May 2013 PUBLISHED By KENNETH HaGIN MINISTRIES - Rhema

Happy Mother’s Day!Raising a StrongFamilyOretha HaginWhen the Lord told Kennethto begin traveling in ministry, wedecided that I would stay homeand provide a proper home atmospherefor our children. Raisingchildren is a calling in itself.And there are many challengesinvolved.I had to be both mother andfather while my husband wasgone. I kept the children inschool and provided them witha good home. I also made surethey had a good church family.Even when Kenneth was awayministering, I took Ken Jr. andPat to church practically everytime the doors opened. We attendedchurch faithfully, andour children never put up a fuss.They had been trained all oftheir lives that attending churchwas not an option!The RightCompanyMy children weren’t perfect, andI didn’t know everything theydid, but I did my best to seethat they were keeping theright company.If children begin socializingwith the wrong crowd,they will start picking upbad habits that can bevery harmful to them.That’s why I made it apoint to know thefriends my childrenwere associatingwith. And I usuallyknew where my childrenwere and whatthey were doing, becausethey would ofteninvite their friendsover to our house forfellowship!There were many, manyweekends and afternoonsafter school that our house wasfull of young people! But I likedit that way. I always told Ken Jr.and Pat, “Bring your friends herefor fellowship. Anytime you wantto have them over, the house isopen.”That’s what a home is for—to belived in and enjoyed. After all,who was I making a home for ifnot for my family?I also let Ken Jr. and Pat havefun when they brought theirfriends to our house. I wasn’tafraid the house was going toget dirty, and I didn’t constantlynag them about it. Yes, sometimesthe house got a littlemessed up. But I taught mychildren how to clean up theirmesses, so that was never aproblem!SacrificesI never did bemoan the fact thatwe were in the ministry and thatwe had to make sacrifices. Yes,there were times when we hadno money and very little foodand the children didn’t havemany clothes to wear.But we never failed to make itthrough the hard times. Thehard times were nevergreater than God’s gracefor us. And we taught ourchildren that it is wonderful toserve God.I never told our children wecouldn’t afford to buy themthe things they needed. Kennethand I continually told ourchildren that God would meetour needs. So if I told them wecouldn’t afford the things weneeded, they would think Goddidn’t come through for us. Ididn’t want them to think thatway because God will alwayscome through for us when welook to Him and trust Him. Heis faithful.Spiritualand NaturalTrainingWe did our best to raise ourchildren according to the Wordof God, and from the timethey were very young, we beganteaching them about theirHeavenly Father. I rememberbefore our children ever startedschool, Kenneth would readBible storybooks to them.Later, when he was away,the children and I neverfailed to read the Bibleand pray each day beforethey went to school.You see, children needto be taught how to livethe Christian life, andthey need to learn howto believe God’s Wordfor themselves. Theyrhema.org 19