I heard this question today, what will you say when you first meet God and are asked,
What did you do to make absolutely certain your child knew Me?
God will not ask us, How many sports did your child play? What grades did he/she get? How good of a video gamer was he/she? How many friends did they have?
He will want to know, did I do everything in my power to teach my child about God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
My first response, is a positive one and that's my ego talking. Then, I start to think....really think... and I asked my son a question~ What is Pentecost? Our most recent church celebration?
And his response is uncertain.
Sigh... I haven't done my job well and I'm viewing this as a nudge from the Holy Spirit to work on introducing my son to Him because I want him to know the third person of the Holy Trinity. I want him to ask for the gifts of the Holy Spirit so he can grow up to be a man who's life is centered in Christ.
I'm linking up today at: http://www.angelwingsandapronstrings.blogspot.com/with my friend Trish at L.A.C.E.
May God Richly Bless You,
noreen
What did you do to make absolutely certain your child knew Me?
God will not ask us, How many sports did your child play? What grades did he/she get? How good of a video gamer was he/she? How many friends did they have?
He will want to know, did I do everything in my power to teach my child about God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
My first response, is a positive one and that's my ego talking. Then, I start to think....really think... and I asked my son a question~ What is Pentecost? Our most recent church celebration?
And his response is uncertain.
Sigh... I haven't done my job well and I'm viewing this as a nudge from the Holy Spirit to work on introducing my son to Him because I want him to know the third person of the Holy Trinity. I want him to ask for the gifts of the Holy Spirit so he can grow up to be a man who's life is centered in Christ.
I'm linking up today at: http://www.angelwingsandapronstrings.blogspot.com/with my friend Trish at L.A.C.E.
Please come and join us for Whatever is Lovely, Admirable, Cheerful and Encouraging!
May God Richly Bless You,
noreen
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Good question to ask the children. I think I am doing a good job in this area but need to check in with them:) Off to visit Trish at LACE :) Thanks for linking up tot he NOBH
ReplyDeleteIt's great that you question your children on the faith. What a great way to start a conversation! I try to ask a lot of questions to my kids, and we talk a lot about the Faith.
ReplyDeleteIf you talk about sports a lot with a kid, they grow up loving sports. If you talk about healthy food choices a lot with a kid, they grow up loving healthy food. While those are all great things, I'm hoping that talking a lot about the Faith will make it real for my kids, and that they will grow up loving the Faith.
Just keep living your faith...and speaking it. And don't get discouraged. I don't think I would have done much different when my kids were little yet two of them (20 year old sons) are questioning their faith right now. Yet I tried my best to lead them to Christ so have to trust Him now to work in their hearts.
ReplyDeleteThe main thing is to just know God loves them and to see you live your faith.
Noreen, I once asked my younger girls, "Who is the Pope?" and not only did they not know the answer, they didn't seem to know what a Pope is. Like you, I thought it was about time I talked about these things. I taught the older ones so much about the Faith and then I forgot all about repeating it with the younger ones. Perhaps I assumed they'd just absorb it naturally. Yes, lots to share! God bless.
ReplyDeleteWhen all is said and done it really is the only question that matters! Thanks for the reminder today.
ReplyDeleteAs I grow to learn more, I have to remember to teach it to them. My children go to a Catholic school and my 5th grader couldn't answer the same question.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Patty-what you talk about with them is hopefully what they will seek as adults.
www.breakformom.com
Oh Shanda, that is what I worry about when my son grows up! I know that they experience struggles with their faith at that age. Young adults reason and debate and faith is not something you can see. We walk by faith not by sight. I myself, stopped going to church for many years in my 20's and started coming back to the church with a desire to learn more. Especially, when in my early 30's I first experienced anti-Catholicism and couldn't answer why we believe what we believe. I'm still on that journey to deepen my faith.
ReplyDeleteThe "faith seeds" you've planted are within your children and may take awhile to blossom but they will. Praying the rosary helps!
Anna-Marie - I'm sure you're doing a great job raising your children in the faith. I can see from your posts how well you do on many subjects! Plus, your children's experiences traveling through Europe will last them a life time.
ReplyDeleteSue - I know, you would think it's obvious who the Pope is but unless we talk about it with our children they do not know. My son does know that because even I had to really think about it years ago. I had in my head Pope John Paul II. I'm not so sure my son knows who our cardinal is though. I'll have to ask him.
Jen - you're right. It is the only question that matters when we meet God.
What a great question. I pray that I don't get too caught up in the religion of God and forget to point my kids to the person of God. Including the Holy Spirit. My husband and I try to demonstrate our faith and our walk daily to our kids. All the while, knowing that it is not one thing we say or do that will lead our kids to a personal relationship with Jesus, but a culmination of our teaching and the whispers of the Holy Spirit to their souls.
ReplyDeleteHi Noreen,
ReplyDeleteI popped in here just now and discovered your great post which you must have forgotten to link up to LACE this week.
Or did you have a problem with the linky tool? I changed it to one with thumbnails and wondered if it would cause any difficulties.
I can relate to what you're saying here.
I think that sometimes we expect our kids to somehow absorb our faith and understanding of it, just by being around us.
It can be a shock to find how wrong we've been!
Talking about Christ and the Scriptures and letting our children see the authentic devotion we have is vital to their spiritual development.
But in the end..they have to take on the responsibility for their own faith and relationship with God.
It's hard for a parent to watch as a child walks this out in their life, and seems to be going astray at times.
We do what we can..with God's grace and help..to lead them to Him.
That's our calling as christian parents.
But I know it can be hard to not feel guilty or worry that we've done a bad job of it.
Trusting in the Holy Sprit's power to reveal Christ to our loved ones is important too :-)
Bless you, my friend..Trish
It's hard to know how well or poorly we are doing. And it's important to remember that sometimes they turn their backs, and that isn't our fault as parents...at least, it isn't FOR CERTAIN our fault. There are certainly things we can do as parents to render the faith unpalatable, but kids have free will to reject the best-taught lessons.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great question for every parent to ask as they raise their children. Once the kids have left home, it's another story.
ReplyDeleteAnne - your words are so true! It was an eye opening moment for me when I realized he was unclear on the meaning of Pentecost. I love your comment about how the Holy Spirit whispers to us in our souls!
ReplyDeleteTrish- I'm not sure what I did wrong but I went back and did it right this time. Thanks!!
Kathleen - thank you for coming to visit my blog! I have to admit, I turned my back as a young adult too and I've come back. I thank God though, that He has given me this extra time to return to Him to get to know Him better! I agree, I do not want "to force" the faith on my son... I have to be careful about that.
ReplyDeleteBarbara - the seeds hopefully are planted before they leave home so if they stray, they will be nudged back by the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
Noreen,
ReplyDeleteMy husband asked my daughter the very same question about Pentecost and she wasn't sure either! I have to work harder to help her understand her faith.
I turned my back on God as a young adult too and I like your comment about planting seeds. I think the base we have received as children often is a great help in bringing us back into the fold.
Noreen, would you be interested in posting for the new "Community of Catholic Bloggers" that we have formed. I wanted to extend you an invitation to join us if you are interested. It would require 1 or 2 posts per month on anything pertaining to our Catholic faith. I wrote about it in my post today. If you are interested could you contact me? Thanks!
Hi Mary,
ReplyDeleteI'm honored at your invitation for me to post for the new Community of Catholic Bloggers. I'm not sure I'm qualified to do that? I feel like I'm am amateur writer who has a desire to do so, yet I'm well aware of my lack of writing chops. I will come over and talk with you about it. I'm so grateful that you've thought of me!