A Promise to My Children

Because I love you, I will seek to know my God so well that you want to know Him, too.  I will read my Bible and pray for you and with you.  When I fail in this, as I am sure to do, I will remember that my God is patient with me, and I will get back up and start again.

Because I love you, I will not be unconcerned when you do wrong.  Neither will I be shocked.  I will remember that just like me, you are bound to fail and fail and fail again.  I will remember the grace God has bestowed upon me despite my sins and weaknesses, and I will extend that grace to you.  I will speak Truth to you - because you need to know it, but I will do my very best not to badger you with it - because Truth does not exist to be a nagger's tool.  This is a delicate balance, and I'm sure I will fail in this, too, and more than once.

Because I love you, I will be more concerned with your heart than your actions.  From the fullness of the heart, the mouth speaks.  I promise to consider the heart from which your words and actions flow and to address the sin, hurt, fears, and frustrations that lie within...  and to do so with humility and grace, understanding that the same things reside within my own heart.  I will open my heart to you to share my past and present struggles and my encounters with the corrective mercy and healing grace of God.

Because I love you, I will allow you to get back up and try again.  I will leave past offenses in the past, where they belong, and move forward with hope and joy.  I will give us both the gift of utter forgiveness.

Because I love you, I will be more attentive to the development of your character than the opinions of onlookers.  I will raise you according the convictions God has laid on your father's heart and mine, no more and no less.  I will remember that you are learning and growing and maturing at your own pace.  I will understand that some lessons take more time to take root in your heart than I might like them to take.  I promise not to give up on you, nor to doubt that God is busily and carefully preparing you for a bright and beautiful future.

And finally, because I love you, I will remind myself of all of this again and again.  And again.