Geared: God’S Empowering Ammunition to Reach, to Enlighten, and to Deliver

By Carolyn Brown

In the midst of a rapidly changing society that is filled with immorality, many children are displaying behaviors filled with disobedience and disrespectbehaviors that are leading them away from the destiny God has prepared for them. In GEARED: Gods Empowering Ammunition to Reach, to Enlighten, and to Deliver, Carolyn Alexander Brown provides spiritual wisdom for parents and educators, explaining how they can properly equip themselves and make personal adjustments as they lead children toward their God-given destiny.

In this inspiring guidebook, parents and educators are given insight into the effective communication that will motivate youths and influence them to follow their spiritual path. Brown offers spiritual principles that will empower parents to become strong advocates for their children while providing strategies for communicating with children as they move through the difficult stages in their lives. She also discusses factors in todays society that are influencing children, and she shows parents how to be proactive in assisting their children in avoiding or overcoming these influences.

Brown offers advice on how to sustain durable home-school connections and how to form positive, supportive connections with children that will encourage them to be mindful of their actions. The Word of God will come alive as parents and educators utilize the scriptures and principles shared in GEARED.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Inspiring Voices
• Release date: Mar 14, 2013
• ISBN: 9781462405213

Carolyn Brown

Carolyn Alexander Brown has been an elementary/middle/high school teacher and an administrator in public schools in North Carolina for over twenty years. Her belief in the power of God’s Word has been the foundation of her success in raising two children and assisting many youths in fulfilling their God-given destiny.

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Copyright © 2013 Carolyn Brown.

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ISBN: 978-1-4624-0520-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4624-0521-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013901859

Inspiring Voices rev. date: 3/8/2013

Contents

Preface

From My Heart

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1: THE VIEW

Reflections

Perspectives: Seeing Beyond Our View

Meet the PTA (Parent, Teacher, and Administrator)

Chapter 2: THE MASTER’S PLAN FOR CHILDREN

God’s Design

Designed to Be Trained

Designed Not to Be Left to Himself

Designed to Be a Gift That Keeps on Giving

Chapter 3: LET’S GEAR UP AND CHANGE

Responding to Change

Let’s Get Angry

Technology Gear: Stuck in the Age of Information

Connecting Not Compromising

Chapter 4: GEARING UP FOR NEW BEGINNINGS

The Challenges of New Beginnings

New Beginnings in School

Guidelines to Assist Parents and Educators

Chapter 5: GEARING UP FOR UNITY

Unity within the Home

The Home-School Connection

From Blaming to Blending

Chapter 6: TRAINING GEAR

Discipline Breeds Discipline

Biblical Principles in Training

Chapter 7: TRAINING GEAR FOR WORKING WITH TEENS

Being Responsive and Not Reactive

Tough Love

Family Time

Giving Them Identity during Their Crisis

Chapter 8: GEARING UP TO BE AN INFLUENTIAL LEADER

Graced Leaders

Loving Leaders

The Visionary Parent

The Visionary Teacher

Chapter 9: REPAIRING STRIPPED GEARS

Where’s the Parent?

Where’s the Teacher?

God’s Tool Kit for Parents

God’s Tool Kit for Teachers

Chapter 10: RELAXING GEAR

Time-Out for Parents

Time-Out for Teachers

Daily Physical Renewal

Daily Spiritual Renewal

Gearing Up for Success

Conclusion

We Are at War

To my husband, Lee, who has always supported and encouraged me to pursue any dream my heart desired.

Preface

From My Heart

Working with children is a challenging, yet rewarding experience. As a parent of a twenty-five-year-old daughter and a nineteen-year-old son, my husband and I have not always enjoyed all the adventures we encountered with them. At times their actions were totally contrary to the values we worked so diligently to instill in them. However, we never gave up hope that they would fulfill their God-given destiny.

I served as a middle and high school teacher for fourteen years. Some years were very stressful, as I acquired feelings of hopelessness in my ability to educate children. In the midst of some of my most troublesome years as a teacher, the motivational surge to continue outweighed the challenges I encountered. It was like an addiction—a driving force urging me not to give up on our youth. I had a weird type of love-hate relationship for my students. Sometimes I hated their attitude and their behavior, but I saw their need to be loved. Therefore, their need attracted my love for them, and my desire to continue to work with them was renewed.

For the past eight years I have served as an administrator, and I have developed an empathic heart toward teachers due to the increasing demands that are being placed upon them. A teacher’s effectiveness is measured by students’ performance on standardized tests. Regardless of what success a teacher feels he or she has achieved, the success must be measurable via test performance. Therefore, a teacher’s goal is to teach the students the content so they can pass the test. The major concern for some teachers is how to prepare students for the test when many students are disrespectful, and they don’t want to learn. Oftentimes, I blamed parents for not training their children to value education and for not teaching their children to be respectful and obedient to the voices of authority within the school. Over the years, I’ve come to realize that blaming doesn’t solve problems, and some parents are doing all they know how to do, and others may not know what to do.

As a Christian, I have been praying for students, parents, and teachers. As an answer to my prayer, God has given me practical insight and specific strategies that can assist parents and educators in being successful in working with children. Being a parent is one of the most important roles anyone can have in the life of a child. A child’s existence is due to the action of parents, and a child’s success in life is also related to the actions of parents. Parents have been given the responsibility to train their children so that they can walk in the pathway God has prepared for them. Earning the title of parent is quite simple. However, fulfilling the responsibilities of parenthood is an awesome lifetime process.

