Speaker 1: Please help me appreciate, pastor Su.
Speaker 1: Am I on?
Speaker 1: Hello, thank you, thank you, let's appreciate, pastor Su.
Speaker 1: For those who didn't hear that, I can tell you staying with children is a gift.
Speaker 1: Amen.
Speaker 1: Some of you parents know this.
Speaker 1: Sometimes, when they are on holiday, you're wishing they can go back to school.
Speaker 1: It's easier to pay school fees.
Speaker 1: Well, we thank God for that gift.
Speaker 1: I just want to say praise God, paki.
Speaker 1: I do thank God for saving me in 1991, 4th December, at Nairobi, pentecostal Valley Road, and I see Pete on there.
Speaker 1: Pete, your family was so instrumental in helping us grow.
Speaker 1: God bless you and it's good to see you walking the walk.
Speaker 1: It's very encouraging, isn't it?
Speaker 1: 1991 to date.
Speaker 1: And I tell you, god is good.
Speaker 1: It's not my own doing.
Speaker 1: I know I've done stuff.
Speaker 1: He's forgiven me, dusted me, and his grace is sufficient.
Speaker 1: Amen.
Speaker 1: I want to appreciate the invite, thanking Pastor Ambrose, who's my neighbor and villagemate.
Speaker 1: We live in the same neighborhood.
Speaker 1: His house overlooks my house, so I can say he perhaps sometimes looks down on me, not in a bad way, maybe praying for our CTC, and it's a blessing to just live in the same neighborhood.
Speaker 1: Pastor Simon, I honor you and the work that you do here.
Speaker 1: God bless you, pastor Sue, and all the pastors here at Paki.
Speaker 1: God bless you for the great work that you do.
Speaker 1: I'd like to appreciate, in absentia, your moderator, faith Ouko.
Speaker 1: She set this all up, hooked me with Pastor Ambrose and we started conversations.
Speaker 1: We've done talks at the school, I've been here before and we're carrying on in this journey of parenting and also to appreciate my younger brother he was here earlier AK.
Speaker 1: He comes to the church here.
Speaker 1: He is much lighter than I am.
Speaker 1: Me, I'm well done.
Speaker 1: God is good like that.
Speaker 1: I'm well done and I thank God for that.
Speaker 1: But then just to say, in the congregation my family is around my wife and four daughters.
Speaker 1: Our son lives on his own and I'll be sharing that a little bit, but thank you for coming.
Speaker 1: And also I want to mention some giants here.
Speaker 1: They said please keep it low key, but I can't help it Polenny.
Speaker 1: I'd like to mention Anzaya Akatsa and his wife, beautiful wife Bethay.
Speaker 1: And I'd like to say this if we're doing great things, we're standing on the shoulders of those giants and we appreciate them for keeping this journey of parenting.
Speaker 1: We can give a hand clap to them.
Speaker 1: I will not make them stand, because we had an agreement.
Speaker 1: You know not to have all this going on, but I'll be happy to see you after the service.
Speaker 1: So I'm going to be speaking about parenting and before some of you check out and say I'm not a parent or I've already parented, let me just say this the principles I'll be sharing are the same as for mentoring or for relationships, or even for supervision or a team leader.
Speaker 1: They are the same principles.
Speaker 1: God is so, so good In the words of Les Sober.
Speaker 1: Les Sober was a former White House President, george Bush advisor, and this is what he said about parenting.
Speaker 1: He said that parenting is the most demanding job on the planet.
Speaker 1: Can you imagine A president's superpower, a president's advisor, saying that parenting is the most demanding job on the planet?
Speaker 1: And it is.
Speaker 1: And it's even getting worse.
Speaker 1: Tell your neighbors it's getting worse.
Speaker 1: Used to be.
Speaker 1: They say that it takes a village to raise a child.
Speaker 1: But our village is not what it used to be.
Speaker 1: Our village has changed.
Speaker 1: We are also individualistic.
Speaker 1: When I drive into our estate, I don't want to be disturbed.
Speaker 1: You know, the watchman had a thing of passing me service charging voices and I said I want peace when I come home.
Speaker 1: My house has been there all through, keep it there, and so we drive in, park and you don't want even to interact with your neighbors.
