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Speaker 1: Welcome to Christian parent Crazy World, the podcast that tackles

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Speaker 1: tough topics to help you be a godly parent in

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Speaker 1: an ungodly world. I am your host, Catherine Seekers, and

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Speaker 1: in today's episode, we are tackling a question that reaches

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Speaker 1: into one of the deepest heartaches a parent can experience.

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Speaker 1: Does godly parenting always produce godly kids?

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Speaker 2: Yeah?

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Speaker 1: This is a difficult conversation moms and dads because it

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Speaker 1: touches a profound pain point for so many faithful Christian families.

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Speaker 2: We are continuing our.

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Speaker 1: Special two part best of series on parenting lessons from

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Speaker 1: the Book of Daniel and what it means to raise

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Speaker 1: children in a godless culture.

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Speaker 2: But today we're going to confront an important truth. You see,

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Speaker 2: there is no formula.

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Speaker 1: There is no five step, ten step or even twenty

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Speaker 1: step plan that guarantees our children will follow Jesus God

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Speaker 1: has entrusted us with a sacred role as parents, and

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Speaker 1: we are called to faithfully disciple our children and be

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Speaker 1: intentional about their spiritual formation. But while we are responsible

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Speaker 1: for our obedience, we cannot make the choice of faith

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Speaker 1: for our kids. So what happens when we've done everything

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Speaker 1: we know to do when we've prayed, we taught, and

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Speaker 1: we've modeled God's word and faithfully nurtured the soil of

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Speaker 1: our children's hearts, and the outcome isn't what we expected.

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Speaker 1: That's the ground we will cover this episode of Christian

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Speaker 1: parent Crazy World. We are in the middle of a

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Speaker 1: special two part best of series here on Christian Parent

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Speaker 1: Crazy World, while my family is in the final stretch

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Speaker 1: of our moved to an other state, back to Music

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Speaker 1: City Nashville, Tennessee, and I do have some very exciting

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Speaker 1: updates to share and a special message at the end

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Speaker 1: of today's episode, so be sure to stick around for that.

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Speaker 1: Today we are concluding my conversation with DJ Harry. DJ

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Speaker 1: is a husband, the father of for a pastor, a speaker,

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Speaker 1: and a podcaster. He and his wife Lori co host

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Speaker 1: the Better Together podcast, which is packed with biblical wisdom

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Speaker 1: for marriage and for parenting. It's a fantastic resource that

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Speaker 1: I highly recommend. Now. If you missed last week's episode,

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Speaker 1: I encourage you to go back and listen. First, we're

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Speaker 1: digging deep into the Book of Daniel, drawing timeless parenting

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Speaker 1: principles from one of Scripture's greatest examples of living faithfully

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Speaker 1: and a culture that stood in direct opposition to God.

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Speaker 1: There's so many great parallels from Daniel's life to the

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Speaker 1: lives our children are living right now. But as I

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Speaker 1: mentioned at the end of our last episode, today's conversation, Yeah,

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Speaker 1: it took a turn that neither DJ nor I expected.

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Speaker 1: As we explored Daniel's life, we found ourselves talking about

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Speaker 1: a heartbreaking reality that many faithful Christian parents are facing today.

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Speaker 1: These are moms and dads who have intentionally discipled their children.

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Speaker 1: They didn't outsource their kid's spiritual formation to the church

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Speaker 1: or the youth pastor. They prayed with them and studied

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Speaker 1: God's Word with them and had all those hard conversations.

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Speaker 1: They taught them scriptures and modeled a life of faith.

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Speaker 1: Many even chose Christian education or homeschooling because they wanted

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Speaker 1: to immerse their children in a biblical worldview. And yet

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Speaker 1: their child doubts, their child wanders, their child chooses another path,

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Speaker 1: perhaps even the prodigal path. In other words, to the

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Speaker 1: best of their imperfectility. Because none of us parents perfectly,

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Speaker 1: they did what Daniel's parents did and they got a

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Speaker 1: very different result.

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Speaker 2: So what do we do with that?

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Speaker 1: This wasn't part of my planned conversation with DJ, but

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Speaker 1: I'm so thankful it became part of it because I

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Speaker 1: believe this discussion will encourage a lot of hurting parents.

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Speaker 1: So with that said, let's jump right in. Welcome back, DJ.

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Speaker 1: It's so nice to have you back on Christian Parent

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Speaker 1: Crazy World.

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Speaker 3: Catherine. I can't believe we're already back for a second episode.

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Speaker 1: H I know, well, that conversation was so rich, so

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Speaker 1: deep that I'm like, I want us to keep going,

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Speaker 1: but I want to respect the audience time and your

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Speaker 1: time as well. So let's jump back into this. We

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Speaker 1: have been talking about the life of Daniel and the

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Speaker 1: amazing principles that we and guidance that we can get

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Speaker 1: as parents about how to train our children in such

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Speaker 1: a way that they will be able to stand strong

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Speaker 1: in this godless culture, but not only to stand strong,

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Speaker 1: but also to make a different So we had a

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Speaker 1: couple of principles in the last episode. Why don't you

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Speaker 1: review those really quickly and we'll just keep going.

