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[MUSIC PLAYING] Start building a home
of your future today. Smart home. This is a series on the home,
the smart home, it's called. And the topic this
week is the role of a mother in the smart home. And you know, I've
made a discovery, that when a man stands
up and tells mothers how to be mothers, doesn't
go over as good as a woman telling mothers
about motherhood. So in a little bit, Lenya
is going to come out here and I'm going to interview her,
based on a text of scripture.

But before she does
that, I want you to turn with me to the book
of 1 Samuel in your Bibles. I trust you brought one. If not, there's one close by. 1 Samuel, chapter 1. A familiar story. There's just a few things
I want to bring out. I've always thought that
mothers set the standard for unconditional love. I mean, nobody loves
you like your mother. You can be a creep and your
mother will love you, right? Am I right? We have a saying
in our culture, you have a face only a
mother could love.

That's a put down,
but there is a truth embedded in that put down. And that is, no matter what you
look like or what you've done, your mom will stand by you. But we relate to our mothers
differently at different ages, our ages. So for example, if
you're age 4, you think my mom can do anything. That's age 4. Age 12, you're thinking, mom
does not know everything. Age 14, you're thinking
mom doesn't know anything. At age 18, you're thinking mom
is out of step with the times. Age 25, well, mom
knows a few things. Age 35, hey, before we decide,
let's get mom's opinion. Age 45, I wonder what my
mom would say about this. Age 65, I wish I could
talk to my mom once more. Now I happen to be in
that last category. I lost my mother,
she's not around. I certainly wish she
was, because there's a lot of things I'd
still love to run by her and talk to her about and get
her fellowship and input on. I don't have that luxury. But I want to introduce you to
my mom a little bit, at least by a couple of sides.

So this is my mom when I'm– and I got the goofiest
smile on my face, right? It's like, really? That is how he smiles? But just look. There's my mom. Now my mom was about
five feet even. Maybe 5"1' before she shrunk. She could have been even taller. She was a giant to me, because
I was looking up at her. But she was this
very small-framed gal who was also very capable. She raised four boys. I was the fourth of four boys. She learned early on how to
handle us, how to corral us. So she was very
loving, but very firm. And you don't mess with mom. And I recall, on
several occasions– you know, sometimes
mom would say, wait til your father gets home. At other times, it's like, ain't
waiting for dad to get home, it's a pre-emptive
strike right now. And she learned
how to control us. But she was always the one to be
like a compass for our family. She set direction, she helped us
navigate our way through life.

And I was– then later on, this
is my mom a little bit later. She always laughed,
she always smiled. And this just
captures her spirit. My mom was there when I
entered this world, really, she had no choice. She had to be part
of the process. So she was there when
I entered the world. I had the privilege of
being at her bedside when she left this world. And it was, for me, one of
the holiest moments ever. It was, for me, a full circle. It's like, wow. And she was there
when I was born, but I'm here when
she's going to heaven.

So that's my mom. And in a minute, I'm going
to introduce you to somebody you already know, but that
is the mother of my son, and that's my wife, Lenya. Before we do, I'm
having you look at a girl by the name
of Hannah in the Bible, in the Old Testament. And I think most of
you do know this story. The story begins,
not with a mother, but an infertile young woman. She cannot have a baby. We are told, in chapter 1, verse
2, that Elkenah, her husband, had two wives, not going to
try to unravel that right now. The name of one was Hannah,
the name of the other Panina. And Panina had children,
but Hannah had no children. And then, in verse
5, we're told why.

It said the Lord
closed her womb. Now I'm bringing
this up for a reason. Because whenever we
talk about mothers, I understand that
it's a painful subject for some young women who are
infertile, like Hannah was. In fact, to this segment
of our population, a talk on mothers
or Mother's Day is like the worst
day of the year. It just opens that
wound in a fresh way, it hurts to talk about it. And I just want you to
know I understand that. And the Bible even
speaks about that. And I will say I don't know why
it is that some gals are unable to have children, why the
fertility rate is 12%, one in eight couples
cannot have children. It's a mystery to me, I don't
know why, but I do know this.

I know that your value to God
is not based on your ability to reproduce. God loves you the way you
are, whether you have children or not. And that may or may
not comfort you, but I want you to
know it's a reality. God loves you because you're
a special creation of His. And you're a son or a daughter
of the living God all of us. So that's your value. And I also know that
you're not alone.