Speaker 1: That's the village we're living in.
Speaker 1: It's tough, we're living in very tough times, so this call is very, very demanding, but thank God for the village, like a church, like Paki, that acknowledges that.
Speaker 1: I was so blessed to see what's happening in this church and I commented during the early first service break you guys are in a blessed church, a church that has all generations and acknowledges and supports all generations.
Speaker 1: I've been to churches where it's only the younger or a church where it's only the old.
Speaker 1: Yet we need each other.
Speaker 1: Tell your neighbor, we need each other.
Speaker 1: So I'm going to be introducing my family Media.
Speaker 1: If you have that picture, let's see.
Speaker 1: If it's there.
Speaker 1: Just a picture of them.
Speaker 1: Technology is misbehaving.
Speaker 1: It has done that for Bill Gates.
Speaker 1: So who am I?
Speaker 1: There's no respect of persons.
Speaker 1: Anyway, I'm sure it's going to come up, but there's a picture there of my wife and family our son David and his wife Michelle.
Speaker 1: They live in Germany.
Speaker 1: That's where our son works.
Speaker 1: And then there is our second born daughter.
Speaker 1: It's called Amanda.
Speaker 1: Amanda just finished University of Nairobi law and she just did her CPA for exams.
Speaker 1: She's been doing both together.
Speaker 1: I'm in quite a focused person and we thank God for that.
Speaker 1: Then there is Nehema, who follows Amanda.
Speaker 1: She's in Form 4 this year Also will be sitting for exams, and Nehema was a child that came to us as a surprise.
Speaker 1: That's why we called her Nehema.
Speaker 1: You know the way you have a boy and a girl and you think we are good, and then she shows up and she's just been a blessing, and then we thought that was enough.
Speaker 1: Then number four came, and now we were even confused what we even call them, what we call her.
Speaker 1: But the day she was being born there was a lot of joy in the room and so we called her Joy.
Speaker 1: And Joy is such a joy.
Speaker 1: In fact, her laughter is contagious.
Speaker 1: She can just be laughing out of the blues and I thank God for the children.
Speaker 1: So I don't know what's happening to my slides, but immediately, are we OK?
Speaker 1: Ok, fine, I'm sure we'll catch up.
Speaker 1: So let me move on, even for the sake of time.
Speaker 1: I'll be speaking about the four Ps of parenting and the fifth P, and I'll begin by saying that parenting is preparing your children to leave home.
Speaker 1: I'll repeat that Parenting is preparing your children to leave home.
Speaker 1: That was saved by Dr James Dobson, president and founder of Focus or Family.
Speaker 1: If you are a parent, if you find a book by Dr James Dobson, please get it.
Speaker 1: It will help you Now notice.
Speaker 1: The word live L-E-A-V-E is not the same.
Speaker 1: It's not live L-I-V-E.
Speaker 1: Are we together?
Speaker 1: The word live is not L-I-V-E, even though they sound the same.
Speaker 1: Sadly, most parents, instead of preparing the children for the world, they are busy preparing the world for their children.
Speaker 1: And you know what happens.
Speaker 1: You prepare the world for the children.
Speaker 1: By the time they get out there, the world has changed and they can't even handle it.
Speaker 1: You're busy even acquiring wealth, saying that I'm doing this to save God for my children.
Speaker 1: And guess what happens when you die, the wealth you worked so hard for, they squander it within a very short while.
Speaker 1: True story.
Speaker 1: Some children are even colluding with their mother to get rid of the old men.
Speaker 1: You've heard the stories of some place this way, I'm just pointing I won't say where and I hear that they grind steel wool into the food and you die slowly as a man Just because you're taking too long.
Speaker 1: In fact, there's a family that was tempted to do that because Demse was sick.
Speaker 1: He was in Karren Hospital and while everyone was queuing to get a signature from him, the wife was at the end of the line queuing to get her stippend for the month.
Speaker 1: Imagine Proverbs 22, verse 6, says this that train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.
Speaker 1: Train up a child Now.
Speaker 1: Is training fun?
Speaker 1: It can be, but most of the time it's not.
Speaker 1: Is there anyone here who, in the morning and it's raining you wake up and say I'm going for a jog?