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Speaker 3: Sure, So we're in the Book of Daniel. We're talking

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Speaker 3: about Daniel, Shadrack, Meshak and a Bendigo and their preparation

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Speaker 3: to be able to stand for seventy years plus in

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Speaker 3: a godless culture. And the first thing we saw was

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Speaker 3: in Daniel Chapter one, verse one. We don't get to

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Speaker 3: choose when our children's faith will be tested, and you

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Speaker 3: added an excellent point, and we don't get to choose

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Speaker 3: how their faith is going to be tested either. And honestly, Catherine,

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Speaker 3: our children's faith is being tested in ways that we

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Speaker 3: never expected when we were their age, Like the things

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Speaker 3: that they're going through now, it is mind boggling, the

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Speaker 3: things that they're being challenged on. So we don't get

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Speaker 3: to choose that.

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Speaker 1: We didn't imagine this five years ago, much less well

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Speaker 1: fun maybe ten years it's been on the horizon. But yeah,

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Speaker 1: you're so right. I never imagined this.

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Speaker 3: In twenty fifteen, the US Supreme Court mandated or stated

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Speaker 3: that same sex marriage was protected. That was in twenty fifteen,

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Speaker 3: and within just a year the conversation completely changed over

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Speaker 3: to transgender rights. And now that has just become the

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Speaker 3: norm in our culture in a matter of ten years.

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Speaker 3: That's just completely taken over our cultures.

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Speaker 1: You know what. I was on a call last night

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Speaker 1: where we were talking about legislation where a parent, a

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Speaker 1: father had lost custody rights to a two year old,

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Speaker 1: a two year old whose mother wanted to transition the child.

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Speaker 1: That's where we are. We never imagined that seven years

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Speaker 1: and I don't have all the details. I can try

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Speaker 1: to find out what that is because I was asking.

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Speaker 1: We were in a prayer call and we were talking

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Speaker 1: about it. But I mean, I see this Alliance Defending

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Speaker 1: Freedom is taking up a lot of these cases, which

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Speaker 1: I really like to get someone on to talk about

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Speaker 1: some of these cases and what's happening with parental rights

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Speaker 1: across our country, because it's rapidly getting to the place

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Speaker 1: where we don't even have the right to teach our

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Speaker 1: children the way that we want to. It's becoming increasingly

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Speaker 1: more and more important to either privately educate your kids

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Speaker 1: or to homeschool your kids. I know that's not feasible

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Speaker 1: for everyone, and I think God will make a way

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Speaker 1: for you to train your child and the way they

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Speaker 1: need to be trained, no matter what you know, whether

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Speaker 1: that's in public, private or homeschool. But yeah, I mean,

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Speaker 1: that's the sort of stuff that's happening in our culture

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Speaker 1: right now, where parental rights are being taken away. If

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Speaker 1: you are not bowing to the God of our culture

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Speaker 1: that says you can choose, and in that instance, that

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Speaker 1: child isn't choosing that, that's the mother choosing that choosing that.

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Speaker 1: I mean, there's no way that a child needs to

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Speaker 1: be transitioning at the age of two, at any age

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Speaker 1: in my opinion, that they do come on.

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Speaker 3: So that was number one. Number two which you kind

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Speaker 3: of just hit on, which was excellent. That Daniel was

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Speaker 3: well had a well rounded education, and that's a necessary

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Speaker 3: part of training our children to stand. We see that

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Speaker 3: in Daniel one verse four, just that that Daniel was

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Speaker 3: was well rounded in his education. He was cunning in

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Speaker 3: wisdom and science and knowledge and had the ability to

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Speaker 3: stand in the King's palace and learning. So all of

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Speaker 3: these things. And it's not telling us what we need

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Speaker 3: to teach our kids, but we sort of talked about

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Speaker 3: the value in your in your last episode, we talked

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Speaker 3: about the value of teaching your children how to learn

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Speaker 3: so that they can become investigators in life. And so

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Speaker 3: they in turn will seek out learning and continue to

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Speaker 3: grow and you never know where they're going to land,

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Speaker 3: how God's going to use that to help them become

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Speaker 3: a leader in their area. A well rounded education is

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Speaker 3: a very important part. So that leads us then to

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Speaker 3: the third one. And so Catherine, we can just go

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Speaker 3: right in if you're good with that. The third lesson

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Speaker 3: we learned from Daniel is that there had to be

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Speaker 3: an intentional transfer of faith from Daniel's parents to Daniel. Now,

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Speaker 3: I want to qualify what we're talking about there. We're

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Speaker 3: not talking about a mechanical or a traditional by tradition,

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Speaker 3: is what I mean. There a transfer of traditions. So

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Speaker 3: often we think that going to church, which kids, why

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Speaker 3: do we go to church? It's because that's what we

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Speaker 3: always do on Sunday, that that is a transfer of faith.

