Thursday, April 8, 2010

Teaching that we're here to serve



Around here we believe in our boys working and working hard.
Three out of our four boys have jobs that put a little jingle in their pocket.

Tucker,14, cuts grass and weed eats.He takes care of all of our animals on the
farm, orders chickens, and is in charge of the feed for the rest of the animals.
Alot rests on his ability to be responsible.We taught him these things and
we expect him to be a working asset to our family.
When he does things for our farm he does not get paid. We have the
mind set that if you live here you do your part.He has a side job of
mowing grass and yard work in which he gets paid. This week he has been
bartering with family friends.Our friend Brock Ray (who has a hunting
radio show and hunting DVDs) is having a Videography school in which
men from all across the nation come and learn from the best how
to have their own video business.It's 5 days of intense learning and Tucker
is doing yard work for Brock in exchange for the classes.
He is being taught lighting, how to video weddings and anything outdoors.
They teach him how to start a business from the ground up.

This is huge for a 14 year old guy.The Lord has given Tucker a unique love for cameras
and electronics. We stress the importance of Tucker having
a job that will allow him to be at home with his family as much as possible and have him learning things that he can pass down to his children.
So this is an opportunity that the Lord has given Tucker
to put him on a path of providing for his family.









Cooper is eight.We expect Cooper to work hard and he does.
He helped his dad cement fence post just this
past weekend.He loves getting dirty and he loves working
along side his dad.His brother is teaching him about the farm
and the jobs that will be passed down to him.
He has a small rabbit manure business in which
he sells buckets of manure for 5 dollars.
(In case you didn't know, rabbit manure is incredible
for your garden.)






Cullen is five.
He has a small money making job of gathering eggs for his grandmother and walking them 1/2 mile to her house. Cullen is in the early part of his training but he is learning from his brothers
that this is just a way of life.
Every Friday Scott takes a different child to work with him for half of a day.He starts with the oldest and works his way down to the youngest.They have to carry bags for him and learn to talk to the customers. This is not always very convenient for Scott but he is determined to have the kids with him as much as possible. Teaching them any chance he gets that Men have to work.They have to be about the business of taking care of their families.
We say this to them over and over and over.
One of my favorite things to ask Cullen
is "Cullen, why are you here?"
I'm here to serve mom!




It's our job as parents to equip them with the tools to do this job well.We are all here to serve.
My boys need to be taught that, Lord willing, they will have a wife one day and children
who will need them to provide for them.




The boys aren't the only ones who

have an extra job.

Taylor, our (almost!)17 year old, works

for her dad two days a week by

calling his customers and taking orders

over the phone. She is learning

to bless her father by honoring him as she
talks to his customers.
We are teaching her that someday she will
honor her husband and work for him..
We as parents have to be diligent in finding ways
for our children to learn to work and work with
the attitude of service.
The things we are doing with our children
were not set in our lap, we sought these things out
intentionally and made sacrifices to make them happen.

This is not always an easy road.

We are constantly training our children

in attitude and disciplining them when needed.

Our children have to see us work hard

and be about our work with a good attitude.

They will not learn to serve well if

we are not serving well..(ask me how I know this)



7 comments:

Sheila said...

I appreciate your insights. Today my 22 year old has a job interview....just for temporary summer employment (he is still in college). I no longer have authority to "instruct" him how to spend what he earns.....and I am praying so hard that this summer he will strive to save instead of spend....and will want to tithe....it is hard for me....I want him to have the maturity of a 40 year old!!!! :)

Titus2Mom said...

WoW!!! I loved that post!! Great work!


BTW can Tucker and I work something out so I can learn what he learned. I would love to know about lighting and such for our films!

Titus2Mom said...

Oh! That last comment was by Jessica!

Missy said...

I think that is wonderful. We told the kids the other day on a sunny day they could go to the park maybe later and play. They said they would rather work in the yard with Daddy and have it looking nice for Spring. Yard work for us is no small task we live partially in woods and we have leaves still running out our ears. They will be wore out but it's the good kind! Wonderful post, I plan on letting all my children read it. Thanks so much, Missy in TN

Just A Family said...

Missy,
Sounds like you guys are well on the right path:(
Somedays I wonder.....
I love hearing your thoughts!

Robin

Just A Family said...

Green Gardening girls!

Tucker said he would be glad to show you what he knows..(for a price of course.):)

love you guys,
Robin

Laurel said...

What a wonderful post! We have seen this to be true in our family, as well.

Our teens and young adults always been known around town as the "ones to call" if someone has an odd job to do.

My now 16 year old son, saved up his lawn mowing money and bought a $1200 camera the week after his 15th birthday. Then, he saved for another year, and bought a $1500 computer (for editing his photography work) the week after his 16th birthday. He assists his oldest sister when she does wedding photography, and he has already started doing his own Senior Pictures for high school students.

My girls have done a LOT of babysitting over the years (and 2 of my boys were great babysitters, as well). We always encouraged our daughters to do a bit of volunteer/ministry babysitting as well as the childcare that they did to earn money. They never minded when we saw a ministry need and told a young mom, "My daughter would love to babysit for you, and you won't need to pay her this time." Seriously ... it didn't bother them. They LOVE to serve others.

We also used to own a small blueberry farm, so my children learned to work the farm. They worked all year, without pay, as "part of the team". But, they could then earn money for picking berries, right along the other workers that we hired. And, we would pay them to take turns selling berries at the farm stand.

Right now, we are praying about the purchase of a 20 acre farm. We want to do more blueberries ... and raise a few chickens and cows. Our older 6 children all had the farm experience, and we are really looking forward to it for these 6 younger ones.

My husband has also painted houses every summer ... and the teens have all been taught how to be professional painters (the girls and the guys). Yes ... it is so very good for the children to work with their fathers.

I LOVE reading about your family ... and the pics are great, too.

Blessings,

Laurel

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