Family Holy Week Part 2

Last night before bed, we had our family devotions out on the back deck. To illustrate the new life that we have as believers in Jesus through His death, burial and resurrection, we decided to let the kids help us plant some flower seeds in potting soil. It's always a great feeling you get as a parent when you're trying to drive home a spiritual and biblical point to your child and when you ask them what the point is, they stare at you blankly like you're speaking ancient Gaelic. Well, they say (I've often wondered who "they" really are, or is? until Wikipedia cleared it up for me: " 'They' refers to the masses of those who are among the pop culture. 'They' quote sayings of individuals who could put complex events in to understandable context; believing that what 'they' have just quoted would justify an event or action which had just occurred.") the best way to learn is through repetition and reinforcement, so one day it will click for my kids.

The day it clicks will be an awesome day! I'm sure I'll blog about it. I'm sure I'll journal about it. I'll thank God for it. I'll ask Him for a fresh sensitivity to the tender hearts of my children as Tasha and I seek to raise them in the nurture and admonition of Christ. I'll ask Him for wisdom ... again (James 1:5), as I did in the hospital only moments after Areyna was brought into this world with my Mom standing over my shoulder with the video camera interrupting my prayer of dedication to tell me that the "Low Tape Capacity" icon was blinking at that very moment. Perfect timing. But I still love you, Mom.

No, it really was perfect timing. God's timing. With both of our kids. A timing that goes beyond the planning and preparation that you might think goes into starting or continuing a family--a planning that you actually have zero control over. Because here's what I sometimes need to be reminded of--I don't create life. Rainy and Zeke aren't mine. And they're not Tasha's either. They belong to God. And I'm so thankful for that. And I'm even more thankful that He has chosen to bless us with children and, for reasons that go beyond me, He has entrusted them to us for a season to train up in godliness and in the fear of the Lord, and that's what we plan to do, to the best of our ability and with His help.