Late last year I sat on the sofa and asked my son, Michael, to do a simple task that he'd not had to do during his first 11 years. He wasn't particularly happy to take on the job now. I was even less happy to ask. But we both learned something.

His lesson was simple: As you grow up, your responsibility increases. My lesson was a little more complex.

I'd injured my back a few weeks before. Now I had to ask for help with a multitude of activities. Over the last 44 years or so, I've developed a group of habits that helped me to get things done, but that didn't always fit with God's plan. I'd become self-sufficient. While this trait can be admirable in small doses, I'd taken it to an extreme.

My back problem forced me to ask for help. At home, Michael and my daughter, Bethany, learned how to take the trash to the curb twice a week. My wife, Anne Marie, did double duty, cleaning up the kitchen after dinner and supervising the children as they got ready for bed—a pair of jobs we typically split.

While I lay flat on my back at home, I asked my co-workers to do more research about magazine stories, and see that photos and articles got to our designers once they were edited.

I soon realized that the need to ask for help extended to my spiritual life. I'd become a person of action in that realm as well. When a problem presented itself, I simply acted. I seldom stopped to pray. When a question came up, I seldom asked God for wisdom—I just answered. Even as I admired those around me who pray over small concerns, I'd been acting as if God weren't there.

I had never doubted the truth that I couldn't achieve my own salvation. I knew that only Christ's death could pay for my sin. But in day-to-day matters, I'd been trying to live a successful spiritual life in my own strength. And failing.

Jesus told His disciples, "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; f0r if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you" (John 16:7). Christ has not asked me to be self-sufficient. On the contrary, He is all-sufficient and wants me to lean on Him. By the power of this Helper, the Holy Spirit, I can rely on God.

Now I'm back to work full time and pitching in at home. But I'm also trying to remember to replace my self-sufficiency with God-sufficiency. I'm learning to lean on Him.

"Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. So Eli told Samuel, 'Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, "Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening"'" (I Samuel 3:9,10; New International Version).

How can we raise children to see the world with God's eyes? Here are seven ideas to help you create a missionary mentality, both locally and globally:

1. Pray for the world with your children. Buy Operation World (an international mission almanac) and pray for specific countries.
2. Adopt a missionary. E-mail them. Pray for them. If they are overseas, ask what they miss and send care packages.
3. Encourage your children to give money to a missionary.
4. When missionaries are in town, invite them over for dinner.
5. Ask missionaries to speak to your children's Sunday-school classes.
6. Go on a short-term mission trip as a family.
7. Make your neighbors your mission field. Be an example to your kids of sharing the good news.

Three wood stoves kept our family of seven warm through the long winter months in RistijŠrvi, Finland. When the air turned cold, my father headed to the woods to replenish our store of wood before the 4-foot-deep snowfalls.

As a young girl, I loved to go along with my father as he pushed his wheeled cart down the path to the thick fir forests surrounding our village. Soon we reached the spot where he would begin sawing off limbs from felled trees and cutting them into logs. There my father started a little campfire and set his coffee pot to brewing. Then his strong arms began pushing and pulling the saw across the limbs.

When I grew tired of running about, eating my bread or fashioning cows from pine cones and sticks, I would lie down near the campfire. Often I was lulled to sleep by the sound of my father sawing.

Once after such a nap, I opened my eyes to see the large looming trees above me. I heard nothing but silence. Sitting up, I didn't see my father before me. Suddenly frightened, I called out, "Daddy! Where are you?"

Then I heard his gentle voice, "Don't worry, Merja; I'm right here behind you. Don't be afraid." My heart was instantly calmed, for with Dad around, I felt protected and secure.

Since then, I've grown up and had three children of my own. At times I feel the worries of watching my older two sons navigate college and career choices, or my youngest steering through the social scenes of high school. Other times the pressures of financial strains close in around me and feel as dark as woods in the winter.

Though my own gentle father has passed away, I still have a tender heavenly Father. When I grow suddenly frightened, I need only to call out, and it's almost as if I can hear God's gentle voice answering me: Don't worry, Merja. I'm here. He guides me in the decisions I need to make and gives me His peace. And then I know, even as I did as a child, that I am protected and secure.