Speaker 1: Wow, yes, yay, my shoes, everything.
Speaker 1: It usually takes a lot of psych, isn't it, and takes a lot of work.
Speaker 1: Now, training is not easy for the trainer and for the trainee, but the benefits of training are amazing.
Speaker 1: I hated training even when I was in corporate sales, training all the time, training for this, training for that.
Speaker 1: For me, I felt like it was a waste of time because I was in a numbers job where you are as good as your last numbers.
Speaker 1: You couldn't come and tell them last year I did well, no, no, no, last week is what they are looking at, and they didn't care whether you were in a training or anything.
Speaker 1: So I didn't like it.
Speaker 1: Yet the benefits was good.
Speaker 1: So when we train our kids, it's not easy, it's hard work.
Speaker 1: But Provehub's 2917 even tells us this that when we train them later on, we have peace.
Speaker 1: And guess when we need that peace?
Speaker 1: You need that peace as an old man.
Speaker 1: I don't want to be going to the police station.
Speaker 1: As an old man, I want to enjoy my grandchildren.
Speaker 1: You know, as a matter of fact, pastasou, grandchildren are for spoiling.
Speaker 1: Hello, and all the grandparents said you're around there.
Speaker 1: Grandchildren are for spoiling.
Speaker 1: You bring up your kids.
Speaker 1: It's up to them to deal with their own children.
Speaker 1: You spoil the grandchildren.
Speaker 1: Have fun with them, amen.
Speaker 1: I'll be talking about the four P's of parenting and the fifth P, and the first P is presence.
Speaker 1: The first P is presence.
Speaker 1: I'll talk about divine presence and I'll say this Matthew 1820.
Speaker 1: Well, the Lord himself told us this that where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in their midst.
Speaker 1: It is important for us to invite God into our families, into our homes, because he's there in our midst.
Speaker 1: Matthew 1611,.
Speaker 1: The sound mist was writing and saying that you will make known to me the parts of life, for in your presence there is fullness of joy.
Speaker 1: So not only energy in terms of joy, but also direction will God give us when we have His presence.
Speaker 1: We need to invite God's presence into our homes and our families, into our businesses.
Speaker 1: You know, sadly, some of these principles I'm sharing are biblical principles but we Christians don't even practice them as much as the heathen, the Indian business people, will never open their shop without banning some incense to some gods.
Speaker 1: Hello, they even mark seasons and days when things should be done.
Speaker 1: How much more we who are covenant children Moses in Exodus 33, 14 and 15, in embarking on the journey to the promised land, canaan said this and said Lord, if you do not go with us, we are not boarding.
Speaker 1: He said I'm not boarding Lord, unless you go with us, we are not going.
Speaker 1: The other presence I would like to speak about is daily physical presence Because, yes, you can have the divine presence.
Speaker 1: You're praying over your children, inviting God into the home, but how many know they need you physically there?
Speaker 1: In fact, it's amazing how children just love to see you there.
Speaker 1: Sometimes they'll come out from outside, come into the house, look at you you're seated there, they acknowledge and go back outside and they just feel some confidence.
Speaker 1: You know, they just feel secure because you're around.
Speaker 1: My children sometimes are wearing my shoes and they're asking me where are you going?
Speaker 1: They don't want me to go, they just need you.
Speaker 1: Stephen Covey, the author of the book Seven Habits of Highly Effective People's Fame, wrote this and he said the key is not to prioritize your schedule but to schedule your priorities.
Speaker 1: Can I repeat that the key is not to prioritize your schedule but to schedule your priorities.
Speaker 1: Some of us don't even know what our priorities are, so you do anything that comes your way.
Speaker 1: Somebody comes and says let's go to Naivasha, you've gone.
Speaker 1: When you're there, you're thinking hiya, I was supposed to pick up my son.
Speaker 1: You know, god made life simple If you can just know what your priorities are.
Speaker 1: Some women here you're in chamas that are so highly engaging.
Speaker 1: You even have a dress code for your meetings.
Speaker 1: It's going to be black on them.
Speaker 1: You spend money and invest in that.
Speaker 1: Then you travel and go for the expense of your family.
