The Thought or Concept:<\/span> What\u2019s the goal of Post13?<\/strong> While the goal of our Post13 initiative is to teach Tamia more of the Bible, it also drives home values, and principles she can use throughout life to be successful. These values and life principles are all found within the Bible, its stories, wisdom, and the people within its pages. Along with this we felt the need to share this Post13 initiative beyond Tamia, but to her friends and anyone else who might benefit.<\/p>\n How Post13 works? After developing the post 13 idea, Pamela thought it would be a great idea to begin with an intentional practice, creating a habit of doing it. Each night during dinner, we have open dialog about one of the Bible\u2019s stories.<\/p>\n During one of our very first discussions, what\u2019s funny is, I mentioned the name Abraham, Isaac, and waited for Tamia to finish the statement and she didn\u2019t. Then I said we have a lot of ground to cover. It\u2019s Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We’ll have to deal with their importance later. This is foundational lineage and we need to understand why and what it has to do with you and me. I get that people reading this may not have known those names either and that\u2019s okay because it helps identify the need for this Post13 initiative. Not only can a 13 year old benefit, but people further along in life. Since you’re more than likely post 13 years of age.<\/p>\n I asked this next question since we know “Father Abraham”, then who was Abraham\u2019s father, and the response I received was \u201cAdam.\u201d Not hardly, but at least we know Adam exists. This is not a problem but revealed that Pamela and I were on to something. As a result, I began to plan and execute a plan for our Post13 initiative. It has to be one of the best actions we\u2019ve yet to implement. Let me share with you one of the first things we\u2019ve done.<\/p>\n The Practice:<\/span> So, we have created an uncommon Bible reading plan specifically for this Post13 initiative. That’s not to say that we’re not reading other YouVersion Bible app reading plans<\/a><\/span>. I’ve chosen to go with a 365 Day Bedtime Bible<\/a><\/span> story reading plan which we’re doing with Tamia. It serves two purposes:<\/p>\n Teach them [God’s commands, His word] to your children. – <\/em>bible.com\/bible\/116\/DEU.11.19.NLT<\/em><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n Talk about them [God’s commands, His word] when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. – <\/em>bible.com\/bible\/116\/DEU.11.19.NLT<\/em><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n Again let me reiterate the goal. We’re not reading the Bible just to read it, we’re reading it because it’s our guide for living. We want Tamia to be well informed on what it contains, what it means, and how she can apply it to her life. Everything we (Pamela and I) do has it’s foundation in its pages. If you haven’t noticed lately, we have been including references from the Bible within our weekly “Today-is-Friday<\/a>“<\/span> messages on how to make your life your business.<\/p>\n Today is Friday! Question: What can you give your new teenager that no other parent will? #Post13<\/p>\n
\nWhat is Post13?<\/strong>
\nPost13 is the plan we initiated for interacting with our daughter after her 13th birthday this past year, hence post 13. Pamela and I have concluded that we found a gap in how the youth of today are being taught versus how we were taught. Between our youth and the youth of our youth, Tamia, we’ve seen a decline in the teaching, mentoring, and coaching that adults do directly with them. Did you know that most (51% and more) children today don\u2019t know very many, if any, Bible stories? That means they have no clue of their spiritual heritage. You see we grew up in the times of Sunday School, sitting next to our parents in church, Sunbeam, Easter programs, Christmas programs, and days when not many businesses were open on Sunday like Chick-Fil-A. We grew up hearing the stories and talking about them. As we questioned Tamia about people in the Bible, we were very disappointed and embarrassed. If she who goes with us to church regularly doesn\u2019t have the stories and concepts down, then what does that say about those who don\u2019t have such discipline. We decided it’s not up to anyone else but us to change this. So Pamela and I created Post13.<\/p>\n
\n<\/b>We\u2019re not going to let our daughter not know her spiritual heritage and the guidebook for life itself, on our watch. We’re making an intentional effort to give her Bible principles and life principles so that she can have the same advantage given to us.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Each day or as often as we can, we share basic life principles and match these principles with topics right from the Bible. Today due to technology like smartphones<\/a><\/span> and apps, it’s easier than ever to engage with each other. You might be surprised to hear that the Bible<\/a><\/span> has everything a person needs to excel in life, at home, at work, in school, in general.<\/p>\n
\nSo we figured we should start with The One Book<\/a><\/span> that will be with us for a lifetime. Reading through the Bible is a must for all Christians. Reading the Bible is what Christians do. Don\u2019t ever let someone tell you not to read the Bible if you\u2019re Christian. The problem with reading the Bible is that most don\u2019t know where to start and of course they usually start on page 1, Genesis, of the \u201cKing James Version (KJV)\u201d translation. How do you think that will go with a new Post13 year old? Most adults won’t attempt, and very little will attempt in a lifetime to complete it. This approach sounds good in theory, but without a support system you will more than likely never complete the task. Trust me on this one; I have over 40 years of church experience to back that one up.<\/p>\n\n
\nTamia gets to learn her Bible stories. In a matter of days, she now knows how many people traveled with Moses through the Red Sea to escape their captors. She knows they were fed with manna from Heaven. She knows what happened to Job and why. As a result of Job, she now has a perspective that no matter what the situation this phrase is appropriate, \u201cblessed be the name of the Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n<\/a>Each evening we talk about it, she loves it (so does Pamela, even though she doesn\u2019t really say it) because I get to preach to her. I\u2019m teaching her how to preach. I often say to her how will you be able to preach the Bible if you don\u2019t know it? Putting that aside, it’s our time to become better familiar with God’s word and improve our spiritual fitness together.<\/li>\n
\nPamela and I get a refresher on the stories and a high-level view of each that we don’t always get from a One-year Bible reading plan or from hearing a message during church service. What most fail to realize is that your Christian journey, walk, is mostly outside of the one Sunday a week service we attend. In other words, most of the work should be done at home.<\/p>\n
\n<\/a>We get a lot out of this reading plan. My favorite part is to be able to preach\/teach my family. I say preach because most of the time I do because I just can\u2019t help it. I enjoy God’s word because it’s integral to my existence. Forming a plan like this will help you and your family improve it’s spiritual health.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
\nThere’s a lot in this web-post, but the most important key is to implement your plan for developing the spiritual health of your family. Post13 is simply another era of Tamia’s life in which we wish to make the biggest splash to help her become the person she is intended to become.<\/p>\n
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