That in the
scriptures themselves, some of the most
noteworthy women were at one time infertile. Sarah could not have a
child til she was like 99, that's a whole other issue. I know that Rebecca,
same thing, infertile. I know that Jacob's two
wives, both Leah and Rachel, were infertile and
struggling with the issue. And in the New
Testament, the one who would become John the
Baptist's mother, Elizabeth, she was infertile. The Lord opened all of
their wombs, eventually. Now I'm going to offer you,
before we get a little deeper into this, I'm
going to offer you three possibilities if
you can't have children that might comfort you.

Three possible reasons why. Reason number one, it could be
that in the Providence of God, he's not giving
you a child, yet. He's still preparing
you for the time when he will open your womb
and enable you to have a baby. So not now doesn't
mean not ever. So you still may be in the
preparation phase for that. He knows that, He knows
what the right time is. That's number one. Number two, it could
be that you won't ever be able to have a natural
child, but that you will be able to be an adoptive
parent or a foster parent. You shouldn't
discount that, there's way more kids who want parents
than parents who want kids.

And if you can match
that up somehow, it can be a wonderful thing. I was just overseas, and
part of our delegation was Michele Bachmann, and she
was a former Congresswoman from Minnesota, she
was the first female Republican to run for
president of the United States. She has 21 foster children. Five natural kids,
but she has been involved in raising up a
whole number of children, as a calling of God. And then, a third
possibility is that the Lord wants you available for
a very specific task that would be impossible if
your time were directed toward raising children. Could be the He just
has something special planned out for you. You don't know, and that may
or may not be comforting, I hope it is. But let's continue with this. Eventually, Hannah, after
a period of anguish, is able to be a mother,
to have a child, by the name of
Samuel, who becomes a prophet during this time.

But what we see here
is a truth that we talked about a few weeks back. The truth was that every parent,
every person, but specifically, every father or mother, should
live with a grid of God first, spouse second, child third, or
children, and then everything else after that. There is a priority grid. Well here, we have a woman who
we see kept her priority grid. Let's see what's
important to her. Number one, God was. In verse 7, would you
please notice that it says, "So it was, year by
year, when she went up to the house of the Lord." just let that sink in.

Here is a woman who felt it very
necessary to regularly worship God. That was her priority. She did it because it was
important for her to do it. Move on down to verse 10, "And
she was in bitterness of soul and prayed to the Lord
and wept in anguish." Here we see her praying,
she's infertile, she cries out to God, but
she's voicing it in prayer. Then verse 12. "And it happened
as she continued praying before the Lord." So by a number of these
texts, we can add them all up and we can paint a profile. Here's a woman who
is a praying woman. God's going to
answer her prayers. Samuel is going to grow
up with the heritage that I had a praying mom. This world owes a lot to praying
mothers and grandmothers.

Abraham Lincoln said, no one
is poor who has a Godly mother. And then he said, I still
remember my mother's prayers, they follow me, in
fact, they cling to me. If you're going to have
anything cling to you, it's better not to have
dandruff or little things from the street, but to
have your mother's prayers cling to you. So God was number one. Number two, her husband. Now I want you to
notice a couple of texts that kind of speak
to their relationship that was unique. Verse 5, this is– every year at the
feast, the husband Elkanah, it says,
"But to Hannah, he–" that is Elkanah, her
husband, "But to Hannah, he would give a double
portion for he loved Hannah although the Lord
closed her womb." So he's doling out the food,
gives both wives the meal, but supersizes Hannah's. A double portion. Because he loved her, it says. Down in verse 8, Elkanah,
her husband, said to her, "Hannah, why do you weep?" Now we know why she's
weeping, she is infertile, she wants a child. But he says, "Why
are you weeping? Why don't you eat? And why is your heart grieved?" And then he says something
that, if I were there, I would say, er,
you probably don't want to throw this line in.

But he did. He said, "Am I not better
to you than 10 sons?" Now that's not what
you say to a woman who wants a child really bad. What, you got me! Yeah, that's why I'm
praying for a child. So the bravado
aside, I think you would agree that Hannah
and her husband Elkanah had a relationship
that was good, they understood each other. Peter says, husbands dwell with
your wives with understanding.