Teachers play an important role in the lives of children. They are responsible for equipping children with the skills they need to fulfill their destiny in life. A college degree and the proper certification can bestow upon an individual the title of teacher. However, being an effective teacher is a special calling that extends beyond the degree and the certification. It requires a strong inner motivation to make a positive difference in the lives of children that surpasses the challenges encountered in working with them. It requires a mind-set that refuses to categorize children as failures. It’s an awesome and sometimes challenging assignment.

Working with children is a heart issue. As parents, our children are closer to our heart than anyone else. We only want what’s best for them, and we are disappointed when they don’t follow our instructions. As educators, we know the importance of education, and we want to empower our students to live productive lives. However, feelings of hopelessness tug at our heart when students don’t listen, and they choose to be disrespectful. My heart’s desire is for parents, educators, and anyone who works with children to gear up with the strategies shared in this book and lead our children into the destiny God has prepared for them.

Acknowledgments

I give thanks to God for giving me the wisdom and the opportunity to work with parents, teachers, and students.

A special thanks to my mother, Motherdear, who did a superb job in training ten children.

To my children, Charity and Jonathan, who have been my research assistants and technical support from the very first day I decided to write a book. Both of you are living proof that children are indeed a gift from the Lord.

I am also grateful for my brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, godparents, and all the people God has placed in my life as role models, supporters, and friends.

To my church family at Word of Life Tabernacle for their words of encouragement, and to my pastors, Dr. Ronald and Sister Joyce Diggs. Thank you for your prayers, support, and faithfulness in teaching me the Word of God. You have truly been a blessing.

I love all of you.

Introduction

The birth of a child is a miracle from God. When I think about how a sperm and an egg can develop into a child, I am amazed! Our God is an awesome God! He created children, and everything that God created was good. Yes, that includes our children. God knows everything about our children, and He knows that in order for children to become the individuals He created them to be, parents have to train them in the way they should go (Proverbs 22:6). God desires to provide us with the training gear we need to effectively interact with our children. GEARED contains natural and spiritual wisdom for parents and educators on how to gear up (get properly equipped) and when to shift gears (make personal adjustments) during the journey of leading children into their God-given destiny. Being geared is having God’s Empowering Ammunition to Reach to Enlighten and to Deliver.

Children go through many different stages of growth and development, and during these stages they will have major influences in their lives. The most significant type of influence should come from parents, as they are given the responsibility of training their children from the time they are born. Teachers and caregivers will also spend many hours working with children, thereby making major investments in their lives. Children are also influenced by their peers and by their surroundings (i.e., media and technology). Some of the exposures and influences that children contend with today were not prevalent years ago. Therefore, parents must be intentional about the surroundings to which their children are exposed, and they must be able to effectively communicate with their children regarding their surroundings. GEARED provides strategies for communicating with children in their world as they advance through difficult stages in their lives. It also gives insight into some of the factors in today’s society that are influencing children and how parents can be proactive in assisting their children in avoiding and/or overcoming these influences.

Because children spend a significant amount of time at school or under the supervision of adults other than parents, it is vital for parents to know how to be an effective advocate for their children. GEARED is saturated with natural strategies and spiritual principles that will assist parents and educators in working together for the benefit of the child; even in the midst of conflicts. Parents are shown the importance of being involved in the education of their children, and things they can do to assist the teacher to ensure their children will receive the type of education that will equip them to walk in their destiny.

Due to the significant role that teachers play in the lives of children, GEARED contains strategies to equip educators in fulfilling the vital role they play in the development of children. Educators will gain a better understanding of their assignment from a biblical perspective and the importance of working together with the parents for the benefit of children. As parents see how teachers must gear up for success, it will help them gain a better understanding of the role of the teacher and why it is vital for them to be actively involved in the education of their children.

Each chapter of GEARED contains a section/s entitled PAUSE (Practical Application Using Supportive Examples) and STEP (Strategies to Empower Parents). These sections include practical information obtained from my personal experiences working with children. As a Christian parent and educator who has encountered varied experiences working with children and who has had vast educational training, I understand the importance of undergirding our natural strategies with spiritual principles that will empower us to see our children as God sees them, even though it seems as if our natural strategies are not working. Habakkuk 2:4 reads, "The just shall live by faith." Faith is a necessary force in the journey of life because we all encounter difficult situations that are above and beyond our own ability to resolve. We need assistance from our omnipotent Heavenly Father, who can handle any situation. Faith looks beyond what we can see with our physical eyes. Faith will enable us to see our children based upon what the Word of God says.

The principles shared in GEARED will give you hope and increase your faith to believe God for His assistance as you guide children into the future He has planned for them. Scriptures are embedded throughout each chapter. Meditate on the Scriptures as you spend time fellowshipping with God. Daily fellowship with God is an essential part of gearing up to be successful in working with children. Listed below are three reasons why it is important for parents and educators to gear up daily by spending time fellowshipping with God.

1.   God’s Perspective and Purpose—God’s Word gives us a positive perspective on the purpose of children. Children are a gift, a reward from the Lord (Psalm 127:3). We must search the Scriptures and get the knowledge we need to see children as God sees them. Hosea 4:6 says, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Many parents have accepted their children as burdens, and they’re not enjoying the parenting process because they don’t have knowledge and wisdom about how to deal with them. Some educators have given up hope concerning their students because they can’t see them beyond their present behavior. We must know what God says about children and we must allow His perspective to penetrate our hearts, minds, and conversations, and not the negative views we may see emulating through them.

2.   God’s Leadership and Guidance—When we have active fellowship with the Lord, the Holy Spirit will lead and guide us in our interactions with our children and on behalf of our children. John 16:13 says, When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth. Parents need to depend on the Holy Spirit to lead and guide them into all