More than anything.......

As my children grow older I have many wishes for them in their futures. I wish for them to find love in a healthy relationship. I wish for them to find careers that do more than just pay the bills. I wish for them to find happiness. But, more than anything, I wish for them to have a personal relationship with God. 



Like many of you, I have raised my children in church. They have attended youth groups and camps and they have learned many things about Jesus and the many other people mentioned in the bible. I know they believe in God and that they know right from wrong, but do they own their own faith? 

Many parents believe that going to church is enough, but can we ignore recent studies that show that college age students and twenty-somethings often leave their Christian faith behind once they leave the nest, in spite of strong levels of spiritual activity during their teen years? Church involvement alone doesn’t often translate into an active, vibrant relationship with God. Nor can bringing them up in a faith based environment. Just because you have a relationship with God does not mean that your kids do, many times they are just following the rules of the faith, or trying. I took me years to understand what it meant to own my faith. Because being a Christian is personal it has to become personal for our kids. It is important for them to know what and why they believe, its not and never will be enough that they were raised that way. 

Your teen might be asking tough questions, like: Why can’t I feel God? What do I really believe? Where is God when things fall apart? If they are asking these questions, they aren’t alone. Even the disciples—guys called to hard core ministry—wrestled with these uncertainties. God knew that we would have questions, and He provided many answers to those questions in His Word, but there isn't an answer for every question we might have and for them there is faith. I have learned, as my relationship with God has grown, that two things happen as we develop in our relationship.  Some questions no longer matter and the questions change. 

I was not prepared to face the world alone in my faith when I left the safety and comfort of my home. I was unable to answer why I believed in God and that shook me to the core so badly that I walked away from the faith of my father, into a dark and scary world, filled with possibilities, where I eventually realized that my faith was more than just that of my fathers. In my doubts and unanswered questions He was always there waiting for me to realize that the relationship was real and personal. 

I want my children to have that relationship with God, the one that is personal for them because they sought God and found Him, because they developed a relationship with Him through prayer and reading the Word. That they allowed His Spirit to grow inside of them making the necessary changes that gives peace to the unanswered questions and doubts and encourages them to walk in and by faith, trusting that, no matter what He will always be there for them.