And I think this shows that
they were able to do that. I was reading a teenager's
complaint sentiment where she said– she was raised in
a Christian home, but her parents were struggling. They were fighting
a lot, and she said, I wish my parents
could understand that unless they
love each other, and unless they show
the love to each other, it's very difficult for them to
preach to me a gospel of love. And to tell me that God
loves me and that we should love each other. And not do certain
kinds of behavior. I thought that was
very insightful. You need to see it. You can't pass on
what you don't have. So the grid was God, spouse,
and then her son, her child. So eventually,
she gets pregnant. She has a child. I'm going to skip you
quickly down to verse 21. "Now the man Elkanah,
and all of his house, went to offer up to the Lord the
yearly sacrifice and his vow, but Hannah did not go up,
for she said to her husband, not until the child is weaned.

Then I will take him and
may appear before the Lord and remain there forever." Now weaning wasn't
like a few months. In those days, weaning
was about three years. And it wasn't just
a physical thing, it was a
spiritual/emotional thing. So the word wean is
a word that means to deal fully with someone. So a better
translation is, I'm not going to take him anywhere till
I have dealt fully with my son. Implied in that is a training
process, spiritual preparation. She wanted to make sure
that before he fulfills the vow of a Nazarite, which
I'm not going to try to explain that, we've done that before. But it was a lifelong
vow of dedication. Before that, I have just a few
years, these formative stages of his life, to impress
certain truths into him. So before the
launch takes place, I want to make sure that I
am focusing, dealing fully with my son.

There is an old Jewish
proverb, I've loved it. It says, God couldn't
be everywhere, and so he made mothers. As if to say mothers are the
embodiment of the principles that God wants to
share with children and help train up
a new generation. So Hannah had the priority, God
first, husband second, Samuel, her child, third. Now comes the day
for the launch. Now comes the day to let him go. And so verse 24 tells us,
now when she had weaned him, dealt fully with him,
"She took him up with her with three bulls, one ephah
of flour, a skin of wine, and brought them to the
house of the Lord in Shiloh. And the child was young. Then they slaughtered a bull
and brought the child to Eli–" that is the priest at the time. She said, "Oh, my Lord, as
your soul lives, my Lord, I am the woman who stood by
you here praying to the Lord. For this child I
prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition
which I asked of him. Therefore, I also have
lent him to the Lord.

As long as he lives, he
shall be lent to the Lord and so they worshipped
the Lord there." So this is how
the book of Samuel begins, the book of
Samuel is about– guess who. Samuel. It's about Samuel and
about King Saul and King David, both of whom were
chosen by Samuel to the agency of the Holy Spirit. So she launches him that day. Quick little background,
in your English Bible, the chronology, the
order of the books, is you have the book of Judges,
followed by the book of Ruth, followed by the
book of 1 Samuel. That's not how it is in the
original, the Hebrew Bible. The Hebrew Bible,
the book of Ruth is in a separate section
called the megilloth. It's in a whole different
portion of the Old Testament. So it is, in the Hebrew Bible,
Judges followed by 1 Samuel. That's the chronology. Now you know that Judges was
one of the worst periods of time in Israel's history, in fact
the closing chapter, chapter 21, has this statement, "There
was no King in Israel and everyone did what was
right in his own eyes." Remember that verse? So describing that time, it
was pure moral relativism.

It was a black
hole, spiritually. Where everybody just sort of
did what everybody thought they wanted to do,
without any moral compass. Into that black hole, God
dispatches Samuel as a prophet. To pick Saul and to pick David. But none of that would
have been possible unless God got hold of a woman,
who would pray and pour out her heart and be open to the
Lord to open up her womb, knowing that once this
child comes into life, I'm going to dedicate this
child fully to the Lord. And look what God did. So it began with a woman. Somebody once said, when God
wants to do a great work, He'll choose a man. When God wants to do an
extraordinarily great work, He'll choose a woman. And He chose this woman
to birth this prophet, who would go in to
that culture and be a representative for God. One of my heroes
of Bible teaching is a guy by the name
of G. Campbell Morgan, he lived last century,
early part of– well, a century ago. And he would always say
that his love for the Bible came from his mother.

