by Michelle Welch
But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children.
Psalm 103:17 (NIV)
There is a little girl across from me. Full of fire, sass, and joy, she approaches life at full speed. I love to watch her play. Make believe friends, stuffed animal tea parties, and all things Disney make up her days. An avid reader, she loves books of all kinds. Many are the mornings I find her seated in a chair reading to an audience of toys. It makes my writer heart proud.
I look at her and I can’t help but worry. Not just about her. I also worry about her siblings and her cousins. They live in a world abounding in sin and corruption. It is so easy to get lost. The number of prodigal children belonging to my circle of friends is staggering.
It is so easy to get caught up in the ease of allowing someone or something else to teach our children the values we desire them to have. We are sure that they are being taught the right things at church. We hope they learn values from scouts or youth group or church camp. We are pretty sure they are learning about the Bible on Sundays.
Yet….do we have a Bible on our coffee table? Do they know we believe in Jesus? Have they seen us pray? Do they hear us lift up the body of Christ? When was the last time they heard us say we needed to pray for our pastor? Our church? Our community? When was the last time we read a Bible story to them?
Will they see us taking meals to the sick or do they hear us complain about having to make another casserole? Will they see us mowing the neighbors yard while we are out mowing our own or will they hear us complain, yet again, about how lazy they must be? Will they see us babysitting for that young mom who needs a day to catch up or will they hear us complain about another unmarried mother? Do they see us writing that tithing check or do they hear us gripe about seeing the pastor at a nice restaurant?
My children saw me go to church every Sunday. But they heard me start complaining about someone before we ever left the parking lot. My children saw me read the Bible. But they saw me ignore everything in it when I left the house. My children saw me constantly complain about the loss of God in our schools, our towns, our government. But they never saw me vote or work to keep God at the forefront of our community.
I am NOT going to let this generation see me do those things. There will never be a doubt where their grandmother’s heart lies. They will know that Jesus is the Lord of my life. They will see me worship God in tangible ways. They will see me pray. And yes…every Christmas there will be Veggie Tales, a journal, and something to remind them that they are children of the most High God.
©2014MichelleWelch, team member of Breath Of Life Women’s Ministries. Photography by Michelle Welch, all rights reserved
New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