Speaker 1: What are your priorities?
Speaker 1: What are our priorities?
Speaker 1: The moment you have children, your priority becomes family God first, family, business, others.
Speaker 1: Your job is not even your priority.
Speaker 1: Hello, am I talking to somebody?
Speaker 1: Because some of us hold our jobs so highly like you cannot be displaced.
Speaker 1: If you die, do you think your company will close?
Speaker 1: I used to work for the American Embassy and then it was bombed.
Speaker 1: Thank God I had left Shortly after.
Speaker 1: I needed a job and I thought they need people.
Speaker 1: They didn't even respond to my application.
Speaker 1: They moved on.
Speaker 1: A story is told about a guy who applied for a job that he saw an obituary in the newspaper.
Speaker 1: Someone had died.
Speaker 1: He told this company please don't tell me you don't have a job.
Speaker 1: I know, I saw it in the obituary.
Speaker 1: This guy is gone.
Speaker 1: I worked for a motor company, dt Adobe, selling high-end cars.
Speaker 1: And there's Amzee, who was a seasoned sales guy, had good accounts, Corporate accounts.
Speaker 1: You know where they buy 40 cars at one go.
Speaker 1: The man died.
Speaker 1: He was a Muslim, as they are burying him the next day One of my colleagues was securing one of his accounts.
Speaker 1: Life moves on.
Speaker 1: How humbling isn't it?
Speaker 1: If only we could check on our priorities.
Speaker 1: Deuteronomy, chapter 6, verses 4 to 7, moses was telling us how to put our priorities into place.
Speaker 1: He was telling us that we should put our priorities into place, and this is what he said here or Israel, or in today's language.
Speaker 1: Listen up Israel, the Lord, our God, the Lord is one.
Speaker 1: Let's settle this once and for all.
Speaker 1: Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your and with all your.
Speaker 1: These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.
Speaker 1: Hello, they used to be in Christian book stores scripture memory cards that we would buy Peter, I think you remember that and we would take one a day and memorize and thank God for the children how they have memorized scripture and are carrying on.
Speaker 1: But, as parents, are we doing that In our family?
Speaker 1: We encourage each other to memorize scripture and listen to what Moses said on in verses 7.
Speaker 1: Impress them on your children, talk about them when you sit at your home and when you walk along the road, and when you lie down and when you get up.
Speaker 1: Is that what we are doing in our homes?
Speaker 1: Is that what we are doing?
Speaker 1: I doubt it, because guess what's happening in our homes?
Speaker 1: Netflix, that's what.
Speaker 1: When we sit, it's Netflix.
Speaker 1: It's serious.
Speaker 1: Some of us even binge on series when we are moving along the way with our children.
Speaker 1: Do we talk about God's commands In the morning when we're taking them to school?
Speaker 1: What's playing on the radio.
Speaker 1: Mualim Mukiangi, you're laughing like you're guilty.
Speaker 1: You can say amen or you say oh me, whichever is applicable.
Speaker 1: But, guys, I think this challenges us so much when you lie down and when you get up, in other words, all the time.
Speaker 1: The Jewish nation, the Jews, are highly successful, even whereas a large part of them don't even know the Lord personally.
Speaker 1: In the book the Jewish phenomenon, it records that there are actually 4% of the nation of America, yet they are the ones who are the who's who Google founder, larry Page, jew Facebook Mark Zuckerberg co-founder and others.
Speaker 1: If you can just look the success.
Speaker 1: Indians are successful.
Speaker 1: Why?
Speaker 1: Because they apply the principles of Deuteronomy 6.4 to 7.
Speaker 1: They sit with the children.
Speaker 1: They teach them how to do business.
Speaker 1: They teach them how to talk.
Speaker 1: They teach them how to negotiate.
Speaker 1: If you go to an Indian shop and they say, for you, I'm making it this price, you'd better negotiate harder.
Speaker 1: They've been taught the art.
Speaker 1: Let me go on to the second P.
Speaker 1: The first one was can I hear it out loud?
Speaker 1: The second one is provision.
Speaker 1: I'm going to talk about provision of spiritual bread and physical bread.
Speaker 1: The physical bread I know many of us are good at providing for, just in case you're not providing those parents.