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Speaker 3: That's not what we're talking about here. Because Catherine, you

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Speaker 3: and I and your listeners have all known families or

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Speaker 3: known people that grew up in church and when they

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Speaker 3: were able to walk away from church at eighteen or twenty,

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Speaker 3: they did. Okay, the tradition of going to church, that's

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Speaker 3: not a transfer of faith. The tradition of reading your Bible,

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Speaker 3: that's not a transfer of faith. There has to be

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Speaker 3: a heart connection that your child has with God. In fact,

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Speaker 3: I say it this way, my wife and I say

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Speaker 3: it this way. There has to be a point where

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Speaker 3: your God becomes their God. No, your God, your relationship

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Speaker 3: with the Lord has to become their relationship with the Lord.

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Speaker 3: And we see that in verse number eight. I think

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Speaker 3: we can infer this in verse number eight, where it

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Speaker 3: says in Daniel one, verse eight, but Daniel purposed in

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Speaker 3: his heart that he would not defile himself with a

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Speaker 3: portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which

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Speaker 3: he drank. So Daniel knew what the law was. Daniel

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Speaker 3: knew the teachings of the law. He knew what a

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Speaker 3: good Jewish person should do in that situation. Why because

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Speaker 3: Mom and Dad had been faithful in teaching that to him.

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Speaker 3: They had been faithful in teaching I never think about

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Speaker 3: this transfer of faith without thinking about Deuteronomy chapter six,

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Speaker 3: which is a wonderful passage. And I'm going to read it.

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Speaker 3: These words which I command me this day, which I

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Speaker 3: command thee this day, shall be in thy heart. And

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Speaker 3: here's the part that's important. And thou shalt teach them

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Speaker 3: diligently unto thy children, and shall talk of them when

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Speaker 3: thou sittest in thine house, when thou walkest by the way,

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Speaker 3: when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. I

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Speaker 3: believe Daniel's parents did that successfully. It's not well the

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Speaker 3: youth pastor w raised my kids. And yes, my wife

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Speaker 3: and I grew up. Yes my wife and I were

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Speaker 3: Christian school teachers. But let me tell you what. The

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Speaker 3: Christian school, the Christian school system will do a terrible

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Speaker 3: job raising your children. It's not the Christian school's responsibility.

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Speaker 3: It's not children church's responsibility. It's not the pastor's responsibility.

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Speaker 3: It's mom and dad's responsibility. And I believe Daniel, Daniel's

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Speaker 3: parents did a wonderful job transferring their faith to Daniel.

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Speaker 3: And I believe the evidence of that is as Daniel

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Speaker 3: stands before the King, and Daniel stands before the princes,

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Speaker 3: he knows as a as a as a follower of Jehovah,

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Speaker 3: this is what I should should and should not be doing,

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Speaker 3: and he was willing to act on that. It's incredible

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Speaker 3: faith that Daniel had that did not come by accident.

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Speaker 3: I believe his parents intentionally had transferred that over to him.

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Speaker 3: And that's a process, you know, as parents, that's a

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Speaker 3: long process. It starts when our kids are really young

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Speaker 3: and we begin the intentional process of bringing them up

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Speaker 3: in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We have

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Speaker 3: to we have to demonstrate, and we have to buy

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Speaker 3: by our own testimony. We have to live out our

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Speaker 3: faith in front of our kids. I believe children that

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Speaker 3: grow up in a home where mom and dad are

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Speaker 3: consistent in their walk with the Lord and they discipline biblically,

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Speaker 3: I think those children naturally should come to a point

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Speaker 3: where they they want to understand and they want to

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Speaker 3: know who Jesus is if they're taught, I believe. I

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Speaker 3: believe that's sort of a how do I say this?

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Speaker 3: If a if a child grows up in a home

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Speaker 3: where they see Christ, their faith modeled in mom and dad,

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Speaker 3: then what they're taught in church and what they're taught

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Speaker 3: as they read through their Bible, and it just should

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Speaker 3: make sense. It clicks now. It doesn't mean it's automatic.

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Speaker 3: A child in that circumstance doesn't automatically become a Christian,

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Speaker 3: but I do think they are being guided down a

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Speaker 3: path that points them toward Christ. And uh, I don't

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Speaker 3: think it should be surprising when a child that's four

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Speaker 3: or five years old begins asking questions about the Lord

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Speaker 3: and eternity, and because there should be a hunger that

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Speaker 3: comes up in them. Jesus said, except except you have

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Speaker 3: the faith of a little child, you will not enter

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Speaker 3: into the kingdom. So there's this wonderful transfer of faith

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Speaker 3: that starts early on. And uh. And obviously Daniel's parents

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Speaker 3: were very success and that because he had the faith

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Speaker 3: to stand when he was faced with those trials.

