Priceless!

Posted on April 19, 2008
Filed Under children | 2 Comments

Sometimes my daughter says the most priceless things. The other day we were watching a movie and I had given Grace a bag of nuts to share with her daddy - they both enjoy shelling monkey nuts together (I’m not sure if they are called that in N.America? Basically peanuts in a shell). There was a quarter of a large bag left when I gave them to her. After a while I noticed an empty bag on the floor and Grace sat in front of a bowl full of broken up peanut shells, with Daddy on the other side of the room. I said to her “Gracie, did you eat all of those monkey nuts?” Her reply, “No, I didn’t, I think I’ve lost one in the bowl somewhere!” It was definitely a funny childhood memory moment!

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Let the little children come to me

Posted on August 30, 2007
Filed Under blog, children, faith | 18 Comments

Grace has written a really great post today.  In it she talks about whether her and her husband have done enough to help the kids have a passion for God.  She wonders if they are OK or are they slipping?  In her words:

“We have done a good job of raising kids that are not religious. Their BS detectors are keen to legalism and hype. But have we done enough to ignite their passion for the things of God? or have we leaked too much cynicism, drowning out that spark? These are the things that keep this mother up at night.”

It is a great post and there are some thoughtful and helpful comments.  I really resonate with what Grace wrote.  My children are not teenagers, they are eight and six, but I already find myself asking these questions.  Are we going to miss the boat with them?  Is our journey going to harm them, or will it end up enhancing their own faith?  They don’t like children’s church, we have the grumbles and moans each week.  Alan Knox pointed out to Grace that maybe she should live what God is showing her.  Maybe that is some of our problem as well.  We talk all of the time about what we believe in, how we would like to see the Christian community move, what we would like to do for God.  Yet here we are in a pastoral role which is only touching the edges of all of that.

I’m not sure what Jonathan is thinks about it, but I feel very drawn to YWAM at the moment.  Our permanent residency for Canada is taking much longer to come through than we expected, and we are really in limbo.  I think this is affecting the kids as well.

If there is one thing that I want to be able to say in ten years, then it is that my children have their own faith, they are walking with God in a strong way.  I am their mother, and I believe it is the most important thing I can teach them and guide them into.  It’s not the church’s responsibility to teach my children, it is mine and my husbands.  the church is a supporting role.  The question is, how do I get from here to there?

Any thoughts?

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