Raising World-Changers

I want to raise world-changers. We all do, I think. It used to be that I felt jipped in the time in history God had given me to do this job. There have been more times than I care to admit that I have questioned God as to why in the world He didn’t allow me to raise my family in the 1950’s when everything was supposedly golden, when prayer was the norm in schools and not illegal, when kids respected their parents (for the most part), when the cultural worldview centered around absolutes and the existence of God. Why would He choose me, now, in the 21^st century to raise kids in a culture that not only doesn’t accept God as an absolute but is hostile to those who do?

I feel a bit like Esther after Mordecai’s request that she approach the king on behalf of the Jews. It seemed like an impossible feat and one ripe for failure. But his words to Esther strike a chord with me every time I read them.

“For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14).

What a pep talk! Esther had two choices: to step out despite what reason would argue and do the thing she’d been called to do or remain silent and let the deliverance come from somewhere else. Like her, we can remain silent not stirring the pot, paving the way for a smoother ride for our kids in a murky culture, or we can parent with intention doing our God-ordained job swimming against the stream while we do it.

I so relate to Esther in her trepidation at the idea of going before the king. Though the choice to follow Christ ultimately lies with our kids, the weight of the call to raise them to love Jesus more than anything else is staggering. It’s up to us to set the example. With that in mind, I will be writing a series of posts on raising world- changers.

At first I wondered if there was a book I could read to help me better understand this concept. Then I thought about who I could pattern this idea after. Then it hit me. Jesus. (I really am slow sometimes!) In my Bible study God took me to the Beatitudes, so appropriate for the task at hand.

There will be eight posts on this subject based on the eight Beatitudes. In each one I will share what God is teaching me on the subject of raising kids to change the world for God. Obviously, Christ is the ultimate example of this. In addition to what He teaches us through Scripture, we will look at how to apply this to 21^st century life using examples of everyday people living this out in extraordinary circumstances.

My perspective on parenting in today’s world has completely changed over the last couple of years. I don’t know that this world is any worse than at other times in history, and I don’t know that I’m any different from most moms in history. It doesn’t matter. Rather, what matters is that I find myself feeling so grateful to be alive right now at this time in history watching God raise up a generation of Christ-followers that will be stronger than my generation, more bold, more courageous and more in love with Jesus than any generation before. These are the kinds of kids I want to raise. I’d love for you to join me.