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Speaker 1: One thing I would draw a distinction between. I would

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Speaker 1: say that we do need. It's our responsibility as parents

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Speaker 1: to transfer it, to give it, to give it, we're

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Speaker 1: not able to do the receiving that the child themselves

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Speaker 1: has to make that choice at some point. I walk

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Speaker 1: along with a lot of parents and have had parents

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Speaker 1: on here who I know. I've walked many many years

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Speaker 1: and had many many long drawn out prayer meetings with them.

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Speaker 1: And you know, they did all of that, and then

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Speaker 1: the child got to Babylon and bowed. And one thing

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Speaker 1: I can say without question is that the foundation they

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Speaker 1: laid is the foundation that child can come back to

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Speaker 1: and I believe will come back to as they're prayed

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Speaker 1: for and interceded for the children. That because it is

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Speaker 1: a it is a fierce culture, and we don't know,

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Speaker 1: we don't know even in Daniels. We don't hear what

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Speaker 1: happened to those others. Maybe they saw those young men

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Speaker 1: and the fire. Praise God that that were not consumed

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Speaker 1: by the fire, and they remembered. Maybe there were some

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Speaker 1: that did, maybe that were stirred. I hope so. But

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Speaker 1: I know a lot of parents do the diligent work

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Speaker 1: of the transfer, and for whatever reason, a child chooses

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Speaker 1: not to receive it or has a time of wandering.

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Speaker 1: That's why the Lord put that story of the prodigal

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Speaker 1: child in our scripture, you know, in the Gospels, and

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Speaker 1: he himself was a perfect parent in the garden and

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Speaker 1: had two children that rebelled. So it's not automatic. It's

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Speaker 1: you can't just, you know, expect that if I do X, A,

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Speaker 1: B and C, I'm gonna get X, Y and Z.

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Speaker 1: It doesn't work that way. But the foundation that we lay,

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Speaker 1: it's my prayer. I've prayed every day that my children

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Speaker 1: would accept that faith and never depart from it. But

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Speaker 1: even if they do have a time of wandering, I

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Speaker 1: know that I've laid the right foundation and I've been responsible.

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Speaker 1: Before God, I was on perfect parent, but I've transferred

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Speaker 1: the faith, and I love that scripture in Deuteronomy six.

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Speaker 1: There's a similar passage in Deuteronomy eleven that I quote

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Speaker 1: a lot. It's say, I think it's an echo where

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Speaker 1: we're told to fix these words of God in our

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Speaker 1: hearts and minds, and to tie them as symbols on

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Speaker 1: our hands. They used to walk around with the scripture

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Speaker 1: on them, and to bind them on our forehead, to

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Speaker 1: teach them to our children, talking about them as we

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Speaker 1: sit at home, and as we walk along the road,

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Speaker 1: as we lie down, and as we get up, to

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Speaker 1: write them on the doorframes of our houses, and over

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Speaker 1: the doorframe of my house. I have Psalm ninety one,

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Speaker 1: and we've memorized that psalm and on our gates. That's

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Speaker 1: the next part. So that our days and the days

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Speaker 1: of our children may be many in the land that

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Speaker 1: the Lord swore to give to their ancestors, as many

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Speaker 1: as the days.

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Speaker 3: Oh, it's beautiful that the.

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Speaker 1: Heavens are above the earth. We are to fix these

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Speaker 1: words of God's in our hearts, and that's our job.

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Speaker 1: That's what we can do as we lie down, as

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Speaker 1: we get up, as we walk along the road, as

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Speaker 1: we're in the cars we're going to soccer practice, or

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Speaker 1: as we're going to school or as we're going to

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Speaker 1: church to have this conversation and to plant the seeds.

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Speaker 1: And we're not responsible for the seed to actually grow.

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Speaker 1: That's out of our hands. But we're to plant the seeds.

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Speaker 1: And I believe, like you said, that if we plant

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Speaker 1: the seeds and we're faithful to tend those seeds, that

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Speaker 1: even if there is a dormant period and the seed

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Speaker 1: isn't coming up right when we want it to, and

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Speaker 1: we're worried about where they are, that we just keep

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Speaker 1: praying over that seed and innerceeding over that seed and

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Speaker 1: prophesying over that seed and declaring over that seed that

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Speaker 1: this foundation, that God's word will not return void, it

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Speaker 1: will not return void. So I love that this. We

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Speaker 1: have to be intentional. We can't leave this to the pastor,

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Speaker 1: as wonderful as the pastor as you are. It's not

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Speaker 1: responsibility to transfer it to every child in your congregation.

