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.Because our lifestyle was so closely tied into the church, a lot of those videos were church functions and gatherings with other families with kids around the same age as ours. 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, spiritually. And some, sadly, are not. No kind of parenting is foolproof. Everyone is responsible for their own choices, even our kids. But, we as parents have the biggest part in influencing them, and their choices are largely a reflection of that influence.As a pastor who has seen it all when it comes to parenting, one striking similarity of those whose kids walk away and those whose do not, has to do with the commitment parents have to shepherding their children 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 while entering 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.” But what about when they start to get a little snotty, or whiny, or disagreeable, are we still eager to talk to them about Jesus?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 to help mentor them, spiritually. While we make a big deal about Bridge Kids 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, I see too many parents back off, and sometimes cave altogether, when it comes to training their older kids to love God and serve him. It’s not enough to give that training 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.