"Train up a child..." Proverbs 22:6

Our children are wonderful gifts from God. My son, who is now 16 ½, got his driver’s license last week. It is a blessing for us because he has track practice after school and works part-time at Mardel. It has made the morning routine easier because he motivated to get up in the morning and leave for school all by himself. Getting my 4 year daughter ready for school is somewhat challenging on most days of the week.

The day he got his license I started to remember back when he was a little boy. I remembered a time when depression had taken me over and my little boy was all the reason I could think of to get out of bed in the mornings. This was a time before I knew Christ.

He was 5 years old when I got saved in 1997. I was 23 years old. Want to know the funny part? He was 7 years old when he got saved! We have been in the family of God for almost the same amount of time.

He was such a good kid growing up. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still a good “kid” but the teenage years are becoming more and more challenging as the days go by. He is struggling with decisions he makes. He knows all the right answers but doesn’t seem to make all the right choices. Does this sound familiar? It certainly does to me. I struggle almost every minute of the day with making the right decisions.

It is difficult for me to let him grow up and make decisions on his own. I want to tell him what to do and control every aspect of his life. I can’t do this because he will never learn anything if he doesn’t have his own experiences. The one fact that continues to bring me comfort is… he is saved by grace. It’s not my job to control his life, it’s God’s. God is in control. My job is to give him limitations and guide him and pray for him.

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6

The verse is promise to us that if we train our children and they stray from God, God will get their attention and draw them closer to Him. Doesn’t he do that for us over and over again?

As I am writing this even now, I struggle with letting God do what God does. I love my son so much and it hurts me and breaks my heart when he makes poor choices. I want to protect him from the “world”.

I want to praise God for listening to my prayers and answering them in His perfect time according to His perfect plan.

God Bless
Monica