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Speaker 1: It's your responsibility to transfer it to your children. And

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Speaker 1: it's my responsibility to transfer to my children and then

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Speaker 1: to tend those little seeds and to pray over them

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Speaker 1: until they get to maturity and they.

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Speaker 3: Sure, and it's it's not like you said. It's not

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Speaker 3: a mechanical transfer. It's a relational transfer. You are you

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Speaker 3: are building a relationship with your child so that they

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Speaker 3: can see that your God is so real to you

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Speaker 3: that it creates in them a hunger to know who

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Speaker 3: your God is. But I do I agree with you

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Speaker 3: one hundred percent, Catherine, that that verse and Proverbs training

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Speaker 3: off a child in the way he should go, and

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Speaker 3: when he is old, will not depart from it. Is

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Speaker 3: a is a wonderful proverb. It is, and we have

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Speaker 3: to remember proverbs are wonderful sayings of truth and wisdom

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Speaker 3: that describe how life should be. And the reality is

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Speaker 3: that does describe how life should be, but that doesn't

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Speaker 3: always describe how life truly is. It's not a promise,

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Speaker 3: you know. The book of the Book of Proverbs also

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Speaker 3: tells us that if you bless the Lord and honor

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Speaker 3: him with your life, you'll be blessed for all your days.

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Speaker 3: I mean, that's the Proverbs as well. But you go

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Speaker 3: just a few books later and you hit job's life. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: if you go at the next book and you look

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Speaker 3: at the Book of Ecclesiastes, which is one of the

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Speaker 3: more sobering books, it really is, which is simply, which

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Speaker 3: I just preached a series through that though, and it

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Speaker 3: was so wonderful for our church to step back and realize, Okay,

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Speaker 3: so the hard hardness that I'm going through in life,

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Speaker 3: even though it seems unfair and difficult. Solomon came to

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Speaker 3: the conclusion that if we set our eye, if we

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Speaker 3: take our eyes off of this world, and if we

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Speaker 3: set our eyes toward the heavens, it gives purpose to

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Speaker 3: the difficulty and purpose to the hardship. And so it

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Speaker 3: but it doesn't always turn out how you want. Ecclesiastes

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Speaker 3: tells us that often the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer.

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Speaker 3: It's just what happens. So when it comes to parenting,

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Speaker 3: even if we did everything right, which we don't, but

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Speaker 3: even if we did everything right, our children still have

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Speaker 3: to have to answer that call. They have to choose

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Speaker 3: to follow after Christ, and that doesn't always happen. And Catherine,

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Speaker 3: I want to pause and say, I'm thankful that you

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Speaker 3: are tender toward that. It's been multiple times now you

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Speaker 3: have mentioned that, whether it's been an email or in

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Speaker 3: the first episode or in this episode, toward the reality

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Speaker 3: of the difficulties of parenting. And thank you for being

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Speaker 3: tender toward that, because so often pastors, podcast speakers, seminar speakers,

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Speaker 3: we are we stand up here and we pretend like

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Speaker 3: if you just do what I say, it will always

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Speaker 3: turn out right. And that's just not reality, because we're

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Speaker 3: broken humans and we live in a broken world. And

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Speaker 3: I'm thankful that that's something that you communicate clearly to

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Speaker 3: your listeners. It's so important.

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Speaker 1: Can I say something here? I don't even know if

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Speaker 1: I should say this. I'm tender towards that because I'm

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Speaker 1: walking through that. I did everything. I was homeschooled, I

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Speaker 1: taught the scriptures, I loved, I prayed.

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Speaker 4: My husband did too.

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Speaker 1: But I have one child who's going through a season

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Speaker 1: of doubt. And I've actually asked that child, can I

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Speaker 1: talk about this. When I started this show three years ago,

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Speaker 1: they were solid in their faith.

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Speaker 2: They are not now.

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Speaker 1: They were in homeschool circles, youth groups, everywhere we went.

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Speaker 1: There were some toxic influences. And we prayed and we walked,

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Speaker 1: and we sought godly counsel, and we said, God, where

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Speaker 1: do we go? What do we do? And there is

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Speaker 1: a season of doubt here in this child where they

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Speaker 1: don't know what they believe despite our best efforts, and

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Speaker 1: I haven't talked about that on this show before. That's

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Speaker 1: why I'm tender. I was tender before because I had

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Speaker 1: deep relationships with parents that I knew. These were people

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Speaker 1: I'd walked with, and I knew how they trained their children.

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Speaker 1: You know, these weren't superficial relationships, but they were homeschooling

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Speaker 1: right along me. Some of them were on the mission field,

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Speaker 1: some of them were pastors. I knew how they trained

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Speaker 1: their kids. I'd walked with them. I haven't been a

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Speaker 1: perfect parent. It's been a tough road, and I am

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Speaker 1: commit to praying daily. I created a list of scriptures

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Speaker 1: for children for parents whose children are struggling in their faith.

