There Arose Another Generation.

Ever since I was little, I loved children. In fifth grade, I used to go help out the kindergarten children. A few of the children called me their 'mommy.'

As a teen, my friend and I started a Bible club, ministering to public school children.

At 18, I went on a missions trip to Romania, and took part in Vacation Bible School to  village children and in orphanages, telling the children about Jesus.

And through the years, I have worked in different children ministries.

I married my husband who was/is involved in children ministries. He's the youth director at our church.

I say all that, to say this,  my heart is sad when I look at the state of our children as a whole. I'm not just talking about non church children, but children who go to church.

I was looking at pictures of our old youth group at church. I could count with fingers the ones that were still at church. You spend your time ministering to them and praying for them, and at a certain age, they  are gone. Young people that just seem to disappear from the radar, so to speak.  

Young people that are not rooted and grounded in faith, but who are ready to get out as soon as they can.

What is different from the ones that disappear, and the few young ones that I could count on my fingers?

My children are little, and they go to church because we go as a family. It's very important. But when they get 18, will they too disappear from church, only to walk through the church doors on certain holidays? Or will the faith that mommy and daddy have, become their own? Will that faith lead and guide them in fellowship with God?  

Christian parents can get distracted and think that their children will turn out right.

But here's somethings that I've noticed that distract us and send messages to our children that contradicts our words.

If we put every recreational activity above church, then we are showing our children, that church is not the most important thing. If we make sports top priority when our children are little, don't expect them to be faithful to church when they get older.
There is nothing wrong with sports, but if it keeps you out of church, then there's a problem.

If our children never see us reading the Bible, and only picking the Bible up when we go to church, then it'll be just another book to them.

If they never see us praying, we can't expect them to pray and seek God, because we don't do it.

If we are all about praising Jesus in church and living contrary to the Bible the rest of the week. Our children will want to stay away from that hypocrisy.

If we punish our children for bad behavior by not allowing them to go to youth class, then we are telling them that youth ministries aren't  that important, and only good kids get to go.

If we fill our home with fighting, strife, and contentions then we will drive our children away from our faith. The reason is because we are supposed to be Christians, and they will associate Christians with being fake.

I know how hard it is raising children. We as Christian mom's, don't want to fail our children. We want to raise young people that love God. We have so much responsibility, and sometimes we let things slip. Not on purpose, but because we are so busy. If we aren't intentional about showing our children Christ, then we won't. I think distraction is a tool of Satan.  We waste so much of our time on things that aren't so important. I have a hard time with this myself.
We are in a battle. Satan wants to destroy our children's lives, and alot of us stand by and let him. If we don't guard our children's hearts, who will? If we don't fight for them, no one else will.  We can't just hope they will stay in church when they get older. We can't just assume since they are raised in church they will love God.

We have to fervently pray for our children, and show them by our lives that God is real, and the best life is one lived for Him. If we don't want our children to be another has been, then we need to determine to serve God. We need to stop playing church and be real. The lives of our children depend on it.
Judges 2:10 says
"... and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord," 

I don't want my children to be apart of the generation that doesn't know the Lord. Who will stand with me, and faithfully point our children back to Him, not only by our words, but by our lives?