Speaker 1: You know those parents that are.
Speaker 1: They eat nhamachom.
Speaker 1: Outside and at home there's no food.
Speaker 1: Your family is doing rice and chapati nhamadondo chakula yajami and you are out there with friends enjoying.
Speaker 1: That is not on.
Speaker 1: In fact, 1 Timothy 5, verses 8, says that the person who does not provide for his household is worse than an infidel.
Speaker 1: An infidel is kafiri.
Speaker 1: The Muslims can kill you for being kafiri.
Speaker 1: So there needs to be an understanding that we are a triune being just like God, the Father, god, the Son, god, the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1: We are a spirit, we have a soul and we live in a body.
Speaker 1: Are we together?
Speaker 1: You're a spirit, you have a soul, which is your mind, your will and emotions, and you live in a body.
Speaker 1: When you die, this body is what will check out and that's what will be laid to rest.
Speaker 1: Your spirit is what goes on to heaven.
Speaker 1: Now my wife did an exercise in one of our parenting meetings, thank you.
Speaker 1: My wife told some parents in a parenting meeting to do an exercise and this is what she said Take out a blank paper, put spirit, put soul and put body and then find out an account for how much resources do you put in any of those three your resources, especially of time and money.
Speaker 1: The spirit came out poor.
Speaker 1: And the same thing for our children.
Speaker 1: We are busy investing in their soul, in their education.
Speaker 1: We take them to the best schools.
Speaker 1: We can even take loans to pay for their school fees.
Speaker 1: We invest in our soul in terms of entertainment.
Speaker 1: We invest in our bodies.
Speaker 1: We dress well, we go to the salon.
Speaker 1: In our house there are four ladies.
Speaker 1: The salon is not cheap, I tell you, and thank God for a wife who works hard it's not cheap.
Speaker 1: But how much are we investing in our spirit person?
Speaker 1: To the parents who brought your children for DVBS God bless you.
Speaker 1: You deserve an hand club for yourselves, honestly, just for investing into their spirit person.
Speaker 1: First, thessalonians 523,.
Speaker 1: Paul was writing to the church in Thessalonica.
Speaker 1: This is what he said May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.
Speaker 1: May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1: Now Paul knew that this is important and he spoke by the spirit.
Speaker 1: It's God's desire that we are balanced spirit, soul and body.
Speaker 1: I want to speak about the third P.
Speaker 1: The first one was, I'll say, like the child who said here you've not had TO.
Speaker 1: The first one was the second one.
Speaker 1: The third one is protection, and I'll talk about deliverance from evil.
Speaker 1: This is very key.
Speaker 1: The assignment of the devil on our children and on us has gone to a higher level.
Speaker 1: Guys, we're dealing with things that we've never dealt with, and for the children it's terrible.
Speaker 1: Jesus said that I have come, that they might have life and have it more abundantly, but before that, do you know what he said?
Speaker 1: He gave the devil's job description.
Speaker 1: This is what he said the thief comes only but to steal, to kill and destroy, and that's the assignment he has for our children.
Speaker 1: Or do you think that the devil looks at your child and says, oh, she's so cute.
Speaker 1: Oh, don't be deceived.
Speaker 1: He has an assignment and that's why you're seeing this LGBTQIA Plus.
Speaker 1: Hey, it's even going to plus now and it's looking trendy among our young people to be part of that and they're looking left out.
Speaker 1: Those are not that, are not part of it.
Speaker 1: The assignment is real and let me tell you something the stories I keep hearing is just getting worse, if I can use that word, and in fact, this is what Jesus said in Matthew 24, I believe that the days are going to get so bad.
Speaker 1: Evil will be so bad that, unless the Lord shortens the days, that even those who are saved, the very elect, will not make it.
Speaker 1: Pastor Simon, this is this is honestly scary, isn't it?
Speaker 1: And the way things are tough, you know, sometimes I look and wonder Lord, why don't you just show up, just come and say it's a wrap, guys, let's go home?
Speaker 1: I wish he could do that, but I guess he's giving quite a number of us time to line up.
Speaker 1: Some of us time to.
Speaker 1: You know, bring up our children well.
