Tag: Jesus Loves You

Do I Believe in God or Not?

Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

For the last 16 years I have spent my life, morning, noon and night, raising my three boys.  I have worked hard to give them a stable environment where they know they are safe and loved so that they can just be kids.  I’ve tried to expose them to different kinds of sports, music, theater, movies, museums, and food so that they can try everything and figure out what they like for themselves. 

But when it comes to God, I didn’t do that.  I didn’t give them a choice.  I decided that we were going to church on Sunday morning to learn about Jesus and that was that.  Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t think I made the wrong decision.  Sometimes we must make decisions for our children because they don’t know what’s best for themselves . . . yet.  But at some point, our children are going to have to make up their own minds about whether they believe in God or not. 

The Bible says we should “train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”  It is my job to share Jesus with my children.  To teach them how to talk to Jesus and how to hear Jesus talking to them through His Word.  It is my job to show them how important it is to have a church family that comes together to worship and learn more about Jesus regularly.  It is my responsibility to bring Jesus into our home and to talk about how Jesus would have handled life.  It is my honor to pray for my children and with my children so that they can learn to pray too. 

But even if you do ALL these things, it is not a guarantee that your child will believe in Jesus.  That’s because it is not what you do, but what the Holy Spirit does in your child’s heart that will bring him or her closer to Jesus.   So, I encourage you to do all those things I mentioned above and more.  Give your sons and daughters every opportunity you can to hear the Word and to invite the Holy Spirit into their lives. 

Dear Lord, thank you for sending your son to die on the cross to redeem us.  Please place a hedge of protection around our children.  May their eyes see, and their ears hear what you are trying to tell them.  In Jesus name, Amen.

It’s a God Thing

Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Do you believe in coincidences?  Or do you believe there is a purpose for what happens to you?  God is doing things all around you every day.  He shows up when you least expect it and even when you haven’t asked for it. 

Ten years ago, when my oldest son was in 1st grade, he started having behavioral problems at school.  His grades were also suffering and towards the end of the school year the teacher asked if I would allow him to stay after school a few times a week for tutoring.  Of course, I said yes. 

After the first day of tutoring, a teacher that I didn’t recognize walked my son to the car and introduced herself as his tutor.  We talked a little bit about what she would be doing with him and during the short conversation I mentioned that dyslexia runs in my ex-husband’s family.  She said she was the dyslexia teacher for his school, and she would keep that in mind while she was tutoring him.  After the very next tutoring session, the same teacher came to my car window and said she would have my son tested before the end of the year. 

Typically, a teacher must complete an incredible amount of documentation before they can recommend a child for testing but what typically takes 3 months to accomplish only took us 2 weeks.  My son was tested and started the 2nd grade with the accommodations he needed to be successful.  There is no way I could have accomplished this on my own.  God put that teacher and my son together in the right place at the right time.  This was 100% a God thing.

The fact that my son has dyslexia is not a good thing, but the fact that we were able to identify it so early was.  God can turn every circumstance around for our long-range good.  So, remember, God works in “all things” – not just isolated incidents – for our good.  Pay attention.  Look around.  Notice what he is doing and then thank him for showing up.

Lord, thank you for taking an active role in my life.  Open my eyes to see what you are doing in my life and help me to be a witness to others. Amen.