You Will Thank Me Later
“Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6
Real MOMent
On the Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) holiday, my son and I met some friends at the Harvey B. Grant African American museum. As we walked through the museum looking at the exhibits my son goes “This is boring.” Even though I wanted him to be interested in the various African American leaders who have contributed significantly to our society, I understood that reading about historical figures might not be as entertaining as his PlayStation 5. I looked around to see if anyone else heard his moment of honesty, leaned down to his ear and whispered, “you will thank me later.”
THIS IS BORING!
As a child, those three words were spoken from my mouth, countless times, to my parents. As a little girl, sitting on the wooden pews in church Sunday (very similar to the ones pictured above), those same three words would frequently fill my thoughts. Every week, my mother MADE my sisters and me go to church, faithfully. My boredom didn’t have anything to do with the pastors themselves, but it had everything to do with my lack of maturity at the time. While my passion was not aligned to a PlayStation 5, I would have rather been riding my bike, talking on the phone, or going to the mall.
While in college as a developing, young adult, my mom called every Sunday and faithfully asked me the same question, “Did you go to church? " For the first three years of being away from home, I responded with the same answer–“No.” I can’t really think of one solid reason why I didn’t attend church other than being tired from partying the night before or needing a few more hours to study for the week ahead.
I am not sure she ever thought my answer would change, but I have to believe deep down inside that she thought it would, because why else would she constantly ask me the same question week after week. Coincidentally, during my senior year after going through the beginning of my own personal experiences of life’s trials, I had a different response to provide for my mom. My “No,” became a “Yes.”
MOMent of Clarity
I am living proof of Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” While it wasn’t my mother’s weekly questioning that eventually led me back to Christ, it was my parents' introduction to Him during my childhood that I knew where to turn when I felt like I needed Him the most. I realize growing up, that there are some lessons that are necessary for us to endure for ourselves. For me, those lessons were essential to developing my personal relationship with the Heavenly Father, the One who was introduced to me growing up in church where my memories of boredom lie.
Over recent years, I have pondered whether my mental priorities, although my children are still pretty young, have been set too high in preparing my children for college in comparison to introducing them to the Father and securing their place in Heaven. I think our society has made it more common to brag about good grades and college acceptance letters (which TRUST me I find value in ALL of that) over children learning about God. I’ll take myself for example, a common weekly routine after a full work day for my household includes: after-school pick up, preparing dinner, ensuring nightly reading is done for homework, extra math practice is completed, and then nighttime routines (all the things within a 2-3 hour time span). While in various ways we find time to talk about Jesus- I have learned there has to be an intentional effort. It is a similar concept to how I view classroom teachers. There is an expectation for me to review the work that is being done in the classroom and reinforce the topics at home to ensure academic success. That same drive and even more is needed when it comes to ensuring my children know God to ensure LIFE success. This sole responsibility can not be put on the Sunday school teacher or children church leader.
One of the greatest gifts my parents gave me even till this day, was that introduction to Christ. They knew how important that introduction was regardless of my boredom. While I might have been introduced some other way, at some other time, I am grateful to my parents as I see it now as a form of their love for me. I love my children too much not to make the introduction. If I do not make the introduction, can I bear the risk of them being introduced to all the other things this world has to offer that are not of God - without knowing God ?! While they will always have a praying mother interceding on their behalf, my prayers alone won’t be their ticket into Heaven, as we all have to make the decision to accept Christ as our personal Savior. Ultimately, I don’t think I could live with myself leaving them in this world without knowing Who to turn to or Whose and Whom they were. I am fine with them potentially not understanding the full value now or even a few years down the road, but hopefully and prayerfully one day they will thank me later.
 This week’s PRAISE is rooted in gratitude to my parents for introducing to me to Christ at a young age even when I showed a disinterest. In this excerpt from a recent Steven Furtick's sermon, he discusses the importance of being taught Jesus: |
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1 Corinthians 3:6-8 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. |
 Dear God, Thank You for who You are and who You have been in my life. Thank You for my parents and my village as a child that intentionally introduced me to You and planted the seed. Thank you for the individuals and situations that You allowed to cross my path that brought me back to You. Thank You for Your continued patience throughout my life when I have showed disinterest, strayed away, or disobeyed Your calling on my life. Please allow me to be bold and confident when sharing Your goodness in my life. Please guide me as I am training my children up and direct my words and actions to come from You and not my desires. Help me recognize and honor the villages that I am now a part of as an adult in shaping the lives of children and bringing up Your Kingdom. Lastly, please help me never minimize the importance of planting seeds to individuals even strangers when I am lead by You to do so. AMEN |
This post is dedicated to my parents ~ THANKS Y'ALL :-)
I love this so much! I'm thankful for my parents and all the elders in my church that poured into me to teach me about Jesus.
Beautiful tribute to your parents.
Yes, introducing your children to Jesus pleases God.