That has been my prayer for Emily since she was born. I remember nights when I would be rocking her to sleep… and in the midst of doing so, I would pray over her. Almost always, I would begin by asking God to ‘even now, stamp Your image on her heart.’ She is going to encounter many choices through out her life. But, my prayer is that she’ll get this most important decision right.
I also know that it’s not a guarantee. One of my spiritual heroes has a child that has walked away from the faith. This person loves the Lord, loves the church, and loves people… but that doesn’t always translate into children who fall in love with God.
I also know that I can’t force Emily to love God. If I tried, it would just drive her away more. So, I’ve decided there are only a few things that I actually have control of:
1) Prayer: I will continue to pray for God to stamp His image on her heart. I will pray that God will help her choose the right friends and put the right adults in her life that will help influence her towards the kingdom of God. Ultimately, I want to place her life in hands that are way more capable then mine… so I ask God to take care of her.
2) Be a good representation of the Heavenly Father: I know that I am not perfect. I am a poor representation of God. I will mess up. I will fail. But I want to do my very best to make sure that Emily has a positive father concept. I know of too many people who have had abusive or neglectful fathers… and that caused them to have a hard time trusting their Heavenly Father. I want to make sure that Emily never has a doubt in her mind that her earthly dad loves her and cherishes her. I want to be involved in her life. I want to hang out with her as long as she allows me to. (I know at some point, she’ll be embarrassed of me.) I don’t ever want to be the kind of father that would cast a negative light on God.
3) Love and respect her mother: I want to make sure that Emily grows up in a secure home. So I will do the things necessary to safeguard my marriage. Not only that, but I want to make sure that Emily sees me treating Melissa with respect and love. I want her to feel safe in our home… I don’t want her ever wondering if mommy and daddy might not like each other anymore. So I will love and honor Emily’s mother the very best that I humanly can.
4) Model what it means to be a Christ-follower: I want to try and model to Emily the kind of joy that is found in being a follower of Jesus. I don’t want to present a legalistic kind of Christianity… but a faith that is founded in love… and because of that love I choose to be obedient to the One who gives me salvation, freedom, and hope. I want her to grow up loving the church... which, I understand, may be difficult in a pastor’s home. I also want her to understand my priorities… which is: 1) God, 2) Family, 3) Job. Unfortunately, pastors can get the first and third mixed up pretty easily (occupational hazard). I want to make sure that any job that I hold won’t cause me to neglect my family.
I understand that this isn’t foolproof. There are Godlier men than me out there who have children that have walked away from the faith. I understand that in the end, it will be Emily’s choice. But until those moments of decision start to come for her, I will do all I can to show her Christ… in my relationship with her, with her mother, and with God.
Dear God, I ask that even now, while she is a tender age of three and a half years old, that You would stamp Your image on her heart. I place her in Your capable hands. I surrender her to You, God. I trust You with her life. –Amen
3 comments:
Emily's so blessed. :) Print out this article, and let Melissa do something creative with it in a scrapbook. I'm sure it will mean the world to Emily when she's old enough to truly appreciate it.
Thanks Jocelyn! That's a great idea, I will mention that to Melissa. She loves doing that creative scrapbooking stuff anyway!
This is so great! I don't know too many guys who are this intentional about fathering. I think it's mostly accidental/fly by the seat of your pants stuff. Jeff said once years ago he wanted Olivia to see God in him the way he does when he looks at his parents--he has no doubt they're relying on God most of the time. But when he said that, it wasn't with hope but with a sense of not having any clue how to make that happen. It's easier to focus on things he knows he's good at (like work for example) than to venture into into the unknown. I'm trying to encourage him to do the men's activities here--I think being around other Godly men might give him some encouragement. Any suggestions?
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