Training Up

"Train up a child in the way he should go,
even when he is old he will not depart from it."
Proverbs 22:6

We're starting a tradition. On our children's 3rd birthday (Lord willing with finances) they will get a sponsor child. One that has the same birthday as them. There were about 5 or 6 boys that had the same birthday as Toby, through World Vision. So we picked a little guy named Abel because 1) we could pronounce his name 2) his favorite thing to do is play with balls 3) he's from Zambia, and I like the idea that he very well could look like Toby's future brother or sister. Fitting right?

We have a lot of reasons to be doing this, the main reason is Proverbs 22:6. We are entrusted by the Lord to train up the children He has blessed us with. No small job, is it? Training takes time, it's not just a 'this is what you ought to do' talk every now and then. It's a way of living. Living out what we 'ought to do'. Being Jesus' hands and feet in this world. We have a high calling, and a very difficult one. We want to teach our children compassion, selflessness and love. We want their hearts to break for things that break the Lord's heart. To be apart from the greed and selfishness of this world. This is one little way that we will hopefully model that.

I heard somewhere that kids these days are called the 'entitlement generation.'I have seen it firsthand, and I'm sure many of you have too. They aren't thankful, they expect things to be handed to them without earning it, they completely freak out when things aren't handed to them, for free, on a silver platter. It makes me sick. I want our children to know that we are not better than others because we have a car, nice home, food on the table, a t.v., etc...we are absolutely no better than those others who have none of that. Children are egocentric, they think that if they were born into a wealthy family in Beverley Hills, that they have done something to deserve it. And likewise, if a child is born into a poor African village, they deserve it. I don't know if it's the luck of the draw or how the Lord decided that we ended up in the beautiful pacific northwest. We have health care, food, clean water, access to hospitals, a safe neighborhood, we have SO much more than 95% of the rest of the world. Our goal is to teach our children that they haven't done anything to deserve all that they have, and we need to share. It's what the Lord calls us to do.

Matthew 25:40 "Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me."

Luke 3:11 “John answered, ‘the man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same.’"

Proverbs 14:31 “He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.”