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Speaker 1: I didn't even realize when I created it that I

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Speaker 1: would be praying those scriptures over my own child every day,

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Speaker 1: and I do every day without fail. I pray five

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Speaker 1: pages of scripture over my child, and so does my husband.

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Speaker 1: Those words are becoming words that I've memorized, and I

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Speaker 1: don't have the end of the story yet. But I'm

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Speaker 1: tender because I at one point, I'll just confess to DJ.

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Speaker 1: I thought if I had dotted all my eyes and

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Speaker 1: I crossed all the tea's and my parenting that I

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Speaker 1: would get a different result, and I didn't. And there

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Speaker 1: are times when I've just like God, what happened there?

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Speaker 1: But I can tell you this, the story's not done yet, Amen.

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Speaker 1: And I pray over my child. And I know that

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Speaker 1: my prayers and the words that I planted in this child,

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Speaker 1: because this child memorize that scripture. So I'm ninety one

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Speaker 1: right along with us and all of these verses. This

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Speaker 1: child is just a brilliant, deep thinker and questions a

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Speaker 1: lot of things. And I can't force an experience with

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Speaker 1: God onto my child. All I can do is pray

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Speaker 1: that they will come to the end of themselves and

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Speaker 1: encounter God where they are and receive God where they are.

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Speaker 1: I didn't really expect to go here today's teachay, and

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Speaker 1: I didn't have my Kleenex ready, but there you have it.

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Speaker 3: Well, But before we go, I know we wouldn't normally

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Speaker 3: do this in the middle of a podcast. Can we

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Speaker 3: pause and pray?

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Speaker 1: Sure? I always pray. I pray all the time. I

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Speaker 1: pray day and night.

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Speaker 3: Lord, I just pause and say thank you for Catherine

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Speaker 3: and her husband and their love for their children. Lord,

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Speaker 3: I pray specifically during this time of trial, that you

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Speaker 3: would give wisdom to them. Lord, it's so easy as

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Speaker 3: we minister to other people to never expect the trials

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Speaker 3: to come on our own life. And Lord, I just

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Speaker 3: pray that you would, in your mercy just reach down

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Speaker 3: and do a special work in their family. Lord, the

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Speaker 3: foundation of truth and the foundation of biblical teaching that

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Speaker 3: they've passed along to their children. I pray that that

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Speaker 3: would be the soil through which solid faith would grow through.

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Speaker 3: And Lord, we just we do pray for your hand

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Speaker 3: of protection. It is so easy at this time for

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Speaker 3: Satan to begin attacking. And Lord, we just pray that

433
00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:49,520
Speaker 3: you would do your will and do your work. And

434
00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:52,680
Speaker 3: Lord again, thank you for how good you are to us,

435
00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:56,200
Speaker 3: even though we often fail you. In Christ's name, we

436
00:25:56,280 --> 00:25:58,480
Speaker 3: pray Amen, Thank you.

437
00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:02,879
Speaker 1: DJ I appreciate that got one more a principle that

438
00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:05,960
Speaker 1: we can take from the book of Daniel. Why don't

439
00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:08,679
Speaker 1: we bring this one home With that last principle we can.

440
00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:12,479
Speaker 3: Learn absolutely so so that number three was that we

441
00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:15,320
Speaker 3: wanted there has to be that transfer of faith. Number

442
00:26:15,359 --> 00:26:18,879
Speaker 3: four is that it kind of comes up in Daniel

443
00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:22,879
Speaker 3: Chapter one, verse number eight and nine as well. So

444
00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:25,800
Speaker 3: in verse number eight it says, therefore he requested of

445
00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:28,640
Speaker 3: the Prince of the Eunuchs that he might not defile himself.

446
00:26:29,480 --> 00:26:32,920
Speaker 3: And then in verse number eleven and twelve, Daniel actually

447
00:26:33,040 --> 00:26:38,879
Speaker 3: asks for an exception. Daniel was standing in front of

448
00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:42,600
Speaker 3: the rulers of Babylon and they were telling him, here's

449
00:26:42,640 --> 00:26:44,800
Speaker 3: what you have to eat, here's how you have to live.

450
00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:47,960
Speaker 3: Because for three years, it was a three year in

451
00:26:48,040 --> 00:26:51,600
Speaker 3: doctrination period. And I don't know that people remember that, Catherine,

452
00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:54,840
Speaker 3: but it was a three year in doctrination period that

453
00:26:54,920 --> 00:26:57,719
Speaker 3: these young men were going to be indoctrinated to become

454
00:26:57,920 --> 00:27:02,399
Speaker 3: good young Babylonian men and to become leaders. And during

455
00:27:02,440 --> 00:27:06,800
Speaker 3: that time Daniel said, I cannot eat this meat because

456
00:27:06,800 --> 00:27:11,399
Speaker 3: it would violate my faith. It would violate my conscience. Now,

457
00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:15,280
Speaker 3: what we often do when this happens to our children

458
00:27:16,280 --> 00:27:18,719
Speaker 3: is they come home and they say, Mom or Dad,

459
00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:22,480
Speaker 3: this happened at school, or this happened in the workplace.

