bind them on your fore-heads. Write them on the doorframes ofyour houses and on your gates”(Deuteronomy 6:6-9).“Mike,” his father had said as he

handed him the card. “God has justgiven Shelly and you an awesome gift.And you will soon see that your lifewill never be the same,” he addedwith a knowing wink and a smile.“He has also entrusted you with anawesome privilege. You are the onewho gets to be God’s spokesman forMicah. You are the one who gets toshow him the powerful God wholoves us and protects us. You are theone who gets to tell him about Jesus.Mike, I hope you will read thesewords often and think about them.There is nothing in these words thatgives the impression that your role asthe spiritual trainer is a part-time job.It isn’t a matter only of taking Micahto be baptized and then to churchevery Sunday. Don’t get me wrong.Those are huge. But you also need tobe with him, to teach him to recog-

An AwesomePrivilege Ray Schumacher

The mostimportantpart of the children’s Christian educationtakes place in the home.

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nize the hand of God in the blessingshe will enjoy, to teach him to pray,and to teach him that there is a pow-erful and loving God to whom he canpray. You need to teach him what thecommandments mean in his life andthat his sins are sins against the onlytrue God, the God who is holy. Andyou have to teach him about forgive-ness in Jesus. All throughout the daysGod gives you together, you will havemany opportunities to teach. Mike,that is the assignment God gave youwhen he blessed you with a child.”His father’s words returned to him

often as he watched Micah grow, andlater again when Emily was born.With each passing year, the assign-

ment seemed to grow tougher. Theywere so busy. There were so manyactivities. Often they didn’t even eatmeals together. If it wasn’t for the timespent in the car on the way to school,some days there barely would be timeto talk. And the sinful nature seemedto have no end of creative excuses forbypassing the spiritual discussions.But Mike looked for opportunities to

teach, even if it was just in response toan offhand comment about a friend’sfather being sick, an argument thatone of the children had with a class-mate, or something the teacher didthat didn’t seem fair to the thinkingof a fifth-grade student. Mike lookedfor opportunities to talk about sin andforgiveness and trust and respect, andmore. Though Shelly and Mike hadgiven up on having family devotionsseven days a week, they had not givenup on having formal family devotions.For a while they tried Saturday devo-tions, just before their special breakfastbrunch. And Wednesday eveningsusually were free. From season to season, as the activities changed, theyhad to be willing to adapt. But onehard-and-fast rule in their house wasthat every night as they tucked thekids in bed, they would talk about the Bible lesson the children werestudying in school that week. Theywould think of one application of thelesson in their own lives. Then theywould include a thought about that in the regular bedtime prayer. Those

impromptu devotions often generated a lot of discussion. But perhaps mostimportant, it demonstrated to the chil-dren that God’s Word was importantto their parents. Mike and Shelly thanked God for

the in-depth Bible study that nurturedtheir children in their school. But theyalso knew that if they didn’t take thelead in their home, if spiritual discus-sions were all but absent, the childrenmight assume that what they learnedin school had no real meaningful con-nection to life. So Mike and Shellytalked about their love and respect forGod. They taught their children howto pray. They admitted their own sins.They rejoiced in God’s forgiveness.They did this as often as they could,ever mindful of God’s Word throughMoses, “Talk about [the commandments]when you sit at home and when you walkalong the road, when you lie down andwhen you get up” (Deuteronomy 6:7).

Ray Schumacher serves as curriculum and serieseditor for Northwestern Publishing House.

W hat does believing in Easter even look like for an elementary

school student? You can’t see into thesoul and check some “How importantEaster is to me” gauge. But the fact of Jesus’ bodily resurrection is a rock-your-world kind of fact—if it has “rocked” your child’s world, itought to show somehow, right?We are practiced observers of our

children. Are they crabby today? okaywith school responsibilities? dressedappropriately? adjusting to puberty?making friends? We try to make sureour radars pick up problems in any of these areas. But Easter faith mattersmore than any of those things. Howmuch would our radars pick up problems in our kids’ Easter faith? or their evidence of that faith? But now, with questions like those,

we aren’t just talking about howimportant Jesus’ resurrection is to our children but also about howimportant it is to us. I suppose wewould coax our children to expresstheir Easter faith more if Jesus’ resurrection mattered more to us.The Easter angel’s message, “He is

risen,” could matter more to us—a lot more.

