Yesterday I dropped off my oldest daughter at the airport to catch a flight to South America for a month long mission. She will be working at a couple of orphanages, a school, and will prepare for a team from our church to join her the last week of her mission. She will share the gospel and care for people in need. I am proud of her and have confidence that she will do well.
Sending My Daughter On Mission
When she was still in the womb my wife and I would pray for the daughter that would be born to us. There is one prayer we prayed over and over again…
“Oh, Lord, give her a love for the things of God!”
There are many things for which I have prayed and not received the answer that I had hoped. But this prayer has been answered many times in my daughter’s life and I am so thankful.
There is nothing I could want more than for my child to love the Lord. Nothing!
That prayer shaped how we parented our girl and our other children as well. We realized that we had to be a part of the answer to our petition.
We realized for our daughter to love the things of God we had to love the things of God as well. Our affection for God had to lead us to love prayer, love the Scriptures, love the Church, love serving others, love giving, and love taking the gospel to all manner of people.
We certainly were not perfect in our example, but we were genuine. Our kids saw us love God’s people, love and give to others, and saw us travel the world on occasion to share the gospel.
We prayed with and for our children, talked about God and prayed for people who did not yet know the love of Christ. They caught the vision to do the same.
We realized that we could not afford to compartmentalize our faith at church. We had observed many who lived out their relationship with God in the church house, but then said little about the Lord at their house. We realized that God would have to be the central figure and most important Person of our home.
Don’t get me wrong! We have made a boatload of mistakes. We have failed miserably over and over.
But somehow through it all our kids caught the vision for themselves. This was driven home for me once again as I gave my eldest child one last hug before sending her off to another country.
What is going to change the world? A generation that loves the things of God.
Let’s pray for them this way, but most of all let’s live this out before them.
Question: What are ways we can live out our faith before our children? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
It’s hard to find the courage to share the Gospel with friends and co-workers. But for people like me, who have grown kids that grew up through a divorce situation, it can be absolutely terrifying to share your faith with your own kids! They grow up in a different household, with different ideas, and you get so little time with them. I frustrate myself because when I have my opportunities, I find I lack courage.
I had lunch with my daughter last week, and was able to start sharing; it was so hard at first. Then she told me that she had been attending church every Sunday while in college for the past 3 years! I had no idea, she is so private about these things. By trusting God, I made the first step out of the boat and found a nice surprise, and strengthened my relationship with my daughter.
Wow! What a powerful story. God is always at work around us. Sometimes we fear things that we shouldn’t. After all God had been preparing the way all along. Thanks for sharing.
Awesome Bro. Greg! You and Stephanie have done well. So proud of her for taking this step for our Father. My youngest daughter (age 19) and I are leaving on June 18th for Nicaragua on mission. Missions has always had a special place in my heart and God has given me several opportunities to serve on mission teams over the years. However, I would have to say that I am most excited about this trip because I will be able to share it with my daughter and we will see God at work together. We serve an amazing Father and it is such an absolute joy to see our children walking close to Him!
Sandy, I will pray for you and your daughter as you prepare for your mission. That is great!