460
00:27:22,560 --> 00:27:27,919
Speaker 3: And our tendency, well, my tendency, okay, I'll make this personal.

461
00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:31,640
Speaker 3: My tendency, my wife's tendency is we so easily want

462
00:27:31,680 --> 00:27:34,399
Speaker 3: to jump in and we want to fix the problems.

463
00:27:35,080 --> 00:27:37,960
Speaker 3: But there comes a point where our children have to

464
00:27:38,040 --> 00:27:42,520
Speaker 3: know how to appeal to their authorities when something has

465
00:27:42,600 --> 00:27:47,840
Speaker 3: gone wrong that they cannot control. So I think that's

466
00:27:47,880 --> 00:27:50,439
Speaker 3: the fourth When Daniel knew how to appeal to his

467
00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:55,840
Speaker 3: ungodly authorities. Daniel did not go in and shout that

468
00:27:55,880 --> 00:27:58,480
Speaker 3: he had the right not to eat the food. Daniel

469
00:27:58,520 --> 00:28:01,800
Speaker 3: did not get angry. Daniel did not did not go

470
00:28:01,840 --> 00:28:07,040
Speaker 3: in and quit. Daniel chose to stand up for his faith,

471
00:28:07,880 --> 00:28:10,679
Speaker 3: but to do it in a way that communicated his

472
00:28:10,800 --> 00:28:15,320
Speaker 3: faith well. And it's interesting that though they did not understand,

473
00:28:15,720 --> 00:28:19,600
Speaker 3: they made accommodations for him. Though they did not understand

474
00:28:19,680 --> 00:28:22,080
Speaker 3: Daniel's faith. They said, no, Daniel, if you don't eat

475
00:28:22,080 --> 00:28:24,960
Speaker 3: this meat, then you're going to be sickly, and the

476
00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:27,080
Speaker 3: King's going to be upset with us. And Daniel said,

477
00:28:27,080 --> 00:28:29,640
Speaker 3: give me a week, and I promise you I will

478
00:28:29,640 --> 00:28:32,240
Speaker 3: be more healthy than everyone else. Said, let me eat

479
00:28:32,280 --> 00:28:34,639
Speaker 3: what I need to eat. And I think we do

480
00:28:34,760 --> 00:28:38,680
Speaker 3: a disservice when we fight all of our children's battles

481
00:28:38,680 --> 00:28:42,440
Speaker 3: for them. Now, obviously there are times when we have

482
00:28:42,520 --> 00:28:47,200
Speaker 3: to step in and Catherine, that is age appropriate. Obviously,

483
00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:51,000
Speaker 3: the younger they are, the more we have to guide

484
00:28:51,080 --> 00:28:55,400
Speaker 3: and shepherd them in life. But as our children get older,

485
00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:59,280
Speaker 3: there does come a point where we need to coach

486
00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:03,160
Speaker 3: them a law, or teach them how to be able

487
00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:07,160
Speaker 3: to fight their battles, you know, in an age appropriate way,

488
00:29:07,160 --> 00:29:10,520
Speaker 3: but how to fight their battles without us having to

489
00:29:10,560 --> 00:29:15,120
Speaker 3: fight those battles for them. Because when your kids go

490
00:29:15,200 --> 00:29:17,880
Speaker 3: off to college or when they get into the workplace,

491
00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:20,840
Speaker 3: I'll tell you what. The best thing that has helped

492
00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:23,760
Speaker 3: us with this, Catherine, has been our children working at

493
00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:28,080
Speaker 3: Chick fil A. At one point, all four of our

494
00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:30,520
Speaker 3: kids worked at Chick fil A for a brief time

495
00:29:30,640 --> 00:29:34,719
Speaker 3: during one summer. But right now Andrew's coming home from college,

496
00:29:34,760 --> 00:29:37,760
Speaker 3: he'll be working. Emma will be working at the Laurel

497
00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:41,160
Speaker 3: works thirty hours a week. We homeschool, We get all

498
00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:43,880
Speaker 3: of her school done by noon. She works almost every evening.