How would that happen?Daily we could think about specific

sins and thank Jesus that he finishedpaying for them—rising from the tombproved he was finished. Easter meansforgiveness.Daily we could consider specific

promises of Jesus we’llbe counting on. WhenJesus kept his hugepromise to rise again, heproved he is trustworthy.Easter means sure promises.We could remember what

he’s doing now that he’s alive: rul-ing every nation, event, emotion, andmoment for our sakes. Easter meansour Savior rules all the universe.There’s death too. We could daily

remember we’re dying and howunimaginably splendid it’ll be to riselike Jesus. Easter means eternal life!But we’d better not wait until we

form such daily thought habits, tillEaster means more, till it electrifies our souls with joy. Our children’s soulsare too precious. It’s time to coax them to express their Easter faith now and from now on.

How do we do that?At Easter time, we can do family

activities: memorize Easter hymnstogether, make decorations or tablefavors or write a special prayer for Easterdinner, make a YouTube video togetherof the Easter story with Legos, make“Easter Story Cookies” the night before(Google it—we do it every year! My kidslove it, even the older ones), etc.Year round, every so often, we can

ask our kids Easter questions. Questionsare a handy way to gauge what anyonebelieves. “How would life (or prayersor our hopes) be different if Jesus weredead?” When they’re doing something

they enjoy, you could ask, “Would youstill enjoy doing that if Jesus weren’talive? Why?” After church ask, “Whydoes Pastor end so many prayers bysaying to Jesus, ‘you live and reign’?”Anytime ask, “What are some troublesyou have been trusting your livingSavior with lately?” Treasure theiranswers!On top of that, we can regularly

express our own Easter joy. For example, “I’m sure glad Jesus is alive,because . . . ” Or “I was really gettingstressed out about _______—guess I was forgetting Jesus is alive.”Finally, we can pray a lot bigger

about our children’s Easter faith: that it would be perfected, that we couldsee it often, and that God would usethem to bring others to Easter faith.Jesus’ resurrection is the fundamentalfact of our faith. It deserves to be fun-damental in our prayers for our kids.And it’s the fundamental reason we canbe sure such prayers will be answered!

Pastor Christopher Doerr serves as broad reacheditor for Northwestern Publishing House. He livesin Milwaukee with his wife, Carrie, and their sixsons. Their daughter experiences the perfect fulfill-ment of the Easter promise in heaven with Jesus.

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Jesus’ bodily resurrection is a ROCK-YOUR-WORLD kind of fact.

How Do I Teach the Importance of

Christopher Doerr

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E very neighborhood has one. Youknow, a house that seems to draw

the local kids. Kool-Aid flows. Cookiesabound. And the parents who live thereseem to thrive on kid-powered energy.Our house is evolving into a house

like that. And we’re finding some unex-pected extra blessings and eternalbenefits.Maybe you would like an open-door

policy for your home too. The mainingredient in a neighborhood house isa kid-loving parent. I’m not implyingthat some parents don’t love their kids.It’s just that open-door parents seemnaturally equipped to tolerate lots ofextra commotion. They are blessedwith large, welcoming hearts. Theydon’t get uptight about dirty glasses or fingerprints. Their goal is simply to enjoy their kids. And they considertheir kids’ friends to be happy, addedblessings of family life.If your neighborhood is anything

like mine, it’s not filled wall-to-wallwith Christians. That makes yourneighborhood your closest missionfield. Opportunity after opportunitymarch past the members of yourhousehold every day. Talk about theSavior with the neighborhood kids.Invite unchurched neighbors to comewith you to your church’s VBS orSunday school program. Don’t beembarrassed to pray or conduct familydevotions if neighborhood childrenare present. Childhood treats, thoughenjoyed for the moment, may becomeeven more important if they help youintroduce your neighbors to Jesus.Make it obvious that he lives at yourhouse, day and night, as a permanentfamily resident.

You can start laying out the welcomemat while your kids are still babies.Playgroups are natural places to inter-act with area families. Make your homechild friendly, with playground toys inyour backyard. Enjoy spending timeout there with your own kids. That letsothers know how much you value chil-dren and respect their time to play.As you welcome neighborhood kids

into your home, you are teaching yourchildren the importance of friendship.

I cringe a bit when my daughter makessure everyone in the yard has as muchKool-Aid as they can hold. But I’malso proud that she wants to relievetheir thirst. I hope that by teaching her to be a friend, she will also havemany friends.Not all the children will come from

homes that reflect Christian values.Questionable computer games, foullanguage, or R-rated videos are hardlya rarity in any neighborhood. It’s ourjob to provide a contrasting lifestyle forthe children who live in these homes.

