Hi, I’m
Abbi, the eternal optimist. Or I try to be. I have my bad days. I’ve been
through hard times. I’ve lived for 30 years on this world, I know it well. I
also know that God has been there with me through it all.
Let me get
right into the point of this blog. What kind of faith do I want my kids to
have? How do I want my kids to view God? What kind of relationship do I want
them to have with him?
I’ve heard
many people refer to God as someone who is viewed only as a being they
acknowledge as being there on Sundays and maybe Wednesday nights and nothing
more. I’ve heard of God seen as a being who doesn’t relate to humans, one you
can’t have a relationship with, one you can’t possibly talk to or get to know
on an intimate, best friend level. That he’s there but won’t respond.
I’ve heard
that God is vengeful. He doesn’t care about little things in life. You can’t
talk to him about this or that. That He’s strict. He wants you to be perfect.
He will judge you and condemn you to hell without giving you a chance. That if
you aren’t terrified of Him, you aren’t going to Heaven. That if you aren’t
perfect you aren’t going to Heaven. That’s He’s nothing but judgmental. There’s
no grace, no love, no chance of redemption.
That’s not
the God I want my children to know.
I want my
children to know that first and foremost, God loves them and wants what is best
for them. So sometimes, like when their father and I tell them no, God will
also say no. And it will not be the end of the world! Life will move on, and
God will be right there with them.
God didn’t
promise us a perfect, happy life. Joyful and abundant, yes. Perfect, no. They
will go through difficult, hard times, even when we think it’s not that hard
from our point of view. For them, at that point, it will be hard. I want them
to know that God will be there, that we can find joy that going through a
struggle will produce faith, perseverance and character (paraphrasing a Bible
verse here). To look for the lesson or the good in the hard time, because God
works all things together for the good of those that love God.
I want them
to be able to talk to God about anything and everything. I mean He already
knows our thoughts and how we feel, so why not talk to God about it to help
sort through our emotions, or just to talk to Him like a friend? I want them to
also be able to listen to Him and hear Him. He will talk to them in many ways,
they just need to learn to how to listen. Because sometimes He will talk to us
softly, and if we’re not paying attention, we might miss it. I call these
little love notes from God. His way of showing us He loves us, an answer to a
prayer, or to simply let us know He’s there. I want them to know that He’s real
and they can talk to Him about anything and everything, even if they feel like
they can’t talk to anyone else, they can talk to Him, cause He already knows.
I want them
to know that God knows they’re going to mess up, that they’re not going to be
perfect. Since God is Holy and without sin, if we haven’t accepted Him as our
Saviour, we can’t be with him. But Jesus’ death and resurrection gives us a
redemption plan. All we have to do is accept that gift, no strings attached.
Then when they do, even though they’re still going to sin (it’s inevitable, we
are human after all) God will not look at them and see it. Since Jesus is
perfect and Holy in every way, and if we accept Jesus into our hearts, that
makes us perfect and Holy. God will see that. And He will love us, even when we
mess up. I want them to know that they don’t have to worry about being perfect.
I want them to make sure what they do is pleasing to God, not to me, not to
their peers, or anyone else, but just God. If they for some reason get so far
off the path, God will always welcome them back, with open arms. God will never
turn His back on them. Once they are His, they will always be His and He will
woo them and get their attention to draw them near once more.
I want them
to feel God’s love, His peace, His gentleness, His strength, His presence. I
want them to have a faith so strong that when they go through a fire, it will
only make it stronger. I can’t force them to love God. But I can sure show them
His love, His grace, His mercy. I can share with them when God answers a
prayer, share with them my love notes from God. I can love them the way He
does, even though His love is unimaginably stronger. I can show them when we go
through hard times, God always will prove faithful, all the time.
My job as a
mother has never been more important, than to share Him with my children. I can
only hope and pray that they’ll see Him, even if I’m not showing them all the
time. Placing them in His hands, as always.
