Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. Proverbs 22:6

April 26-28, 2012 Several years ago, I started observing Lent. Each year I would give up something I thought I couldn’t live without. This year I gave up drinking coffee, watching television, and playing the lottery. When I am not watching television, I find myself more interested in reading. For forty-days, I read an average of 1-2 books per day depending on the length of the book. I always included books on spirituality. I find strength and inspiration in reading these books. I have a library filled with them. This year was no exception, especially in light of my cancer diagnosis. My favorite books are about messages people get from friends and family members who have died. I also like books about people who have “died” on the operating table or in an accident, experienced going to heaven and meeting Jesus only to return to tell their story to others. My faith grew stronger by reading these books. When I was growing up, I thought death meant never seeing your friends or family members again. I had doubts about whether heaven was real or not. I wasn’t even sure that God existed. Over the years, I came to learn that all of my doubts were unfounded. During my cancer trial, I believed without a shadow of a doubt that not only was God real but so was Jesus and heaven. I know Jesus heard my every prayer, and every prayer of all the people who prayed for me when I was going through my cancer ordeal. Jesus intervened on my behalf to His Father who granted me the miracle of catching the cancer in time and removing it from my body. God’s test of my faith in the form of a cancer trial was long overdue. He has been patient enough with me in my life but knew I was in a rut at the crossroads of my life. I was in transition in my professional life. I did not want to stay in teaching even thought I loved the kids. The stress and pressure from the school administration regarding testing the kids to death was something to which I no longer wanted to subject myself. I left teaching to try to figure out what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. God seemed to be telling me that He needed me to serve Him in a more proactive way. I wasn’t sure what God wanted me to do exactly but I knew it involved leading people to Jesus. As I pondered how I might do this, it occurred to me that writing my blog and having people read my blog was the first step in leading people to God. Writing this blog has been a wonderful experience, one I intend to keep up with for a long time. My faith is stronger than ever. Once I turned to God, I have never experienced a moment of being lonely or abandoned. God has always been in my life, as He has always been in yours. I grew up believing I was the one in control of my life. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I was never in control of my life. God was always there guiding me, loving me, and protecting me. He does the same for you, too. My belief in God was strained, almost non-existent, growing up in a household where the word of the Lord was never shared among family members. We all went to church together because we were forced to go. But, going to church had little meaning for me. My family didn’t know anyone at the church, even though we attended for years. We were never active in any church activities. Looking back, we only attended church to fulfill our weekly religious obligations. Attending church now is quite different for me. I attend a church community that is more like a family. I know many people, attend because I love going, and attend church activities that bring us together as a church community. Going to church now is like visiting your favorite relatives every week. I also attend adult Sunday school classes. The Bible has so much I can learn. I am learning more now than I did in Sunday school classes growing up. It is nice to see adults seeking the word of the Lord and wanting to share this word with others. The children who attend are also learning a great deal from their Sunday school classes. Their behavior reflects what they have been taught. I have learned over the years that if you want your own children to accept, love, and want to learn everything they can about God, parents must set an example of how the Lord wants them to live. Children tend to copy the behaviors of their parents in their early years. What they learn will stay with them throughout their lives. If their parents are giving them the message, “Do as I say, not as I do” they are going to grow up confused, doubtful, and not committed to believing in anything. As parents, the children need to be shown something in which to believe. If you don’t attend church but believe in God, let your children know how you feel. Explain to them why you choose not to attend church. You can still teach them about your God. Not everybody has to attend church. You can show your love of the Lord by living by his word and teaching your children how to live by his word. Set an example of kind, patient, understanding, and non-judgmental, loving parents. Show them patience when they make mistakes or make you angry. Tell them that you are upset with the decision they made but you still love. Show them how to do things the right way. Don’t expect them to just know what to do. Children must be taught in a loving, caring, and forgiving manner. Sure they are going to try your patience, get on your last nerve, and drive you crazy. Just remember that they are in a learning state as they grow up. You can’t prevent them from making mistakes, but you can give them the tools to correct mistakes, to keep trying, to never lose faith, and to believe in themselves as you have shown how much you believe in them. Give them a reason to believe in God by teaching them to trust in you as their parents who live by the word of the Lord. Give them a reason to believe in the word of the Lord by letting them see His word reflected in your behavior. Most importantly, give them a reason to believe in themselves. Each generation of your family begins with you. Give them a reason to carry on the family tradition.