And they will see the difference whenthey find their way into a home settingfilled with godly models.Your first invitation doesn’t have to

be anything special. Nor does it haveto be for a long visit. The importantthing is to make kids feel welcome.They’ll know you’re sincere by thekindness you show them.Sometimes kindness takes the

form of rules. When it is necessary to discipline neighborhood children,they’ll understand you have their best interest at heart. They will seethat your correction is tempered with love.We recently purchased our own

home. The mostly finished basementprovides plenty of overflow spacewhere our children can play. One ofour friends remarked how wonderfulthat space will be in the upcomingteenage years. Her point was welltaken. One of the best things aboutmaking your home the place to be isthat it gives you a chance to superviseand observe what goes on in yourchild’s life.Being an open-door parent while

your kids are young sets you up foreven more parenting joy during yourchild’s teenage years. It’s good trainingfor the time when their tastes turn tosoda and chips. But even more impor-tant, you will find many new opportu-nities to serve spiritual snacks alongwith the other refreshments.

Laurie Starr and her husband, Pastor RichardStarr, live in Bay City, Michigan. She first wrotethis article for the Lutheran Parent magazine in 1999. The changing demographics in ourneighborhoods make the message even more relevant today.

The Welcome Mat Is OutLaurie Starr

Your closest mission field

is right outside yourfront door.

"Mom, why did you count to 10?"

Parents Crosslink is published byNorthwestern Publishing House fourtimes annually in partnership with theWisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod’sCommissions on Youth Discipleship,Adult Discipleship, and Lutheran Schools.All comments should be directed inwriting to Ray Schumacher, Editor,1250 North 113th Street, Milwaukee, WI53226 or schumacherr@nph.wels.net.

For subscription rates or other questionsregarding subscriptions, call NPHSubscription Services at 1-800-662-6093.

Copy Editor – Sara LovelaceArt Director – Karen KnutsonDesigners – Paula Clemons & SarahMessner All Scripture quotations, unless otherwiseindicated, are taken from the Holy Bible,New International Version®. Copyright©1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Usedby permission of Zondervan. All rightsreserved worldwide. All materials con-tained in Parents Crosslink are protectedunder U.S. copyright law.C

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The Joy ofTeaching

What an awesome job I’ve got,to nurture this dear precious totand help him know his sin was boughtwhen Jesus gave his blood and soughtto save the soul of every tot.

What an awesome job I’ve got,to share the gospel with this totand root in him with every thoughtthe prize of heaven Jesus broughtto save the soul of every tot.

What an awesome job I’ve got,to teach against the devil’s plotand amplify what Jesus taughtand glorify what God has wroughtto save the soul of every tot!

Written by MaryAnn Sundby, 2014

John Juern

I n Greek mythology, Narcissus was a proud youngman who fell in love with his own reflection to the

point that he couldn’t leave it. The story is a myth, butnarcissism—loving oneself above all else—lives on.Narcissism comes naturally; it’s part of our sinful,

human nature. We are told in Genesis chapter 8 that“every inclination of [man’s] heart is evil from child-hood” (verse 21). Narcissism occurs in young childrenwhen they can only think of their own needs. WithChristian training, a child learns to see Jesus as themost important person in life. A child also learns howcaring about others and being sensitive to their needscan show love for Jesus.Some children continue to be narcissistic and may

even continue that lifestyle into adulthood. They bragabout their abilities and believe their accomplishmentsare greater than those of others. They lack compassionand find it difficult to put the welfare of others abovetheir own. Their thinking can be summarized in thewords “I am better than you are—I am number one.”Paul addressed narcissism when he wrote, “Do not

think of yourself more highly than you ought”(Romans 12:3).Narcissism is defeated when parents teach their

children about Jesus’ love for them. In the sacrifice of their Savior, they recognize how serious their sinis—how they have missed the mark of perfection and how they rely on God’s grace. As children learnof Jesus’ love, they need to be taught how they canreturn that love. Parents also need to train their children not to

be self-centered. As parents model selfless love anddemonstrate their concern for others, children learn a valuable lesson. On the other hand, parents fosterself-centeredness by overindulging their children orcontinually protecting them from experiencing theconsequences of their bad choices.How tragic it is to spend a lifetime thinking only

of oneself! How wonderful it is to live life for Christby caring about others!

Dr. John Juern is a clinical psychologist and a former WELS teacherand principal.

Narcissism is defeated when parents teach their children about Jesus’ love for them.

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