That he observed his mother
loving to read and live by and teach the scriptures. So he got that from mom. When he got married,
he married a woman who equally loved
the scriptures, and then he had a bunch of sons. And all of his sons, like
him, became preachers. They had a little
friendly reunion of people in the neighborhood
and all the kids were there. And one of the friends,
one of the neighbors, ask one of G. Campbell
Morgan's sons, hey, who's the best preacher
in your family? Thinking the answer is going to
be, oh, my brother is, or well, of course my father is. But the son said oh,
my mother is the best preacher in our family. And all the boys agreed,
even G. Campbell Morgan said, yep, she's the best. So allow me to introduce
to you the best preacher in our family, my wife, Lenya. Good morning! Merci beau– Buckets.

Lots of buckets of thanks. OK, so what does that mean? Very much. Thank you very much. Thank you. No, thank you. No thank you. Elvis has left the building. OK, so. There is a text in the New
Testament, Lenya, Titus, that speaks by saying, likewise,
teach the older woman to be reverent in the way they live,
not to be slanderous, slanders or addicted to much wine,
but to teach what is good. Then they can train
the younger women to love their
husbands and children to be self controlled and pure. To be busy at home,
to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands
so that no one will malign the word of God.

Titus, chapter 2
verses 3, 4, and 5. So with that text in mind,
I have a few questions. You ready? Inquiring minds want to know. Yeah. Go ahead. So what was yours, and what
do you think is the highest priority of a mother? Apart from loving God
is loving your husband. I think the best way we
show children our love is by loving their father. And so that's just a
high standard for me, and this text even says
that the older women should teach the younger women– Now wait, wait, wait. What was that all about? That was like, dang, I think
I'm in that category of older woman. It's a little hard to swallow. So anyway, the older women
should teach the younger women to love their husbands. And so one of the
ways that we did that is, before
Daddy got home, we would straighten up the
house and have a meal plan. And I don't know
why women don't like meal planning like I used
to, but ordering pizza is a meal plan. Just in case you were
stressing out, there.

So that's an OK meal plan. So we would have a meal plan– In fact, the meal plan
can be, husband pick up the pizza on the way home. That's the meal plan. Totally a meal plan. OK, got it. Got it. Yeah. So anyway, and then
we would try and– Nate, go comb your hair. And if I had sweats on, maybe
I'd change out of my sweats. Just to make it a
nice homecoming. And then no TV, no phone,
initially when Dad comes home. I watch the news at night,
I'm like a news junkie, so when Skip gets home,
nine times out of 10, I'll be watching the news. So if he comes in,
I either mute it, turn it off, get up
and go and greet him, because that is just respectful. Whether it's your husband,
your mother, a child. That you're not just
ignoring someone, that you're really respecting
that they're in the room.

So we would do that. And then also a priority was
loving my husband was also showing affection. So we would always
kiss, like make out. No, just kidding. Really? We would make out in that
kitchen like you can't believe. No. I can't believe we're actually–
you actually said that. Are you blushing? I'm kind of blushing. First of all, it didn't happen. Quite that way. But we did show affection,
and we did that on purpose, because we wanted our children
to be able to see that. And when he was
little, he'd go, ew. And then when he was older,
he goes, kiss her again, kiss her again! I think he's back at ew. I think, yeah, he's
definitely regressed to the first sentiment. Yeah, TMI. And so, then also respect,
this loving of my husband, is to respect my husband. So we wouldn't have
secrets from Dad, like don't tell your
dad I bought that. Or when your dad gets
home, nix on that. Or don't let him know. And so I just think
that's inappropriate. That children and moms
shouldn't have secrets from Dad, it should be an
integrated family.

Wanted to be both fronts. Yeah, that they can't play
one against the other. We talked about that, earlier. Who's good cop, bad cop? You go ahead, Lenya, what
are you going to say? No, you tell them. Who's the good cop? You are the good cop. No, you are not
telling the truth! Yeah, I'm probably
the softer one, right? But you were with him
day in and day out, so I probably was a lot easier. So he would try to kind of do
an end around and say, hey– Dad said.

Right. So we always made sure
that we would always check with the other or say,
well let's go ask your mom or let's go ask your dad– It's true, we did. So it was a unified front. Exactly. So yeah, that's a large part
of our biggest priority, love and respect. And so we make sure dad
gets love and respect. You feeling the love, hon? I am. I'm feeling– and I've
always felt the love. Good. OK, so the Bible talks a lot
about training up a child, right? Everybody knows the verse,
train up a child in the way that he should go when he's
older, he won't depart from it.

