Train Up a Child (Proverbs 22:6)

I remember being a newlywed and the fear I had at the thought of bringing a child into this world but I did it anyway, two times.  I remember when TV went off at midnight.  I mean really went off air.  Everything was G rated and if they even thought you were going to say something bad, you would hear a bleeeeep.  I remember “Gilligan’s Island” and “Captain Kangaroo”.  I remember when Wylie Coyote tried hundreds of times to catch Roadrunner but never did because his ACME gadgets always failed.   I remember the first Calvin Klein underwear commercial.  I remember when Victoria’s Secrets were no longer a secret.  I remember when “The Wonderful World of Disney” was still wonderful.

I worried about my children in the world that I brought them into.  But, we went to church and tried our best to raise them as Godly children.  We were supposed to add to our quiver, right?  Time sped up and God just took care of things even when I wasn’t really paying attention in our busy, little life.  Oh, I could write a book about all of the people that were put in place just for us, or so it seemed.  30 years has flown by. 

My church has always been blessed by children.  We pray for them.  We dedicate them to the Lord.  We teach them in Sunday School and Vacation Bible School and Children’s Church.  We are thankful for our children.  We are raising up the future of The Church.  Still, I struggled with the current state of affairs for our country and what all our children are going to have to deal with when we are gone.  Then, I read the following post and even though I knew most of this already, it gave me a sense of peace just reading it.  I wish that I had written it.  I wish I could have read it thirty years ago.  It has given me a renewed hope.

(Borrowed from Mark Weber’s FB page 12/27/23 From Lafayette, Louisiana.  Thank you, Mr. Weber, whoever you are. It is written as he wrote it.)

"Don’t feel sorry for or fear for your kids/grandkids because the world they are going to grow up in is not what it used to be.

God created them and called them for the exact moment in time that they’re in. Their life wasn’t a coincidence or an accident.

Raise them up to know the power they walk in as children of God.

Train them up in the authority of His Word.

Teach them to walk in faith knowing that God is in control.

Empower them to know they can change the world.

Don’t teach them to be fearful and disheartened by the state of the world but hopeful that they can do something about it.

Every person in all of history has been placed in the time that they were in because of God’s sovereign plan.

He knew Daniel could handle the lion’s den.

He knew David could handle Goliath.

He knew Esther could handle Haman.

He knew Peter could handle persecution.

He knows that your child can handle whatever challenge they face in their life. He created them specifically for it!

Don’t be scared for your children, but be honored that God chose YOU to parent the generation that is facing the biggest challenges of our lifetime.

Rise up to the challenge.

Raise Daniels, Davids, Esthers and Peters!

God isn’t scratching His head wondering what He’s going to do with this mess of a world.

He has an army He’s raising up to drive back the darkness and make Him known all over the earth.

Don’t let your fear steal the greatness God placed in them. I know it’s hard to imagine them as anything besides our sweet little babies, and we just want to protect them from anything that could ever be hard on them, but they were born for such a time as this."

Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

I couldn't pick just one picture. Have a blessed day.