My wife and I were panelists at the TRAC-organised event: Spiritual Habits of a Child's Heart. We were a little nervous being asked to share about how we parent our kids. We figured, our kids were still young so that means that the jury is still out on how they will turn out. And it made us a little more nervous when there was a turnout of 200 or so parents and Sunday School teachers at the event.
Participants of the event worshipping the Lord together.
But the Lord swiftly reminded us that it was not our own effort, but him drawing us to him, both us and our children. It was he who 'turned on the lights' and put us on the path of following him. And that's what we shared: our amazing journey of being half-hearted about him not too long ago to today's situation, where we can feel the fire of the Holy Spirit leading, teaching and guiding us.
And that's what we shared with the parents: how to throw ourselves at God's feet, surrendering our lives to him and he makes much more of our lives than we ourselves ever could. I think our biggest encouragement to the parents was this: make God the treasure of your life. Get rid of everything else that stands in the way. If golf is in the way, get rid of it. If TV is in the way, get rid of it. If your career is your treasure, it's time to change your priority. Our children are our priority. We only have them for a season, and while they are under our care, God has commanded us to be his representatives. As he tells us:
There is nothing more important that bringing up our children in the way of the Lord. And our family's heart verses reminds us that it is not by our willpower nor determination nor strength that will help raise children who will love the Lord but it is the Lord who promises to do it. And we thank him for that because on our own, we know we will fail.
