Dear Bros in Christ,

Proverbs 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.

Brothers in Christ, this monthly devotional is sent and meant to be an encouragement to all
and to build up and edify in the Lord Jesus Christ. Oikodome means "Builder". The Lord has
put this on my heart to send out a monthly Iron Man Oikodome {oy-kod-om-ay'} to build
up and encourage the men who love and follow Jesus Christ in their walk with Him.
Hebrews 3:13 "But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none
of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness."
PRAYER REQUESTS: If you have any prayer requests please send them and I will send
them out to the bros for prayer, if privacy is needed I will send in a discreet way.

DECEMBER 2009

“TIME OUT OR TIMES UP”

“You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in
your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up”
(Deuteronomy 6:7 NKJV).
Bros isn’t it amazing how fast the time flies raising your children. It seems like you just
barely got started and they are at that age where you seem like you can’t teach them
anymore. Not that you don’t want to teach them but that they refuse to let you and they
become frustrated and you then become frustrated…Then we have to let go and give them
to the Lord and trust fully in the Lord to help them and it’s scary not that the Lord can’t do
it but sometimes we are afraid for our kids and it is just hard to let go of being able to use
every teachable moment to continue training them up. Even all the years I have been
given to raise my children, about 36 years ago I started with my oldest and now my
youngest is approaching that age of wanting to do it his way. Man time just seems to slip
by, on some hands it might seem a blessing and on another hand it is very difficult to let go
and let them go and grow and make decisions on their own. Especially when you have used
every opportunity like the scripture in Deuteronomy 6:7, using every example of every
situation you can to teach them Gods Word. You are praying that something sticks, that
they got it, that they picked up what you were laying down for them…That they are
running with you or at least running beside you. And then you remember the reminder
scripture on stuff like this; “Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he
will not depart from it” (Pro 22:6 NKJV). And it gives you that hope, peace and comfort
straightaway from the word of God.

Of course beginning in chapter 6 of the book of Deuteronomy Moses is speaking to Israel

on what a godly home is suppose to be all about. It essentially instructs men to teach their
children by formal teaching and informal teaching; we are to talk to them, instruct them in
Gods truth and by our habits or way of leading our own lives, our personality behind closed
doors and in public, we are to lead by example. Our homes are our schools where we the
fathers are the teachers of our children under Christ. This is not only a tremendous
responsibility but can be a very trying responsibility to say the least. It’s like we are given
one shot (meaning their childhoods- but it seems so fast, really too fast then it’s gone) and
the Lord is extremely gracious and merciful with us and I dare say that not one of us who
has survived this endeavor will come out the other side and say that he did it perfect or
didn’t have any regrets over his ability to handle all that is involved in this responsibility. I
know many, myself included could wish to have another chance to do it over not only for
the reason of trying to do a better job of being a better father but also to prolong this sweet
blessing of seeing your kids growing up and being their daddy in their sweet innocence
once again. And that is why I would like to share this insightful dad learning story that my
little middle daughter who was about 3-5 years old at the time taught me.
I remember back in that day I was so busy always working to provide and having all the
nice things for my family, you know always wanting the best and going to great lengths to
provide for your family even to the point of consuming yourself in your work to the point of
being tuned out of everything they are doing and going through in the name of making a
buck. Forgetting the real goal in being a dad and father is to spend time with them, to love
them and insure their well being and giving them your loving attention and teaching them
by your example of how a father is suppose to be but yet falling so short of this goal. I
worked out of my house so you would think that would have made it a lot easier to spend
time with my children and make time for them.
This one particular day I was sitting at my dinning room table most all of the day cramming
to finish a bid by the end of the day. So there I sat flipping the pages of a very complicated
set of blueprints for the job I was bidding, going as fast as I could and trying hard to
concentrate to finish this bid by the required deadline time. My daughter had kept coming
to me over the course of this day and asking me to take her to the store to buy some
candy, very sweetly she would say daddy can you take me to the store to buy me some
candy and I would say as soon as I finish bidding this job and going through these
blueprints. Well as you know an hour is eternity to a child especially my daughter and it
seemed every twenty to thirty minutes she would come and ask me if we could go to the
store to which I would reply as soon as I am finished. Needless to say this went on for
several hours and as I became more frustrated with the complicated set of blueprints and
feeling the pressure from my deadline to turn my bid in and not to mention my little blond
haired blue eyed girls’ persistent desire to go to the store for a little candy, which was a big
deal to her. I was beginning to crack I was working so fast and was running out of time and
I had to tune everything out to keep going to finish that is when my daughter came back to
me and asked one more time after what seemed like her hundred time of asking, I blew up
and said I couldn’t take her and had to finish what I was doing and couldn’t stop to go to
the store and get her candy. That’s when my little middle girl head hung low, hurtfully
stomped up the stairs across from where I was sitting working so furiously, fanatically fast
to complete my work when as she hit the first landing of our staircase and I remember this
as it were happening this moment. She then stopped and turned with tears streaming
down her cheeks and by the way she had over enlarged big giant blue eyes that were filled
with tears and she said “Daddy, don’t you remember when you were a little kid and you
wanted your daddy to take you to 7-11 to buy you some candy”…

Bros that moment is forever etched in my heart as one of the most heart moving, heart
warming, heart wrenching and heart convicting things that has ever happened to me. I
froze for a millisecond threw down my pencil on my plans and ran and grabbed my
daughter in my arms and said lets go get some candy. I realized through this that nothing
is more important at this time in life when our children are little, five minutes is all it took
to bless her to show her she is important to daddy and that she is loved by me and that I
have time for her. You see those days are gone now and how I wish I could go back if just
for times like this to take the time to teach my children and show them how much I love
them and how important they are to me. To spend that little extra time with them even for
the little trivial things that seem unimportant to us yet those times, those things will last a
lifetime in the memories of their hearts and ours too! Take the time to teach them these
things whether it be your children or grandchildren. Bros not that I am an expert having
mastered being a dad but as a brother in the Lord I come to you with this reminder and
encouragement to you and myself to take the time to follow this example of Gods Word-
our dad instructions that has been laid down for us…savor every moment, grab every
second to take every opportunity to do just this- “You shall teach them diligently to your
children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way,
when you lie down, and when you rise up”- (Deuteronomy 6:7 NKJV). While we still have
time before “Times Up” we need to take “Time Out” for what is really important, we only
have today to teach them and love them, for tomorrow is here sooner than we can ever
imagine should the Lord tarry… “Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from
Him” (Psalm 127:3 NLT).
Agape,
Daniel Wright
Iron Man Oikodome
Proverbs 27:17

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