We All Sin.

I hear people say...let kids be kids..kids just want to have fun...I just want my kids to be happy....they are so sweet and innocent.  I do not experience that, with ANY of my kids. 

 Let's be CLEAR I LOVE LOVE LOVE my kids and grands so very much. 

 I learn from them daily, they are life and joy and wonderful gifts from God; they are the biggest blessings of our lives.

  I LOVE them, and their spirit and energy and child-like faith. 

 What I don't see is this naturally sweet innocent nature that people talk about.  When we just let our kids be kids...they whine and scream, and throw food,  and do all kinds of crazy stuff.  I never never never had to teach them to hit, or bite, or lie, or be selfish, or self-centered.  I never taught them how to run off when I call for them.  I did not teach them any of these things, it's in their nature and they have to be taught NOT to do these things and they have to be taught to DO something different than what comes naturally to them.

We are three amazing grown kids into this journey, and the beauty of that is we can look at what worked, what has helped them the most and what was not a help to them. I can promise you, the stuff we as parents have spent the most time worrying about and trying to do for them is not the stuff that gives them what they need in life.  They need Jesus, they need to know they can trust Him, they need to know how to love Him and serve Him, they need to know how to love people, all people, all the time.  When we spend so much time trying to do everything else, and working our heads off to give our children this amazing childhood, and then sit passively by when it comes to a relationship with the Lord, we are treating the symptoms of a broken life in a broken world, not giving them the cure, the TRUTH that will fill them with true joy and happiness and wisdom and LOVE and PURPOSE. 

 I don't know what has made us as parents so timid when it comes to the spiritual side of our children.  Why will we do everything in our power to help them thru life, and then leave it up to them to figure out their own TRUTH?  

That is like giving a kid a car and having them figure out their own way to drive the thing, never telling them where the gas pedal or brakes are, let alone how to use them.

We are born with a sin nature.  We are broken people in a broken world and I don't know about you but I can't even blame Eve for my sin...I can know the rules, just like Eve knew the rules and I still break them constantly.  I don't even have a talking serpent trying to convince me to do things, I just do them.  The very first commandment is to have no other gods before God. There are many times I put my kids before God, myself, my house, my time, my problems, my worries, my activities. I can't even get past the first step on many days. 

 

I have had a struggle in my own heart because we have fallen out of some good habits; we had a routine of pretty consistent family devotions and prayer time, and since we have moved we had let that go, not because we meant to, it just got over-run with everything else. 

 I then began to think...well, it's fine because I can't have a relationship with the Lord FOR my kids (which is the truth) so I began to think I would just let it go, and let them figure it out for themselves.

I thought we would just continue to pray for them and encourage them, and take them to church.  Going to church is never a struggle, for us or our kids, this is a constant in our lives no matter the season we are in.  But, I didn't have peace about just leaving it at that.  I kept going back to it in my mind thinking I don't want myself or my kids to do things out of ritual or religious obligation, I  want them to know God and want to know Him more every day of their lives.  

After wresting it through for a time, I have come to understand our role as parents a little better,  I do believe as long as kids are being raised and still living under the care of their parents, the parents have a big responsibility in 

*creating a space and time and an example to allow and encourage that relationship with the Lord.*

  I can't make things take root in their hearts, but I can sure till the soil and plant seeds and water the hell out of it. 

 I don't think it is something they just pick up by watching either....I mean I have never jumped on the couch (since Cellie has been alive :) ) and yet she is constantly jumping on the couch, so I don't think she is naturally picking things up, by just watching the people in her life.

  My teens and young kids are super receptive and responsive any time I create that space and time for them to participate in Bible time, faith discussions, and prayer time, but it isn't something they naturally do on their own very often.  I don't know when that will happen for each of them, but I know as I watch our older kids it does become their own, and it is the most beautiful part of them that affects every single area of their lives for eternity. 

I can't take responsibility for my kids' hearts and I can't take credit for them either, but I can keep taking them to Jesus and trusting that He is faithful and worthy and He is the most influential person I can introduce them too, and keep bringing into their view.

I pray that God captures each child's heart, and they learn to enjoy a very close and intimate relationship between them and God, but we as parents, we have to do our part in giving all we know how to, to help cultivate a relationship that continues well beyond our time with them in our home.  Our faith has to be lived out in our own lives and also a constant invitation to our kids to join in a deeper relationship with God.  

Joshua 24:14-15 The Message (MSG)

14 “So now: Fear God. Worship him in total commitment. Get rid of the gods your ancestors worshiped on the far side of The River (the Euphrates) and in Egypt. You, worship God.

15 “If you decide that it’s a bad thing to worship God, then choose a god you’d rather serve—and do it today. Choose one of the gods your ancestors worshiped from the country beyond The River, or one of the gods of the Amorites, on whose land you’re now living. As for me and my family, we’ll worship God.”