How do you specifically do that? What do you train a
child, how do you do it? Mr. Spoon. Spare the spoon,
spoil the child. You're talking about
corporal discipline, right? Yes, I am. You believe in that,
do you believe– I do, actually, believe. But it could be different. You have to train up a child. So that is– that was
part of what we did. But I think training a
child are multiple ways. We train them spiritually,
emotionally, and personally. And spiritually, it was really
important in the Heitzig home that he would know
the scripture. And so Skip was amazing. He made up this thing
called Say, Play, and Pray. We would say the scripture, then
we would play them, Goliath, and Nathan would be David. We had a costume– we had
a trunk full of costumes. Yes.

So we would always dress
up like the character that we just read about
in the story in the Bible. And then we would
Say, Play, and Pray. Then we'd pray about it that we
with act that out in our lives as well as acting
it out in our home. So spiritually, that's
super important. That's why he threw rocks after
the David and Goliath story, I'm guessing. No, he didn't do that. I know, I know, I am just– it's the fourth service,
jet lag, things like that. OK and then emotionally. I think that as moms,
we are nurturers. And we are just
the kinder gender. And so anyway, I
think that we help our kids identify their emotions
and express them appropriately. And I'm not kidding about that. A lot of times,
we feel emotions, but we don't know where they
came from, what they are, and what we should
do about all that.

And so a lot of times
when Nathan was young, and he was having some
kind of experience, I'd say, well, are you mad? Are you sad? Are you frustrated? And I would try and
help him identify what was going on
in his little heart. And then to express
it appropriately. Like recently, Seth
came over to the house and he was just in
a mood, you ever have kids that are in a mood? And he like tossed a pillow and
was mean to Katie and sassed back to me, so Janae said,
Seth, you cannot talk like that to your Mimi.

And so he walked over to me– That's what you were called. You're the mimi. I'm mimi instead of grandma. And so he came over to me
and he just started crying. I go, buddy, what's going on? He goes, mimi, I'm
just frustrated. It's been a terrible day. And that's all he
really wanted to say. He wasn't trying to
throw pillows or be mean. And I go, well dude, let's
talk about frustration. What do we do with frustration? How do we– you know, you can
either exercise, work it out, you could talk about
it with somebody.

So you make that
a teaching moment and let him know that there are
ways to express his emotions. Let me just put a
fine point on that. It's important to teach a
child to be able to articulate their emotions, because if
they don't, they grow up and they'll express
anger and they'll never have had a handle on being able
to isolate what they felt like. I agree. Totally agree with that. So spiritually, emotionally,
and then personally. You know, this bundle
lands in your lap, and you have no idea the
gift you've been given. You don't know their
personality, their attributes, their capabilities, their
callings, their giftings. And so it's kind of our job
to discover that together. And so you provide
opportunities for your kids, whether it's sports or
music or math or reading, and all kinds of
experiences so that you can find out what their gifts
and callings and aptitudes are. And so you want to encourage. They discover their identity. And so that you're launching
them– launching this arrow into a direction that they could
be the most successful Nathan he can be.

And look how great Nathan is. Yeah he is awesome. He's an amazing child. Yes. Adult. Yeah, there you go. Person. Yeah, I sort of
feel bad for him, because he's thinking,
gosh all these stories you're bringing up, but he was– we tried to have more
children and we had problems being able to do that. But I said, dude, you're
going to be talked about a lot this weekend because we're
talking about a mother's role. And guess who was your mother. Yeah. The other thing is we had
axioms in those personality developments. Like one of our axioms
is never give up. And so sometimes, your kid
doesn't want to learn to write or don't think they can be
a math person, or you know, they just don't know
how to make a bed. Mom, you're going to have
to do it, I don't know how. The whole thing is
confusing to me. And so we always
say never give up.

And so you might want to include
some axioms in your family. It gives them handles as
they launch into life. Family motto. Yeah, and kindness
was a value to us. And even now, with
Seth, who thought he wouldn't be able to do
something or pull it off and we said– I always say, Seth,
what's the Heitzig motto? Never give up. Yeah, that's right. And so they'll– you know,
they'll go in it for another round.