Our once great country, now mired in numerous social ills, is facing an unparalleled moral crisis. God alone holds the solution to our nation's problems—and we hold the key.

British statesman Edmund Burke said, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." America is one of the last strongholds of freedom on earth—and citizens who are dedicated to God are the only resource for the preservation of our freedoms, including the freedom to serve Him.

It has been reliably estimated that more than half the people of the United States profess faith in Jesus Christ. By following these five simple guidelines, even a small percentage of us can be used by God to set this nation on a new course of righteousness for His glory.

Pray Without Ceasing

The healing of our nation begins with the prayers of the saints. Pray that God will send a great spiritual awakening to America, that millions of our citizens will receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, and that Christians will dedicate themselves to God for spiritual living and active service.

Pray daily that leaders and authority figures will be filled with godly wisdom and stand firm for what is right and true. We may be tempted to criticize our elected officials, but praying for them is far more profitable and effective.

Register to Vote

Voting is a matter of stewardship under God, yet many of God's people throughout America are not even registered to vote. Only as a registered voter will you be in a position to help elect godly officials.

Voter registration forms are often available at post offices, libraries or motor-vehicle licensing agencies.

Become Informed

Just as the untrained soldier is at the mercy of his enemy, the uninformed Christian cannot prevail against evil forces in the world of politics. To serve God effectively as a citizen, you must learn how to act for His glory within the framework of existing political processes.

Make a sincere effort to obtain reliable information about all issues and candidates before voting. If your congressmen and senators are running for re-election, find out how they voted on issues of critical importance.

Numerous organizations and ministries provide summaries of current issues and updates on pending legislation. Many groups have databases you can search on their Web sites, or will send updates by e-mail or fax if you request them.

Help Elect Godly People

Righteous rule brings rejoicing: "When the godly are in authority, the people rejoice. But when the wicked are in power, they groan" (Proverbs 29:2, NLT). Godly people must vote for godly rulers. This can be done only by informed, praying Christians like you.

The Word of God gives us the basic qualifications of a good candidate: "Find some capable, honest [individuals] who fear God and hate bribesÉThese can serve the people" (Exodus 18:21,22; NLT).

Six qualifications are listed in this passage: demonstrated capability (competence in managing business or professional affairs), godliness (spiritual maturity), honesty, integrity, industriousness and justice.

If there is no qualified candidate who is spiritually mature, vote for the one whose personal principles and platform most nearly agree with the Bible. Remember that a candidate's principles are far more important than his party affiliation.

Vote

It is commonly believed that decisions in America are made by a majority of the people. This is not so. Decisions are made by a majority of those who vote. As few as 16 percent of all eligible voters in a district can elect a member of Congress.

By one vote, Texas was admitted to the Union, Hitler won leadership of the German Nazi Party, and the U.S. House of Representatives elected Thomas Jefferson as President. Your one vote does make a difference!

Exercise the influence that God has given you through our unique system of self-government. Christian lawyer Michael Whitehead put it this way: "If America is to be saved, saved Americans must lead the way."

Adapted from Your 5 Duties As A Christian Citizen, ©2000, by Bill Bright, New Life Publications, Campus Crusade for Christ. All rights reserved. Used by permission. To read the entire text of Bill Bright's booklet, visit www.worldwidechallenge.org/fiveduties, or order the booklet at www.campuscrusade.com or phone 1-800-827-2788.

If my wife and I always gave our 3-year-old son Jonathan what he asked for, he would eat a packet of candy Elmos—fruit snacks in the shape of the red monster of Sesame Street fame—every 30 minutes; eat chocolate-frosted doughnuts with sprinkles every morning; drink a Coke with every meal; never get disciplined for disobedience; and never take a bath.

Can you imagine always giving your children what they wanted? Our son's face would be covered in chocolate every morning, he would have a constant caffeine buzz, he would be disrespectful and he would smell badly.

Yet what is our attitude when God does not always give us what we ask for? We pout, or question God's goodness. Even worse, we get angry at God. Jesus gently corrects this mindset in Matthew 7:9,10 (New International Version): "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!"

When God does not give us what we ask for, do we believe that He knows what is best for us? Or do we pout and become embittered when God doesn't give us the candy Elmos we are convinced we need?