Family Spotlight: Meet the Lavoie Family

John, Rachel, Samuel (5), & Sadie (2) have been attending APCC since the Fall of 2016 when they moved back into the area. John and Rachel lead a connect group on Thursday nights and are exceedingly grateful for their patient co-leader Jeff Lau and for the ability to mute the mic as they holler at Samuel 397 times to stay in his room and go to sleep. Our takeaway from the passage in 1 Peter 2 this past Sunday was the example of Christ living out the Kingdom code of ethics—even in the face of unjust suffering. In summary, the key quality of Kingdom ethics is: death to self. YAY! SIGN ME UP!

But seriously – when we start from a place of “How can I die to myself for the betterment of this child?” instead of thinking “What has this child done to deserve my love?” it turns the tables on how we approach our kids when they are ungrateful, dishonest, or belligerent. Imagine if Jesus asked himself “What have they done to deserve my love?” while hauling his cross to Calvary. Instead he came down to earth and willingly walked to a death we earned for Him. He didn’t sin, He didn’t talk back, He didn’t threaten, He “entrusted himself to the one who judges justly.” (1 Peter 2:23b) As parents, we too can entrust ourselves and our children to the One who judges justly. We won’t do it perfectly but that doesn’t excuse us from the task of modeling Christ-centered love and discipline for our kids. Except for maybe at bedtime. All bets are off at bedtime.