For DAD Only:
Over Worked
Is your wife run ragged being nursemaid and slave to your children? If so, Dad, you’ve not done your job of teaching them to carry their part of the load. Some people have marveled about our “big family” (although personally I do not think five kids constitute a big family). They look at their two children who consume all their energy and say, “I couldn’t imagine having more than two!”
Regarding functionality, the number of children doesn’t matter as long as they know how to work. Workless kids have a worthless future. “The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat” (Proverbs 13:4). Where do your sons and daughters fall, in relation to this passage? Do they desire, but wait for someone else to do it? If my kids want pancakes, they know they will be making them. If they want a family fun night, they know who will be cleaning the living room. The one who balks and slinks away from the job gets nothing in my home.
Kids love responsibility when you present it right. One grandpa told his city slicker grandkids that they didn’t have what it took to pick corn with him. They kept begging until finally he let them. Who would have thought that two elementary kids would enjoy picking sticky, sweaty corn? Whether our children like work or not often relates to how we present the project to them.
As soon as my child is old enough to take out the toys, he is old enough to do little jobs. It shouldn’t surprise us that if they can take it out, they can put it away. If they can sort the circle, square, and rectangle blocks into separate slots, they can sort the forks, spoons, and knives (butter, not steak) into the silverware tray. We’re not teaching slavery; we want them to learn there is more to life than just fun. Raise your kids to depend on you for everything, and you will end up with a teenager you want to kick out of the house.
Examine your children this week. Are you raising welfare cases or executives?
Here’s some ideas on how your kids can make some extra cash, or even begin their own business now: Click here.
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Dad, share this story with your kids:
Grandpa’s Project
Rusty and Misty were sitting in Grandma’s kitchen eating cookies, while waiting for Mom and Dad to come back from their trip. Just then, Grandpa pulled up the drive and parked his old truck in the garage. Rusty ran out the kitchen door to meet him.
“Grandpa, you should have seen it! I almost caught a huge lizard in your backyard.”
“You did?” Grandpa said with a chuckle. “Well, I wish you would have caught him. I think he’s been eating all the good bugs from my garden.”
“I almost had him,” Rusty explained, “but then I bonked my head on the bridge.”
“Oooo!” Grandpa said with a frown. “Now don’t go getting yourself hurt.”
“I’m okay now.” Rusty noticed Grandpa drop the tailgate of his truck and begin pulling things out of the truck bed. “Can I help?” he asked.
“Sure. Grab a couple of those two-by-fours there,” Grandpa told him.
Rusty grabbed the lumber and followed Grandpa who set the materials down at the back of his garage, on a sawhorse.
“What are you building?”
“A dog house.”
“A dog house? You don’t even have a dog, do you?”
Grandpa shook his head. “No, but the neighbors do. And the poor thing has to sleep out in the rain.”
“When are you going to build it?”
“Oh, right away, I guess.”
“Can I help?” Rusty asked.
“I don’t know. Aren’t your folks coming for you soon?”
“Yes, sir. But they won’t be here for a couple more hours.”
“Well, I think you could be a big help.”
Rusty helped Grandpa get the plywood out of the back of the truck, and they set it near the sawhorses.
“Now what?” he asked.
“I need my circular saw.”
Rusty walked to the tool cabinet and looked inside. “Is it blue?” he asked.
“Yes, that’s the one.”
Rusty brought the saw to Grandpa, who was measuring and marking the 2×4’s with a pencil. Rusty plugged the saw into an outlet, and Grandpa cut the boards down to size. When the saw quit running, Rusty picked up all the boards and stacked them by their sizes while Grandpa marked out some more 2×4’s. He cut them and Rusty grouped them together as well.
“Some are long and some are short,” Rusty noticed.
“Yes. The long ones will be horizontal with the floor; the shorter ones will go vertical with the wall.”
“How do you know what size to cut them?”
“Because I have plans,” Grandpa said, pointing toward the counter where a piece of paper showed a diagram of a doghouse with step-by-step plans for making it.
“That’s nice.”
“Yes, Rusty. You need a plan for making something. You don’t want to just start cutting the lumber or you will waste it.”
Rusty looked at the plan with a frown. “So what do we do next? Cut the plywood?”
“Yes. We cut it for the walls and floor.”
Rusty helped get the sheet of plywood up on the sawhorses. Grandpa began measuring and marking for the cuts. Then he took out a long metal ruler and laid it on the wood.
“What’s that?” Rusty asked.
“This is what I call a ‘straight edge.’”
“A straight edge? What’s it for?”
