I love
to see my children thrive, and our kids are pretty good students. On Monday my wife and I got a message from
our oldest that she passed a test that she was really stressed over. Our youngest has reminded us almost every day
the last week that he has SOL test beginning next Monday. It is almost like that is all the teachers
and students talk about is tests.
Let me
say this for the record: I HATE TESTS.
Honest. I really hate them. But if we don’t have tests we cannot see if
we have learned or progressed, and we will not be challenged to go further and
do better. Here is what God says about
the tests we have in our lives:
James 1:2-4 MSG
Consider it a
sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life
is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything
prematurely. Let it do its work so you
become mature and well developed, not deficient in any way.
Again, I don’t like tests, but as these verses say, tests and
challenge bring about faith that helps us mature and grow. They force us to the next level. It is when we try to remove the test or miss
the challenge that we will not move forward.
Literally we will miss some of the greatest things of life if we don’t
go through the tests.
Try to explain that to your kids. Parenting is tough. Teaching is tough. But the results, the payoffs, the blessings
are so good. To see a child grow and
thrive is so good. We have the
opportunity to help the children around us, really the people around us as
well, thrive and grow!
3 John 1:4 NLT
I could have
no greater joy than to hear that
my children are following the
truth.
Late last year I read Mark Batterson’s book Praying
Circles Around Your Children, and I was reminded what a blessing
children are. I also heard God directly
say to me that it is my responsibility to pray for my children. They must know that I am praying for
them. They need to feel my hands touching
their heads or their shoulders as I pray for them and pray over them. Prayer will help my children do well on the
tests, in and out of school, that they will go through.
One of the things that I love is hearing my children
pray. Maybe you have heard me talk about
our family devotions that we do every night.
This month we started a new way of doing devotions. Each person has to choose a TV show, movie or
book that we have seen or read, talk about what we learn about faith from it
and then find a Bible verse that relates.
How awesome to listen to my kids talk about the truths of the Bible and
how we can apply them to our lives.
May our lives and our impact help our kids and others deal
with those stupid tests that come our way so often.
NOTE: Continue
to pray for Leon White as he is now at home with hospice care. (Send him cards, visit and take food by --
soft and easy to eat -- write Leon at 212 College St, Apt 3, Martinsville, VA
24112).
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