Posted Mar 29, 2021 |
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I have often envied my little sister who grew up with God. We were both raised in a Christian home, well my mother was Christian and my dad just went along with it, but she was smart enough to soak up all she could about God while I meandered in every other direction. She received the most amazing talents from God, pretty much anything she tried to do she excelled at, putting all others to shame for even attempting the same thing she did; unintentionally of course. It was beautiful to witness and sometimes extremely sad because there were times when I thought He forgot about me or that I was not good enough to love.
She continued down the straight and narrow, going to a Christian college, marrying her true love, having five spectacular children and living a God-honoring life. I, on the other hand, took every bend, sharp turn or treacherous terrain I could find and although I finally married the man of my dreams, have five spectacular children, am a Christian University graduate, and am living a God-honoring life, it has made me wonder how much easier it would have been to just stay on the straight path.
Yes life may have been much easier if I had just dutifully followed along but now knowing Who God is and how He knew us even before we were born, I know the straight path was not the one I was supposed to follow. Many people have to learn the hard way, is that the way people would like to travel, no. If I hadn’t learned the hard way I would have not developed the talents God intended me to have. It can be quite a risky path to take, it is not for everyone, and some do not make it to God but I did and am definitely grateful for the treacherous terrain I took. As a side note: if you are following the straight and narrow, don’t try to take the treacherous just to see what it is like.
I wrote all of this to say I have a couple of kids who are bound and determined to take the long way rough terrain route to the destination God has laid out for them. I would love it if they didn’t but I know the challenges they will face and will use my knowledge to help guide them through. My prayer is that my husband and I have done a good job at growing them up with God so that they will not depart from Him, even if their path gets too far from their destination.
So although I have envied my sissy before, it is nice to know that if any of my kids end up taking a detour, from the road less traveled, I can help throw up road blocks to get them pointing back in the right direction. I may not be perfect at training my children in the way they should go but it is comforting to know, even if I am not perfect at it, that my sister and I grew up in the same house, taking different paths, and still ended up at similar destinations.
I made a commitment to God to grow my babies up with Him, which is what I will continue to do, despite the route they take.
