I went to my Bible study at church, and we started talking about how God has shown up in our lives. We specifically were talking about problems and one woman was explaining how her husband had a rough time at one of his last jobs. People were lying about him, and it was unfair. He would come home and look for a new job he was so miserable. Eventually, he was let go from that job.
Instead of having it be a freak-out session, they felt the peace that passes all understanding. Unless you’ve experienced that peace, you don’t quite get it. Your mind is firing wondering why you’re feeling differently than you expected. Your heart is settled. You’re OK. It’s almost like there is a buffer between you and whatever is happening. God has promised us he will go before us, beside us, and behind us. I talk more about that in the short video at the top of this blog.
That is why this family didn’t feel panic – they felt peace and knew that there was freedom in what had happened. They leaned into their faith. Not only was he offered a job, but he also found a job he loves where they respect and love him. I wrote more about this in this short blog.
So, how does this make sense when I’m talking about kids? Well, as we shared stories at Bible study, I realized that as Christians, we all had proof of God’s redemption and grace. That proof made it easier for us to surrender and lean into God’s will for our life.
Our kids require a different level of faith. We recently learned that kids between the age of 8 and 12 years old are ready for something real in their faith that can be theirs.
They’re typically not old enough at that point to have gone through things to see God’s grace and redemption. Wouldn’t it be cool if we wrote down how God delivered us from our struggles? Wouldn’t it be great if we shared how God moved in our lives? That would give our kids insight and perspective into who we are other than just mom and what we have been through.
It would also be so powerful for them to see what mom went through and how God delivered her from that struggle. We can show them that God is real and functioning every day in the world. – he isn’t just a God that shows up in stories in the Bible. This is a guy that lives inside my mom’s life daily.
That will give them a relationship with God and it’s incredibly beautiful. So I’m going to tell her about things I’m embarrassed about. I’m going to tell her about the mistakes that I have made and then show her how God delivered me. She doesn’t know mom was in a dark place a long time ago. This will give her more perspective so that instead of searching and wandering and trying to find her own truth, I can show her how God came and took care of me. Let’s share our journeys with our children so they can join us hand in hand walking with God.
XO
Martha