{"id":14794,"date":"2014-04-10T14:59:10","date_gmt":"2014-04-10T03:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/?p=14794"},"modified":"2014-04-10T15:36:54","modified_gmt":"2014-04-10T04:36:54","slug":"six-things-a-child-needs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/2014\/04\/10\/six-things-a-child-needs\/","title":{"rendered":"Six things a child needs"},"content":{"rendered":"

This Blog post is\u00a0from an article written\u00a0by James Oakley (six things a child needs from\u00a0her Christian Parents).<\/strong> Thank you James for allowing me to publish your wonderful work.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Dear Mum and Dad,<\/span><\/p>\n

How are you? I\u2019m fine, thanks.<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, enough small talk. You know I get to write a birthday wish list each year (even though you won\u2019t get me everything \u2013 jetskis ARE getting cheaper, you know!) Well, I wanted to write a heaven wish list \u2013 you know, what I want you to do to help me know who Jesus is, and to trust him so I can go to heaven. I know you think the children\u2019s minister is awesome, and that he will do the job just fine, but I want YOU to help me more than ANYTHING!!.<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, here goes.<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Show me what love means. I hear it ALL the time \u2013 \u2018God so loved the world \u2026\u2019, love this\u2026 , love that\u2026\u00a0 blah blah blah. What does that even mean? Kids at school talk about love, and it just doesn\u2019t make sense.<\/span><\/p>\n

You\u2019re always trying to get me to like you \u2013 is that because you love me? Do you love me when I\u2019m in time out? What about when you\u2019re explaining what I did wrong? (But you do know that WASN\u2019T me, it was my brother!) And when I yelled at you that I hate you \u2013 did you love me then?<\/span><\/p>\n

How will I know what God\u2019s love is? From seeing your love?<\/span><\/p>\n

2. You should say you\u2019re sorry. I\u2019m not dumb, you know. I\u2019ve known ever since I was six (which is, like, FOREVER!) that you get things wrong too. So please don\u2019t pretend you\u2019re perfect. Tell me when you\u2019re wrong, and say sorry. It will help me to say sorry too. And I love you and respect you more when you\u2019re open with me. That would be cool.<\/span><\/p>\n

And that time you yelled at me, and then said sorry to me AND to God was, like, WOW! I could see that you meant it. You showed me how to say sorry to God too.<\/span><\/p>\n

3. Tell me stories. I LOVE it when you tell me stories. I love made-up stories, but I love the true ones even better. I love hearing about you when you were little (well, mostly when you got in trouble. Those stories are FUNNY!) I love when you say how you met. I love stories from the Bible , and I REALLY love hearing about Jesus. Stories are how I find out who you are, how the world works, who Jesus is, how I fit in.<\/span><\/p>\n

4. You have to take me seriously. I know I ask a LOT of questions but I really like it when you take my questions seriously. I know they sometimes seem silly\u00a0 \u2013 like \u2018did Jesus go to Macca\u2019s?\u2019). And I know that I sometimes say things that are hard\u00a0 \u2013 like \u2018Sometimes it\u2019s hard to know if God\u2019s real.\u2019) But it\u2019s really great when you don\u2019t laugh and don\u2019t make me feel like I\u2019m being silly. I\u2019m glad I can ask and say things and you still love me.<\/span><\/p>\n

5. I need you to show me how to follow Jesus. I\u2019m always watching. I\u2019m not dumb\u00a0 \u2013 I see how you spend your time. I can work out what matters to you. Let me see you following Jesus \u2013 reading the bible, praying, helping people.<\/span><\/p>\n

6. Help me to see who I really am. I want to know the truth about the world and about me. I know I\u2019m not an angel or a princess, but I\u2019m not hopeless either. I\u2019m all these things at different times. Please help me learn how it all fits together.<\/span><\/p>\n

I think that\u2019s about it, Mum and Dad.<\/span><\/p>\n

Good luck.<\/span><\/p>\n

From your favourite daughter.\u00a0 <\/span>XXX<\/span><\/p>\n

PS. I\u2019m sure a jetski will help me get to heaven faster. PleasePleasePlease!!<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

This article can be viewed in the latest edition of the Tasmanian Anglican <\/strong><\/em>magazine. Available here:\u00a0 <\/span>http:\/\/www.tasmaniananglican.com\/ta201404-00\/<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This Blog post is\u00a0from an article written\u00a0by James Oakley (six things a child needs from\u00a0her Christian Parents). Thank you James for allowing me to publish your wonderful work. Dear Mum and Dad, How are you? I\u2019m fine, thanks. Well, enough … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14794"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14794"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14794\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14803,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14794\/revisions\/14803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}