The important moments

As a parent my most important role is to train and disciple my kids instructing them how to live lives that bring glory and honor to God. This is no easy task. We try to take advantage of ordinary moments to teach our kids about God and about life. We don't always do the best with daily family devotions, as a family we are far from being structured and it just doesn't always seem to work.

I was in the car with Creed the other day and he was talking about his teacher being sick. We were talking about it and I encouraged him to pray for her. So in the car, he stopped, and prayed that God would bring healing to her. It was simple, but genuine, especially for a five year old. I so proud of his maturity and hunger to talk about spiritual things. After a minute or so of silence he asked why God does not always answer our prayers. I asked him what he meant and he said that sometimes we pray for things and it doesn't happen. I asked him for example when we pray for healing and God does not heal. I thought it was a very insightful question for a little guy. I went on to explain that there are several reasons why God does not answer prayer, sometimes that is not what He wants because he wants to teach us something or make us stronger. We also talked about God being all powerful and that He can do anything, and answer any prayer. He just does not always choose to answer our prayers but God has very good reasons for this.

He stopped and was in thought again for a minute and then asked how God speaks to us, another great question. After I answered that question in a way that hopefully a five year old could understand, I asked him if he understood everything. He said that he understood, repeated what we had talked about, and then he paused and said, "I understand, but that is just weird." I agreed that sometimes it is weird but that is how God works.

I am so thankful that God gives us those everyday moments to pour into our kids. My prayer is that I will never be too busy or too distracted by other things to take advantage of them.