“Well, it’s a four-foot long ruler that I can run my pencil along to be sure I get a nice straight cut. See? I make a mark here and here, then I connect the two by drawing a line with this straight edge.”
Grandpa picked up the saw and cut across the plywood, following the line he’d drawn.
Rusty caught the end that fell off. He looked closely at the edge. “That is nice and straight.”
“Yes, my boy, if we don’t cut the wood right, the whole house will come out crooked.”
“That would be a mess.”
“Yes. It’s like building your life, Rusty. You have to start off with Jesus first. Without Him, our lives won’t measure up and everything we do won’t fit right.” Grandpa made some more marks on the plywood.
“I’m glad I know Him. I’m glad my whole family knows Him.”
“You are very fortunate, son. My family didn’t. I didn’t get the Holy Ghost until after I had married your grandma. I had to change a lot of things before my life started making sense.” He picked up the saw and cut again.
Rusty walked over to the tool cabinet again and found a can of nails. “Are we going to need these?”
Grandpa smiled. “You are on the ball. Better find a couple hammers, too.”
Rusty took a couple hammers off the hook while Grandpa pulled out a caulking gun and put a tube in it.
“What’s that?” Rusty asked.
“Construction adhesive. It’s thick glue for holding wood together.”
“Why do you use that if we are using nails?”
“Because dogs are rough on things, and nails can work their way out. This glue keeps it all together better than just nails.”
Grandpa nailed the ends of two boards together. Rusty picked up two 2×4’s and nailed them the same way. Soon, they had a frame that looked like the skeleton of a doghouse.
“Now, the glue.” Grandpa showed Rusty how to squeeze the handle on the gun to make the glue flow out of the tube. He put the adhesive on one side of the 2×4 frame, and Grandpa set the cut plywood on it. He nailed it down with shiny nails. “See these nails, Rusty?”
“Yes, they are bright.”
“They are stainless steel, which means they won’t rust. Since they are going to be on the outside of the house, we don’t want them rusting and making the house look ugly.”
“But we are going to paint it, right?”
“Yes. But we always use quality materials, son. Eventually the paint wears through and cheap nails will rust. If we do it right, this little house will last for many years.”
They nailed on the floor and all the walls using glue and rust-proof nails. “Now, what about the roof?” Rusty asked, as they finished using all the boards they had cut.
Grandpa smiled. “I was wondering when you would ask. Come here.” Rusty followed Grandpa outside to the shed. In the back of the shed, Grandpa pulled out a couple pieces of metal roofing. “These were left over from when I built the shed. We’ll simply cut them to size, and screw them onto the doghouse.
Grandpa got Rusty started painting the house while he cut the metal roof. Then, using a cordless drill and special screws, they mounted the roof panels onto the doghouse. By the time they finished, the house had dried enough to put another coat of paint on it. Rusty picked a can of bright yellow as the finish coat on the house.
When they finished, Rusty stepped back and looked at the gleaming little house. “That looks awesome! I can’t believe we built it ourselves.”
“See, it’s not hard to do good work, Rusty. It just takes a little patience and effort.”
“Yep. Now, when can we give it to your neighbor?”
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What do you think Grandpa thinks of hard work? Why do you say that?
What do you think Rusty thinks of hard work?
Why were they building the doghouse?
What did Rusty learn during this project?
What did Grandpa tell him about having plans?
Do you think God cares how they put the little house together?
Grandpa said that if they did a good job, it would last how long?
What are some projects you like to do?
What can you improve about your work? Do you think about how long something will last when you do it, or do you do it just to get it done?
What does Proverbs 13:4 have to say about being responsible and working hard?
What kind of plans do we follow to build good lives?
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Read the following scripture with the family:
House by Hard Work
Matthew 7:21-27
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
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What kind of building project is Jesus referring to here?
Our lives.
What is the rock we build on?
Jesus’ teachings.
What kind of materials do we use?
The Bible. Prayer. Church. Good friends.
How do most people build their lives?
By just doing what feels good.
When do we realize how strong our lives are?
When trials (floods, winds, rain) come in our lives. These troubles test our true nature.
Role Play: You know someone who is cross-eyed. Your friends like to laugh and make fun of her. One day you think of something really funny to say about this person. How do you build your life on Jesus instead?
You are at the store and see someone drop a ten dollar bill on the floor. The person doesn’t notice the loss and no one else sees what happened either. You hesitate about what to do and watch the customer leave the front door. Now that the coast is clear, what would person with a sandy foundation do? What would a rock foundation do?
These lessons are wonderful. My children love them. Thanks for making them available.