Not Alone: Trusting God to Help You Raise Godly Kids in a Spiritually Mismatched Home (5 page)

He proved faithful when my husband consented to me taking my girls to church as long as I agreed that they could make their own choice about their faith when they were old enough.

God proved faithful when my oldest daughter, Rachel, read her children’s Bible from cover to cover at around age 9— the first full book she’d ever read. When she accepted Jesus as her Savior at age 11. When she was horribly ostracized by her peers during a time when we were living in Europe. When God brought her through difficult stomach problems at age 16. And when God helped her let go of an unhealthy relationship and accept that she would be loved again one day by the young man God had in mind for her.

God proved faithful when my youngest daughter, Leslie, tested positive for HIV at age two after she picked up a condom in a parking lot, thinking it was a balloon. (God changed that false positive to positively negative.) He was faithful when she accepted Jesus as her Savior at age 6. When she too endured mistreatment at the hands of her peers in grade school after we moved back to the States, even to being held at knifepoint. And when at age 14 she was diagnosed with depression and later that year with a malignant brain tumor.

As I write this, my oldest daughter is 23 and just married a wonderful, godly young man who exceeds what I had hoped for and, for many years, prayed for in her future husband. Even during their engagement, they already exhibited how God created us to function as two parts of a whole in marriage. Now they are beginning their lives together as one, united before God and by their faith in Him and each other.

My youngest is now 19 and cancer free. Though she still has much to overcome, her faith (and her dog) keeps her going on the hard days. And through it all, even in the times when she was angry at God, she never stopped loving Him.

Our mother-daughter relationships are evolving into sweet friendships that allow me to not only be my girls’ mom but a friend and mentor to them as well. We are growing in faith together.

One day when I came to God with my fleece and asked, “Am I enough?” He gave me this Scripture:

Such confidence we have through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves,
but our competence comes from God.
He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life (2 Cor. 3:4-6, emphasis added).

My precious friend, drench yourself in this final piece of revelation from God’s Word:

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you,
being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to
him who is able
to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen (Eph. 3:14-21, emphasis added).

We don’t have to be enough, because God is enough. And He is able, He is able, He is able!

Discovery

My dear friend, again, I wish I could talk to you in person over that cup of coffee or tea. Walk with me a little further, and take your time answering the following questions with prayerful consideration. Remember, you are not alone.

1. In hearing the answers people gave to the question, “Am I enough … ?” did a particular area of struggle or doubt resonate with you? How would you answer this question?

2. Besides Gideon, can you think of a biblical character who doubted whether he or she had what it took to do what God asked? Go and read that person’s story now.

3. Sit in a quiet place and meet with Abba. Make a list of the doubts and fears you have about raising your kids to know Jesus. Ask God to show you a verse to counter each of your concerns. Take your time doing this, and allow God to drench you in the truth and the many promises in His Word.

4. Write down on index cards two of the Scriptures you found, and this week focus on them, memorize them and use them to pray over and for your children. Next week write down two more, and each week thereafter do the same. What changes do you see already because of doing this?

5. What is one thing you can do on a daily basis to model your faith to your children? If your children are pre-teens, teens, or even adults, how can you be a mentor in their lives?

6. Start a list of areas in your children’s lives that you want to pray about regularly. As you work through this book, add to this list as you feel God leading you.

Prayer

Father God, Your Word is a constant testimony to Your faithfulness. I know that You long for me to trust You not only with my life but also with the lives of my children. In reality, Lord, they belong to You. They are gifts whom You have given me to raise knowing the powerful and loving God that You are.

Lord, I ask that You equip me in every way to entrust my kids to You. And not only that, help me to truly believe You and to see Your faithfulness in our everyday lives. Help me to trust You completely with my children’s futures, for the deep relationship You desire to have with my children, for the calling You are preparing for them, and for the faith journey You have uniquely designed for them.

Jesus, I want my children to know You intimately and to have vibrant relationships with You. Do whatever You need to do in their young lives to show them that You are for them 100 percent, that You love them and that You want only good for them.

Thank You, Lord, for Your amazing faithfulness. I know that You are able to do all that I have asked and more. I praise and thank You now for the ways in which You are and will be working in my children to make them effective and strong in their faith. In Your powerful and capable name, Jesus, I pray this. Amen.

Respecting Dad

Whether you are single, married, separated or divorced, Dad still has a place in the spiritual lives of your children. Remember that he is unable to understand his place in your efforts to raise your children to know Jesus. He may even be opposed to what you are doing. Continue to ask God to soften his heart toward your faith and to see its benefits to your children. If need be, plan the times you share and talk with your children about God to take place when Dad isn’t present so that he won’t feel threatened or feel his time with the children is impinged upon. Help your children understand that Dad’s choice not to believe in God doesn’t in any way mean that he doesn’t love them or that he will love them less for choosing to believe in God. And help them to understand that just as God loved us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to save us, so too God loves their father even more than they do and wants salvation for him.

Heaven’s Kids

Will My Kids Go to Heaven?

Lynn

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