Seeing Jesus in Our Children (Happy Mother's Day!)

First Easter without Mom

You learn to appreciate mothers a little more when they're no longer around. I know because I've had to play "Mr. Mom" for the last four months (granted with LOTS of help) and all I can say is it's obvious why God gave moms the role of "moms". No one does it better.

No one.

Our kids are far from perfect but it's clear that Kim has done a great job in raising them thus far and although we've both made (and are making) plenty of mistakes along the way, we are realizing how profound an influence we have, as parents, in how our kids view themselves, the world and even beyond. As Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it."

That said, we've had to remind ourselves that the Proverbs are not absolute truths (precepts) for all times, but general truths that speak generally. I actually find this to be a great source of comfort because I don't think I could live with the pressure of being the sole determiner of whether my children come to a saving faith. Instead as parents I believe we are called to raise up our children in the way of the Lord and to the best of our ability but can rest in the fact that ultimately their salvation and their destiny is in His hands. What better place for it to be?

It's good to know that God is not only sovereign over all that happens in this world (good and bad), but sovereign over our children as well. If you recall I wrote a post in early March of how, unbeknownst to us, God had been profoundly moving in Caleb heart even when he saw mom riding off in an ambulance (see HERE). Just last week I ran across this old video of Timothy I posted on FB that we had taken five years ago (when he was two) where we were shocked that he seemingly understood the cross of Jesus before we ever even sat down and explained it to him.

And to top it all off Kim recently told me that she was sitting with Selah in our dining room, and while staring out our back deck our four year old suddenly exclaimed, "Mommy, God just told me something!"  When Kim asked her what God said she replied, "He said, Jesus loves me." I'm not making this stuff up, and I'm not sharing this to boast. I'm bringing these personal examples up to demonstrate that God is sovereign even in the way that He reveals Himself to little children and we have seen this to be true in our lives, and to Him be all the glory.

Jesus said, "Let the little children come unto me." not just because he loved them, but because they were his children before they were ours. As the song Jesus Loves Me says, "little ones to Him belong, they are weak, but he is strong...."  Make no mistake. All God's children belong to God and we are but stewards of His gifts for a brief time. May we make the most of the precious gifts God has given us. May we train them up in the way they should go.

Happy Mother's Day!

In His Grace,

Peter & Kim