OK I interrupted you. Then kindness, you
we're talking about. No, I was just saying
that in their personality, we need to be good to
develop that personality. So accentuate the positive,
decentuate the negative. If they're good,
put them in sports, if they're great
put them in college. Figure out where
they fit in society. We want to raise great
citizens who contribute and give back to society. And not are always takers. That's awesome, that's great. OK. Yes. I'm clapping because
that was good. I should have done that. I want to talk about
the tone in a home. Oh, that's good, honey,
the tone in the home. The tone in the home. Is that a rap song? It could be, you want to try it? No.

Yeah, good. I don't even know
how to do that. You're getting it, keep it up. I wouldn't practice
it right now. Maybe later we can work on this. I can dab. A lot of times, the tone is
set in a home by the mother, because she is there with that
child, typically, not always, I don't want to paint with a
broom, but a bulk of the time. So there's an old saying,
everybody knows it. If mama ain't happy,
nobody's happy. And there's been times I
put myself in time out. You know, moms, if you got
to put yourself in time out, you gotta do what you gotta do. So it's like, honey,
I'm taking a bath.

He's all yours for
a little while. You know what I mean. Right, right. So you can put
yourself– anyway, our homes should be a sanctuary,
that's the way I look at it. When Nate and Skip or Janae
or the family are there, this should be a
safe space where they can decompress,
they can be themselves, they can just let loose. There's a lot of else that's
stressing you out in the world, and so home should
be a wonderful place. I believe in dinner
around a table, sorry to come back
to this, ladies. But do you know when you
have dinners around a table that your grade level
increases for your child? And they are less
likely to be engaged in promiscuity and in drugs.

So have meals– A lot of studies have
been done about that. Yes, a lot. So have meals around the table. Again, even if it's just pizza. It values your home,
it values your family, it values the individual. And when we're around the
table, there are no phones, we engage with one another. No lights, no motor cars. Not a single luxury. I know that song. That Gilligan's Island? Yes. How many of you remember
Gilligan's Island? Thank you! What a good old show. OK. So no phones at the table. Yeah, and you know, we sing. That's another Heitzig value. Our kids, we did this thing
one year, we had kazoos. And you had to pull
up a song and you had to guess who
was making the song. So now the kids, as soon
as they sit down to eat, they'll go hey, I got one. And then they want
you all to sing. I think home should
be happy and kind and nurturing and
loving and special.

So create that, ladies. Be busy at home. That's good. That's what we're
supposed to do. And then it says that
we should be kind. We should treat others
with gentleness. And so Nathan learned some of
those things when he was young. We didn't have siblings, but
he had a cousin named Lenya. And if he liked dog, she
likes cat, Batman, Catwoman. Polar opposites. I know. So one day, they were
upstairs and I was down. And I heard a
commotion going on, and I think Batman shoved
Catwoman off the bed and she landed on the Batmobile,
which scratched her side. So what would a cat do? She bit Batman. And there was just screaming
and a commotion and they came downstairs and
I said, today I'm going to teach you
about grace and mercy. Mercy means you don't
get what you deserve. Y'all deserved not to have
dinner and go to bed hungry.

But I'm not going to
give you what deserved. I'm going to give you grace. You know what grace is? Getting what you don't deserve. Come on, let's get in the
car, we're going to Target. You can pick out $10 or
less a present at target. So you rewarded
their bad behavior? I did. OK. So explain this to us. Well that's what taught
them grace and mercy. OK. Grace, you're getting
something you don't deserve. They were walking
to the store like, when's the other
shoe going to drop. Where is my mother and what
have you done with her? But you know what, Nathan
remembers that lesson today. All the way through. Now there was another time he
did something bad, he said, what about grace and mercy? And I said, today is
mercy and judgment.

Gotta learn them all. You got to be balanced. Yeah, gotta learn them all. So it's balance. But we want to
teach them kindness. And others. The Bible says love
God with all your heart and love your
neighbor as yourself. And I want Nathan to know
who his neighbors are. So have you guys noticed
there's more homeless people in Albuquerque than
there ever have been? And so I don't think
we should ignore them.