Speaker 1: So if you read Proverbs, chapter two and for the sake of time I'll just give the scriptures, you can check them out Proverbs two was, it begins by saying my son, you know, take these words upon you so that you can have wisdom.
Speaker 1: And it goes on and on and says what wisdom does for my son.
Speaker 1: It protects him from the evil people, from the immoral people.
Speaker 1: So protection is important.
Speaker 1: The other aspect is fast Corinthians, 1533.
Speaker 1: And Paul was saying that bad company corrupts good morals and our children.
Speaker 1: You might be thinking you know your children's friends, but they are keeping company with people who you might not even know.
Speaker 1: We've empowered them to do that.
Speaker 1: We're giving them gadgets.
Speaker 1: They are connecting with guys as far as the land down under.
Speaker 1: For your information, that is Australia.
Speaker 1: It is over there where the earth is.
Speaker 1: You know it takes I don't know how long to get there about 16 hours from Dubai but they're connecting.
Speaker 1: So the guys in Australia are awake, your child is asleep supposed to be asleep and you say good night, good night.
Speaker 1: They go into their rooms and they are not even sleeping.
Speaker 1: And you know what happens.
Speaker 1: The teachers have been telling us the number of children that are sleeping in class is amazing.
Speaker 1: A teacher is teaching in half the class is asleep.
Speaker 1: Why?
Speaker 1: Because they didn't sleep at night.
Speaker 1: Why?
Speaker 1: Because the parent, instead of protecting we, empowered the child, gave them a nice gadget and decided hey, let this keep you company.
Speaker 1: In fact, we keep saying do not, as a parent, substitute presence with presence.
Speaker 1: Are we together, some parents?
Speaker 1: Because you're not around.
Speaker 1: So when you come from a long trip, you've brought them the latest iPhone and you're thinking you're loving on them.
Speaker 1: Little do you know that you're empowering them to destroy them.
Speaker 1: The other protection we need to protect them is protect their dreams and goals, but first and foremost we need to know what their gifts and callings are.
Speaker 1: The Apostle Paul gives us a key to knowing what their gifts and callings are, or to empowering them to have their gifts and callings.
Speaker 1: He says this and this.
Speaker 1: He was praying for the church in Ephesus.
Speaker 1: He said I pray that the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling.
Speaker 1: And, by the way, you can pray this for yourself, for the season you're in, for the time you're in for your children God, may their eyes be opened, that they may know what's the hope of their calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe according to his mighty power.
Speaker 1: Move on to the next P, which is praise.
Speaker 1: The first one was Second, the third one the fourth.
Speaker 1: You guys are amazing.
Speaker 1: We need to praise the children.
Speaker 1: Praise the children.
Speaker 1: The dictionary defines praise as number one, to express warm approval or admiration of.
Speaker 1: Express warm approval or admiration of.
Speaker 1: The second one is to express one's respect and gratitude towards a deity or a person Simple, just approving people, and the children thrive on that.
Speaker 1: Look at them and just tell them you're a handsome guy.
Speaker 1: Hello, I call my daughter's beautiful girl or baby girl.
Speaker 1: In fact, my eldest daughter went and bought a blank t-shirt and wrote baby girl and she has it with pride.
Speaker 1: Even as an adult I call them beautiful girl.
Speaker 1: One time I was coming from the upstairs, coming for breakfast, and I said beautiful girl, I've only seen one.
Speaker 1: And they all turned like yes, yes, dad.
Speaker 1: So before another man calls my daughter beautiful, it's already settled, you're going to work twice as hard because that admiration, approval is there.
Speaker 1: Hello, zeff and I at 317, says that God, the Lord, our God, rejoices over us with singing.
Speaker 1: If God rejoices over me with singing, how much more me rejoicing over my children with singing than just appreciating them, just praising them.
Speaker 1: Look for every opportunity to bless them.
Speaker 1: The other part of praise is to praise God.
Speaker 1: We need to praise God because for some of us we don't even have to work hard.
Speaker 1: We didn't even have to work hard to get the children.
Speaker 1: So the fact that we are parents, praise God.
Speaker 1: You're a parent.
Speaker 1: Some people have tried and tried and the kids don't show up.
