The Number One Reason

I loved what Betsy wrote last week about Abigail's Christian Birthday! I must add that that is sooo Betsy. She consistently celebrates her kids...but more importantly, she lives what she teaches her kids. This is so important when you are talking to your kids about God

Let me ask you a question...

Do you know the number one reason kids leave the church when they are old enough to choose?

A poll taken among kids who had left the church said the number one reason they left was...

"God was never real to my parents"

That puts a pretty big responsibility on parents doesn't it? The responsibility isn't to make our kids be good, or to have them memorize scripture or tell them to love God or tell their friends about Jesus or speak nicely....

...our responsibility as parents (let's say 'moms' since that's probably the only readership we have:)) is to make sure our relationship with God is real to us as a mom.

That's it.

That focus alone will make a huge difference in our KIDS' life.

How do you do that?

I heard a pastor use a clever line when talking about teaching kids about God. He said, "Use the temporary to build the permanent." He went on to explain that when kids are young, kids believe their parents. Kids believe in their parents. This is the time we need to take the temporary faith our kids place in us and use it to build a permanent faith in God.

The window of opportunity for a child to accept Christ as their Savior is between 4-14 years of age...the ages that they are basically living at home and interacting daily with their parents.

Betsy would agree with me that it is easier to talk about Christ than to TRUST HIM at times, but it is in those times of trust that our kids will learn the most.