Jesus wouldn't have. He said visit those in
prison, visit the poor, visit those in hospitals. So Nathan I colored
some paper bags and filled them
with non-perishables and tracks and socks. We put them in a laundry basket. And when we go down the
street, instead of like averting your gaze,
Nate would go, mom, there's one of those people. Like they were good. And they might be,
that's someone's mother, brother, son that's there. And your act of kindness
can make a difference. And we have to raise kind
people who care about others. So we would hand out these bags. And to this day, Nathan
will turn his car around, go to Burger King or McDonald's
and get a gift certificate and give it to someone. You guys, we cannot ignore those
who are hurting in our midst. There's something we should do. A tone in the home of
kindness is a good thing. And I remember there were times
when that generosity spilled out not just to homeless, but
to people who would come over. Like we would have bought
him something and then we'd see it walking out the
door with another child.

Do you remember Abercrombie
when it was like the thing? I don't know if it's
the thing anymore. But he had two
Abercrombie shirts, because he would ask for
them from grandma and grandpa for birthdays. And one day, a kid
walked out with one of the coveted
Abercrombie shirts. I was like, Nate,
what's going on? He goes, mom, I have two
and he didn't have one. It's like, all right, buddy. Yeah, you can't knock that.

You want to learn kindness,
that's the way to learn it. OK so let's talk about,
in the time we have left, some practical ways
to teach what is good. The Bible does talk about
teaching what is good. So talk about that. Part of that is purity. It says to be pure in this text. And I think our homes are
like a old city that has the walls built around them. And you guys, you have
got to protect the babies.

So you don't want
pornography in your home, bad language in your home. Ladies, if you have a
Victoria's Secret catalog and it stumbles
your son, stop it. You know what I mean? If that's what you gotta
do, it's what you got to do. We noticed that on our TV at
night, bad things come on it. So we drove down to Comcast
and said get that off our TV. We're not stumbling the
kids who are in our home. I mean, we have to
make those measures toward teaching what is good. Self-control and purity. And so step up. This is our job. One example, someone told me
"The Last of the Mohicans" was a good movie when
Nate was very young. And so I took him
and his cousin Lenya. And it was all good
until they ripped out the heart of the father
and took a bite out of it. And then they were
crying, I'm traumatized! I'm traumatized! I hate this stupid
old lady movie.

And I failed, utterly,
to protect them from an age-appropriate thing. Now Nathan preached last week. He turned out OK, right? Yeah. So we make mistakes. It happens. But when you figure
out something is stumbling your child, fix it. If they're becoming
overweight, take away some of those snacks that
they shouldn't be eating. We are responsible for
what happens in our homes.

Really quickly. One last question. If this Lenya could
speak to a younger Lenya, just starting out raising kids. Speak to the younger
woman who has a few kids, it's frustrating, they
want to do it right, they want to be the perfect mom. What would you say? Relax. Totally. I think we would all go
back and say take a chill. I almost was like mommy dearest,
you guys know that reference? No more wire hangers! I would make Nate clean his room
and if it wasn't clean enough, I'd throw it all back out
and say put it away properly.

I mean, that's just
not a good moment. That was just like– a little OCD. So anyway, relax. It's OK. No one's going to die if
the dishes aren't done. It's all right. And then, maybe
secondarily, enjoy. Really just enjoy it. It's all going to
be over so quickly. And then you're going
to have grandchildren, which are amazing. Yep, yep, yep. But anyway, enjoy the ride. It's really spectacular. And just slow it down a notch. One thing. Finally, Lenya. Would you mind
closing by praying for the mothers who are here
as a part of our church? Yeah. Lord, thank you
for the privilege of being a nurturer, a mother. What an amazing gift it
is that you've given us.

And I pray that you would
help these ladies to learn unconditional love, that Agape,
that these kids don't have to do anything to be loved. They are loved. And so we would
flow out of that. And sometimes, we can't
give what we don't have. So fill us with
your spirit, Lord, so that we would have the fruit
of love, joy, peace, patience, long suffering, gentleness,
kindness, meekness, Lord. We need everything
that you can give us to be able to fulfill
the task that you've given. And Lord, I just pray for
the children represented in this room, that you
would seek and save them and a generation
would rise up, Lord, to bring glory to your name. In Jesus' name, Amen. Best preacher in the
family, right here. We hope you enjoyed this message
from Skip Heitzig of Calvary Church. How will you help
with the truths that you learned into
action in your life? Let us know.

Email us at
mystory@calvarynm.church. And just a reminder, you can
support this ministry with a financial gift at
calvarynm.church/gift. Thank you for joining us for
this teaching from Calvary Church..