Raising Christians
When I was pregnant with my oldest daughter, I was extremely offended by pop culture. I was dreading rap songs, makeup, magazines, and anything else that might expose my child to things that may alter her self-image or her self-worth. I didn't want her to be exposed to the things that I had been exposed to. This was unrealistic because shielding children from worldliness will only make them strangers in the world we live in. How can they win souls if they don't understand worldliness? However, exposing them to worldliness and explaining to them how they should perceive it and handle it over time when they are ready, is what I have found has worked for my oldest daughter.
When I came to the Lord my daughter was 5 years old. Immediately after me explaining church and what it meant to me, she would question me about music we would listen to and things that we wear. I had my convictions at that time to no longer listen to music that does not edify God. Dressing modestly had now been made a top priority and I needed to get new clothes and fast. I have a child watching every move I make and I don't want to confuse her.
“If I could go back and do it all over again I would spend more time teaching my children how to have a relationship with God. Working with so many people over the years, counseling them and helping them spiritually, I assumed my children would just follow in their parents footsteps. I assumed my children would not struggle in their walk with God. I was wrong.”
After 5 years of serving the Lord, granted I have made many mistakes as a mother. No one is perfect and we are all sinners. I still explain to her the values of Christ and we read the Bible together.
Early in my ministry when I was being taught one-on-one within the first couple of months of coming to church, I met with an elderly woman who had been married to a pastor. She shared with me many things about the Bible. She helped me 'catch up' on things that I should know as a Christian woman. One day she shared a story with me about all of the women she helped. She talked about how she did home economics lessons by teaching many women how to sew and cook, among other things, over the years. After sharing that with me she told me that she had 8 children in her lifetime. Some of them had passed on. She said this without emotion, which was hard for me to understand. I gathered that they may have passed many years ago. She emphasized to me that one thing she regrets the most about her ministry.
Sometimes people share their life experiences with you and it has no effect on how you live your life. At those times you basically have chosen to experience it for yourself no matter how many people told you that it wasn't a good idea or that it will hurt you in the end. This is was not one of those times. I did not want to have the same regrets as my sister in Christ had.
I started sitting down and explaining God to my oldest daughter when I felt she was understanding more - around the age of 6. Since I can draw well I used a white board to explain things that she would need to see drawn out. She had her own Bible and we would go through first with anything that she was confused about and then whatever the Lord placed on my heart to share with her.
Lately, now that she is 10 years old, I bought her a Girl's Devotional. This helps her relate with the things in the Bible on her own without me having to break scriptures down while reading through. My oldest daughter, Angeli, has a big heart for God. She loves going to church. We make sure to do our best to make it to every church service. I remind her to pray every night. She chose to start tithing on her own. I love seeing her grab a tithe envelope and fill it out with her name and dotting the "i" with a heart.
Angeli is in the sign language choir and loves to sign on her sign team. She also assists me (one of the church photographers) with taking photos at times when I am preoccupied with other ministries. Her skills have sharpened over time and she does very well on both sides of the camera.
I must admit that I plan on praying with her more. Praying with our children is so important. It helps them gain confidence in their prayers when you do it with them. The way my daughter looks at our Bible Studies and prayer time - it's the highest quality time that she spends with me. I'm so thankful that she values it and enjoys it. I know for her sometimes it can be information overload and overwhelming. Sometimes she's not going to retain the information we discussed. However, I know over time and through repetition of hearing the same stories she is going to definitely begin to develop the wisdom and knowledge of the Lord. Even as adults reading a verse that we've read 20 times over, we can read it again and have an entire new revelation and depth into its meaning than we did before. There's no limits in God.
As Christians we must not forget to raise our children in Christ. The sooner they build that relationship with Jesus the stronger it will be as they grow older. They will be able to differentiate the Love of Christ with the pseudo-love of the world. Even if they were to step away from the church or even from prayer they will end up coming back eventually because there's no other love like the love of Jesus Christ.
