Recently I read an article that inspired me so much, and reminded me in many ways, of why we live how we live. I wanted to share an excerpt with you, which wraps things up perfectly.
"It’s good for our children to be dethroned and for God to be enthroned. It’s good for a child to miss out on piano lessons because her family has chosen to save up for an adoption. It’s good for a child to forego the best school because a family has chosen to settle into a neighborhood where they might shine a bright light. It’s good for kids to miss summer camp to go on a mission trip. It’s good for children to miss out on all kinds of “bests” in order for families to participate in kingdom-minded activities that glorify God and not our kids."
It's so tempting to think that in order to have kids, we need to live in a safe, well-financed, Christian bubble, even though that drastically ignores what the Bible says about the Christian life, money, and mission.
It's so tempting to think that if we really love our kids we'll avoid the rougher neighbourhoods, the urban places that might require them to share a bedroom and limit their toys, the public schools where they may be the only Christians in their class, and the complicated relationships where we may need to do some explaining.
Truthfully, I don't want to suffer and I don't want to see my kids feel anything remotely close to it. But I know following God is better, and sometimes that means bringing them with us into the dark, to be the light. Sometimes it means letting them go with less, so we can give more. Sometimes it means stepping out so we can welcome in. Because it's not about them, it's about Him.
You can read the whole article here. I need this reminder all the time, and I'll bet I'm not the only one.
"It’s good for our children to be dethroned and for God to be enthroned. It’s good for a child to miss out on piano lessons because her family has chosen to save up for an adoption. It’s good for a child to forego the best school because a family has chosen to settle into a neighborhood where they might shine a bright light. It’s good for kids to miss summer camp to go on a mission trip. It’s good for children to miss out on all kinds of “bests” in order for families to participate in kingdom-minded activities that glorify God and not our kids."
It's so tempting to think that in order to have kids, we need to live in a safe, well-financed, Christian bubble, even though that drastically ignores what the Bible says about the Christian life, money, and mission.
It's so tempting to think that if we really love our kids we'll avoid the rougher neighbourhoods, the urban places that might require them to share a bedroom and limit their toys, the public schools where they may be the only Christians in their class, and the complicated relationships where we may need to do some explaining.
We want the easy road, for ourselves and our kids. We don't want to hold
back anything from our children, even though time and time again, it's
been known that want breeds creativity, lack breeds contentment, and
trials breed character.
Truthfully, I don't want to suffer and I don't want to see my kids feel anything remotely close to it. But I know following God is better, and sometimes that means bringing them with us into the dark, to be the light. Sometimes it means letting them go with less, so we can give more. Sometimes it means stepping out so we can welcome in. Because it's not about them, it's about Him.
You can read the whole article here. I need this reminder all the time, and I'll bet I'm not the only one.
Amen! My sister and I grew up going to public school- my parents didn't want us to choose Jesus because He was the only thing we've ever known, but rather because we knew in our hearts He was the way, the truth and the life! Thanks for the article!
ReplyDeleteSo good. Thanks for sharing your thoughts Nd that article.
ReplyDeleteWell Said!!! And so important to say in our world that too often sets up our children as idols!
ReplyDeleteAwww, they are so cute) Young stylish icons) Hope they will stay so beautiful and will keep that friendship through ages) I wrote a Writemypaper4me.org review not so long ago about siblings and it says that people who rose with siblings are most likely to make good marriage in the future
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