Shepherd Your Children Into Adulthood

I’ve been digitizing our family videos so that they are on a more permanent and up-to-date media. Most of them I had not seen since we taped them. It sure brings back memories of parenting. I miss those years.However, Linda and I are very pleased with where our kids are today. All three loving God, loving and involved in his church, and serving.But because of our lifestyle being so closely tied into the church, a lot of those videos were church functions and gatherings with other families with kids in the same age bracket. There were lots of campouts with other families, parties, Awana and youth activities, and just families getting together.Some of those kids are still doing well, as are their parents. And some, sadly, are not.I certainly don’t mean to say that any kind of parenting is foolproof. Everyone is responsible for their own choices, even our kids. But let’s face it, we as parents have the biggest part in influencing our kids, and their choices are often a reflection on that influence.As a pastor who has seen it all when it comes to parenting, one striking similarity of those who’s kids walk away and those who do not, has to do with the commitment the parents have to shepherding their children, spiritually, all the way into their adult years.For a lot of parents, it’s a big deal that they “lay a foundation” in the younger years and they make sure their kids are in church, children’s ministry, Awana, etc., when they’re little. But for many of them, it is almost as though they think that foundation is enough. So when the kids start to push back a little bit while entering the middle school years and later high school, it’s not as important to them. When they were little, it was fun to talk to them about “Jesus.” After all, Jesus loves the little children. But what about when they start to get a little snotty, or whiny, or disagreeable (you know…the teenage years), are we still eager to talk to them about Jesus?Actually, your kids need you to shepherd them all the way into adulthood. They need to see you being a consistent Christian, even when they aren’t. They need to hear from you why we serve the Lord, even when they are complaining about doing it. They need you to have the courage to send them to youth group, where they will be surrounded by young adults who love God and are serving him. You need that help, too. In fact, while we make a big deal about Awana in our church (for good reason), in my mind, it’s more important that kids have youth group in middle school and high school. That’s when they need the added spiritual support the most.But sadly, not only have I seen too many parents back off, and sometimes cave altogether, when it comes to training their older kids to love God and serve him, too often, those same parents would begin to drift during the same years. Commit yourself, right now, when your kids are young (or even if they are older) to being a consistent example to them throughout your life. And commit yourself to shepherding them spiritually into their adult years. It’s not enough just to give it to them when they are little. That’s only the start.A decade from now I’m sure I’ll be perusing videos of church functions and activities from these years. And I’ll see you and your kids and memories will flood my mind once again. Where will you and your kids be, spiritually then? I hope and pray it will be, loving God, and loving and serving his church.