A 50/50 chance

Over at The Thought Provoker, July 3, 2014, is a heart-stopping quote by Nancy Pearcy concerning raising our children in the LORD.  It considers the facts of the high loss our growing children, who are constantly wooed by and to the culture. 

When your heart begins to beat again, I encourage you to fight the good fight even more so for your children!  All that with which you "fill" their lives, all of your efforts to bring them up in the truth of the LORD, will be their foundation even if they turn away to the culture.  They can follow the world's lies, but their foundation, which you instilled in
them, remains, even if hidden.  They can seem to be completely and forever changed by the culture, but the LORD has had you and me, as moms and dads, fill them up with His truth.

If you are a mom of a wayward child after all of your loving them up in the LORD, grieve, but continue to pray, for you know the LORD is working even when we do not see a change at all.  You have laid a wonderful foundation in them.

We have spent time listening to Unshackled from Pacific Garden Mission many a time throughout our Christian life.  Time after time the stories began with the person's testimony of being raised in God's truth.  Circumstances or choices changed their direction towards the culture to whatever extent.  Eventually, in their waywardness, the person would recall things their family members instilled in them when they were a child, and these seemingly "tiny" events in their past turn out to be the very things which would bring them seeking the LORD again, and back to following Him in truth.

Grieving mothers...Oh, how I grieve with you!  The times we wait for our "waywards" can be so long and difficult. 

Remember:  The LORD is the One who is working!  

He is working in our own hearts, so make sure you are willing to allow Him to work and draw you closer to Him.  He is also working in our wayward children in their inner person, which takes time, especially when they are fight against Him.  

So continue to fight the good fight as your children are growing up, and when they are out of the home, pray, draw nearer to God, praise His name, live for Him, resting in His grace and mercy.

May all of this glorify the LORD!