Speaker 1: Hello, look at your children and praise God.
Speaker 1: Sometimes I drop the girls and I'm seated in the car as they walk, and I just say, god, you're so good, I didn't even deserve these children.
Speaker 1: They could have been another man's children.
Speaker 1: They're so nice, they're so cute, hello.
Speaker 1: So praise God, acknowledging also, like Paul said in 1 Corinthians 5, 10, I am who, I am what I am, but by the grace of God which was bestowed upon me, it was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than them all.
Speaker 1: Let's never take God's grace for granted, never take what you have for granted, and especially the children, especially the positions we are in, positions of influence or otherwise.
Speaker 1: Going on to the fifth P, and this fifth P is so important that I called it the fifth P.
Speaker 1: In fact, somebody asked me, when you are writing the book, why didn't you just say five P's of parenting?
Speaker 1: And this was a child, by the way, even the children have such a nice heart.
Speaker 1: But it's the fifth P because it's alone and I put so much importance on it.
Speaker 1: In fact, it is everything.
Speaker 1: The fifth P is purpose.
Speaker 1: What was the first one?
Speaker 1: The second one, the third one, the fourth, finally, the fifth one purpose, purpose here on Earth is important for us to know our purpose on Earth.
Speaker 1: It helps us move around with such focus and with such resolve.
Speaker 1: You know people who know their purpose.
Speaker 1: Don't snooze the alarm.
Speaker 1: Sometimes, when you know your purpose, it's even hard to sleep.
Speaker 1: You can't do it for morning.
Speaker 1: You know it's like the children who are going on a trip.
Speaker 1: You know how your kids are when they're going for a trip.
Speaker 1: They wake up at two and come and wake you up and is it time?
Speaker 1: And they say go back and sleep.
Speaker 1: It's only two o'clock because they have purpose.
Speaker 1: But do you know your purpose on Earth?
Speaker 1: Rick Warren poses and asks what am I here on Earth In his book Purpose Driven Life.
Speaker 1: It's important for us to know, but as a parent, we know what our purpose is where they are concerned.
Speaker 1: And Romans 11, 29 says that the gifts and callings of God are without repentance.
Speaker 1: We will be answerable.
Speaker 1: We will be answerable for our children.
Speaker 1: We will be answerable to God, for the people he brought us to mentor Paul in Ephesians 1, 18 and 19 that I read earlier says this.
Speaker 1: But we need our eyes to be open so that we can be enlightened into what is the hope of our calling.
Speaker 1: I want to bring this to a close, as I mentioned what the purpose of parenting is, and this.
Speaker 1: I'll share a quote that my wife modified of Dr James Dobson earlier quote.
Speaker 1: This is what she said that parenting is preparing our children to live home and for eternity.
Speaker 1: Life here on Earth is very short.
Speaker 1: Ladies and gentlemen.
Speaker 1: I used to look at my dad and think he's too old, until I started going to school to attend parents' meetings and flashback.
Speaker 1: It was like I blinked and I became a dad and then, you know, our dad went to be with the Lord.
Speaker 1: It's 15 years already and it looks like yesterday and time is moving.
Speaker 1: Eternity is near and eternity is long, is forever.
Speaker 1: This life here is just but a breath.
Speaker 1: Ladies and gentlemen, let's always begin with the end in mind.
Speaker 1: The Psalmist in Psalms 90, verses 12, said this Lord, teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Speaker 1: How would you live if today was your last day?
Speaker 1: Just imagine if today was your last day.
Speaker 1: And, by the way, there's nothing wrong with knowing that.
Speaker 1: On Friday I experienced what pastors go through the roller coaster of a wedding and a funeral.
Speaker 1: I used to say and really I honor pastors because what you handle is too much.
Speaker 1: Friday I went for a funeral in the morning, in the afternoon for a wedding.
Speaker 1: Such emotions, but guess which one was better to attend?
Speaker 1: Ecclesiastes 7-4 says this it is better to go into the house of mourning.
Speaker 1: In fact, somebody the other day sent a meme and said I'm looking for a place where people are having a funeral just so that I can go and cry with them and feel nice.
Speaker 1: You know, after you cry you feel cleansed and I always say God did not put tears for decoration.
