Parenting

Raising children to love and revere God, modeling his teachings and praying that they grow up to be mature, faithful servants requires is challenging. It’s hard because we often want them to follow the map we’ve laid out for them from birth….be kind, make friends, go to this college, marry this person, buy a house with a picket fence and have two children. Well, our children and life don’t come with a map or blueprint. What God wants for them, He will provide and make a way for. He has designed it before they were even conceived. He knows every decision, failure, and mistake they will make. As their parents, we want to protect them from all hurt and harm. Living in a busy city with its fair share of crime, made me a very guarded parent. I feared my children would be victims of robbery, rape, or a drive-by shooting. One day my biggest fear almost came true when my son was commuting from school and was caught in a drive-by shooting coming off the subway train. By the grace of God, He covered him and my son was physically unharmed. That incident caused me to hold tighter to him and his younger sister. I didn’t want them on public transportation and didn’t want them in certain areas at night. My daughter wasn’t happy. She wanted to be free to take the train to see her friends and explore our bustling, rich city. I had to pray and ask God to remove my fear of her being harmed and trust God to protect her on the train, while walking and riding with friends to parties or riding a shooter to the movies. God loves us and our children and will cover them when they are away from us. Have faith that God will cover your kids when they party with their best friends in unsafe neighborhoods, and even when they travel to politically heightened rural towns or study abroad. The Holy Spirit is with them always.