Are They Prepared?

I have been tossing and turning for hours …so, here I am at 1 a.m.

There are just so many amazing things happening in our life right now--so much to share that I feel like my head is going to pop if I don't write! Thank God for this blog! Tonight I am so led to share what I experienced at church on Sunday even though I have another unpublished post that just needs a few final touches. I pray that every word I write glorifies Him, preaches His word, and inspires you.

So, I was scheduled to teach in the two year old room at church. It was not my usual Sunday, but another mom needed to switch as she was not available this weekend. I was more than happy to help, and what a blessing it was. . .

When I walked in, there was a young lady volunteering as my youth helper. She is a senior at a local public high school and was working on her volunteer hours for National Honor Society. For the next hour we had the most amazing conversation, and I was truly blessed by our time together. It was eye-opening for me as a parent.

As we were waiting for our two year olds to start trickling in, we introduced ourselves and she asked what I did. I shared that I had been a public school teacher but had felt led to homeschool our boys and become the keeper of our home. Basically I shared the condensed version of our journey.

No children showed up. . . and we continued talking.

After sharing how concerned I was, as a parent, that my children were being taught information as fact, that contradicted our beliefs as Christians, she shared some interesting things. She shared how she, too, struggled with the contradiction. At home and at church she was being taught biblical truths that clearly stood in disagreement with what she was learning at school. She pointed out that her parents taught her that she was to always respect her teachers and learn what they were teaching her. Sunday school teachers were teaching her one thing, and her school teachers were teaching another. She wanted a way for it all to work together. . .but, you see, it doesn't. You can't take a creator out of a creation or a designer out of a design. When you do, you are denying God. . .

We are putting our children in a situation where they must temporarily deny what they have been taught as truth. How soon will it take for them to start to doubt their parents' or the church's credibility?

Spending time with this young lady--our undivided hour--made it so clear how crafty Satan is. We are putting our children in this situation when they are most impressionable. We are allowing their ears to start to itch.

For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 2 Timothy 4:3-4

Still, no children showed up. . .the first time, in the four years I have volunteered, that that has ever happened.

She continued to share with me that it is not easy being a Christian in school and that she often feels the pressure of scoffing. She even went on to explain how, in 8th grade, she had to write a persuasive essay on a controversial topic. The one she felt strongest about, from a list provided by the teacher, was abortion. She took a stand against it. But, she said it was so hard to write without including faith. She wanted to have a sound argument that would appeal to everyone, not just believers. . .

But, how do you argue with an opinion that does not regard human life as one of God's individual and purposeful creations? When a person does not believe that God created each and every one of us in our mother's womb, human life does not have the same value.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:13-14

While she held her own in the presentation of her persuasive essay, and certainly ministered in a way she felt she could within the setting, she still was a recipient of scoffing. And, to this day, four years later, she still hears the scoffing whenever the topic is brought up.

First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 2 Peter 3:3

As I close this post, and try to go get some sleep, I hopefully leave you with one thought that was made very clear to me on Sunday while I talked with a beautiful young lady. Our ministry as parents is more important today than ever. Our children are entering into battle each and every day whether you realize it or not. They are being tempted by worldly thinking and desires, they are being scoffed if they dare share their belief, and they are feeling and internalizing contradiction. Are they prepared?