Speaker 1: Hello, man, man, you don't cry.
Speaker 1: You know there's something going on the other day about the president crying.
Speaker 1: It's okay to cry.
Speaker 1: Clisiasity 7-4 says it's better to go into the house of mourning because when you're there you start thinking about your life.
Speaker 1: Will they say the same things?
Speaker 1: I'm going to be challenged.
Speaker 1: The Friday funeral was for the man who invited me into scripture union.
Speaker 1: He was chairman Then.
Speaker 1: He's actually a great man, his pastor Murathi Wanjaw, senior pastor of Mavuno, his father.
Speaker 1: Psalms 9012 says this teach us to number our deeds.
Speaker 1: In fact, there's clocks now that you can buy and have a countdown on your life.
Speaker 1: If you want to die at 90, tell God, okay, 90, and have a countdown.
Speaker 1: You look at it.
Speaker 1: I tell you you will live so badly.
Speaker 1: You'll be nice to everybody.
Speaker 1: You'll greet the watchman that you don't greet on you.
Speaker 1: You just pass and look down on them, or the clean at work.
Speaker 1: I want to end with a poem, or a poem, depending on where you went to school, whether you went to group of schools or you went to school in a group.
Speaker 1: And there is a petrol station attendant who told me no, nowadays it's called a polling station because that's where we cast our votes.
Speaker 1: Media team, if you can just advance it so that I can get that, my laptop died.
Speaker 1: If you can just put that poem please.
Speaker 1: That's the cover of my book.
Speaker 1: It's going to be available.
Speaker 1: It has more than what I did.
Speaker 1: Share the four piece of parenting.
Speaker 1: In the fifth piece, the cover there is not.
Speaker 1: They're not clouds, actually People miss it.
Speaker 1: That's a family.
Speaker 1: Then, looking down, you see the blue clouds and the wife on the side, the child looking up, and then the single parents, which we do acknowledge largely the role single parents play in raising children, and many have done a great job.
Speaker 1: So if you can move it on, please, to the next one, the summary of the four piece of parenting.
Speaker 1: The first one was the second, the third one, the fourth, the fifth, and we say that parenting is preparing your children to leave home, and for eternity.
Speaker 1: Let's move on to the next one.
Speaker 1: I'd like to read this poem.
Speaker 1: I hope I can read it from here.
Speaker 1: It's called the dash.
Speaker 1: I read of a man who stood to speak at the funeral of a friend.
Speaker 1: He referred to the dates on her tombstone, from the beginning to the end.
Speaker 1: He noted that first came the date of her birth and spoke the following date with tears.
Speaker 1: But he said what mattered most of all was the dash between those years, for that dash represents all the time that she spent alive on earth.
Speaker 1: And now only those who loved her know what that little line is worth.
Speaker 1: For it matters not how much we own the cars, the house, the cash.
Speaker 1: What matters is how we live and love and how we spend the dash.
Speaker 1: So think about it long and hard.
Speaker 1: Are there things you'd like to change?
Speaker 1: For you never know how much time is left that can still be rearranged.
Speaker 1: If we could just slow down and consider what's true and real and always try to understand the way other people feel and be less quick to anger and show appreciation more and love the people in our lives like we've never loved before.
Speaker 1: If we treat each other with respect and more often wear a smile, remembering that that special dash might only last a little while.
Speaker 1: So when your eulogist being read with your life's actions to rehash, would you be proud of the things they say about how you spent your dash?
Speaker 1: Let's pray, dear God, I just thank you for your gift Over day, your gift of time, your gift of friendship, your gift of family.
Speaker 1: I thank you for your gift of people because, truly, what would we do even if we had everything in this world but without people to be a blessing to?
Speaker 1: And, god, I just pray that you may teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom To every parent that is at the sound of my voice.
Speaker 1: Lord, may we rearrange our priorities, god, knowing we don't have much time with our children Because soon they leave and go on and do their own things.
Speaker 1: Oh, go on to eternity.
Speaker 1: Help us, lord, to be able to just know what is important in life and to live life the way that you want us to.
Speaker 1: In Jesus name, I pray Amen, amen, amen, thank you.