As Christian parents, it is our vision to raise our children in church, they accept Christ, join a small group and maybe lead that small group one day. We want them to grow to be strong in their faith.
And our vision is extra big if they grown up to marry a pastor, become a pastor or even lead worship right?
At least, as a parent, we are doing something right. Right?! We want our parenting skills to look nice and neat, tucked in a pretty white box.
But what if those are our visions or plans and not God’s? There is nothing wrong with having those visions and dreams for our children. But honestly, how many times do our dreams match up to God’s plan? That doesn’t always happen as often as we like. God tells us in Proverbs 19:21 you can make many plans, but the Lords purpose will prevail.
Raising your children in church is always a good thing in my opinion but raising them in Jesus can carry them much farther. Sometimes even geographically farther away.
It’s ok if our children go to a different church. Staying connected to Jesus is the ultimate vision for our children. That’s when you know their visions match up to God’s purpose He has for them.
When our children became high school age they starting making decision that left us out. Imagine that. Like, choosing their college and who they would date or going to another church. I remember when my youngest daughter decided it was time for her to visit another church. She presented her reasoning to us and quite honestly we didn’t have an argument. The youth group was strong and seem to have a close bond so we released her to make that decision.
But what if she had stayed close to our vision for her? Right next to mom and dad in the same church where we had raised her. It is where her feet had been grounded and where she was baptized. It’s where we thought she was comfortable and knew everyone.
Not to long after attending we noticed how her commitment to the Lord strengthened and she became more involved. We watched her grow in her faith. Later after attending college, she joined another church where she learned what living free in Jesus looked like. We watched her grow even more and eventually became an amazing special needs teacher. There have been many times she has spoken truth to me and over me at a much greater level than I could have to her.
Letting her go was not easy but trusting God in the process grew our faith as well.