499
00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:46,560
Speaker 3: She loves working there. Saved up enough money to buy

500
00:29:46,560 --> 00:29:49,719
Speaker 3: herself a car a couple of weeks ago, which is awesome,

501
00:29:50,840 --> 00:29:53,280
Speaker 3: and she's only sixteen years old. Like, she just loves

502
00:29:53,360 --> 00:29:57,000
Speaker 3: saving money and she's very responsible with her finances. But

503
00:29:57,400 --> 00:29:59,360
Speaker 3: one of the best things for our kids has been

504
00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:05,240
Speaker 3: letting them in the secular workforce, because they are confronted

505
00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:10,360
Speaker 3: with people who have different ideas and different perspectives on

506
00:30:10,400 --> 00:30:14,880
Speaker 3: the world, people who have different moral values. They come home,

507
00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:17,920
Speaker 3: they ask questions. We talk every night at dinner. For

508
00:30:18,360 --> 00:30:20,920
Speaker 3: three years while our kids all worked at Chick fil A.

509
00:30:21,240 --> 00:30:23,800
Speaker 3: Every night at dinner, we would sit at home and

510
00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:27,000
Speaker 3: we would talk about what questions came up and work today.

511
00:30:27,760 --> 00:30:31,280
Speaker 3: What does the Bible say, how do we respond to that?

512
00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:33,760
Speaker 3: How do we speak the truth but show the love

513
00:30:33,800 --> 00:30:37,440
Speaker 3: of Christ. And we constantly were going through those things,

514
00:30:38,120 --> 00:30:41,000
Speaker 3: and I don't think our kids would have been as

515
00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:44,520
Speaker 3: far along as they are if we had sheltered them

516
00:30:44,720 --> 00:30:49,120
Speaker 3: from actually being in some type of an atmosphere where

517
00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:52,440
Speaker 3: they have to take a stand for their faith. Now,

518
00:30:52,480 --> 00:30:55,320
Speaker 3: obviously you want it to be an opportunity where they're

519
00:30:55,320 --> 00:30:59,480
Speaker 3: going to succeed, where they can be successful in that stand.

520
00:31:00,160 --> 00:31:03,959
Speaker 3: But Daniel knew how to appeal to his authorities. And

521
00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:06,480
Speaker 3: so that's a very important lesson for us as parents,

522
00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:09,600
Speaker 3: is to train our kids to be able to take

523
00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:12,200
Speaker 3: a stand when we can then help them along in

524
00:31:12,240 --> 00:31:12,920
Speaker 3: that process.

525
00:31:19,520 --> 00:31:22,280
Speaker 1: Hey, friends, it's Catherine here. If you're trying to be

526
00:31:22,320 --> 00:31:25,680
Speaker 1: a godly parent, in this wild and wacky world.

527
00:31:25,800 --> 00:31:26,480
Speaker 2: You need all the.

528
00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:29,600
Speaker 1: Help you can get, and I've got you covered. When

529
00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:33,040
Speaker 1: you subscribe to my website, you'll get instant access to

530
00:31:33,040 --> 00:31:37,040
Speaker 1: tons of free resources made just for Christian parents. You'll

531
00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:40,360
Speaker 1: get my Prodigal Bundle, which is packed with every podcast,

532
00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:44,160
Speaker 1: article and scripture list I've created for parents walking that

533
00:31:44,320 --> 00:31:47,560
Speaker 1: tough prodigal road. You'll also get my free eat book

534
00:31:47,880 --> 00:31:51,480
Speaker 1: Beyond the Lies and covering five myths the culture spreads

535
00:31:51,520 --> 00:31:55,000
Speaker 1: to mothers, plus powerful scripture list Pray over your kids,

536
00:31:55,040 --> 00:31:57,959
Speaker 1: and even scripture songs to help your family hide God's

537
00:31:58,000 --> 00:32:01,400
Speaker 1: word in your hearts without even trying. And of course

538
00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:05,040
Speaker 1: I'll keep you encouraged with my weekly newsletter full of

539
00:32:05,160 --> 00:32:08,280
Speaker 1: faith filled PEP talks and outlines of what we're tackling

540
00:32:08,320 --> 00:32:10,920
Speaker 1: each week on the show. So don't miss out. Head

541
00:32:10,920 --> 00:32:14,200
Speaker 1: over to Catherine Secers dot com. That's Catherine Scres dot

542
00:32:14,200 --> 00:32:18,120
Speaker 1: com and subscribe today. Because Christian parenting may be crazy,

543
00:32:18,600 --> 00:32:25,280
Speaker 1: but you don't have to do it alone. We're a

544
00:32:25,320 --> 00:32:27,200
Speaker 1: Chick fil A family too. We've got one of our

545
00:32:27,280 --> 00:32:30,840
Speaker 1: kids working there, and another kid you know that's inspired

546
00:32:30,880 --> 00:32:33,520
Speaker 1: me a little bit. My second child's he works with

547
00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:36,480
Speaker 1: his uncle, who is of course a believer. Well, of

548
00:32:36,480 --> 00:32:39,320
Speaker 1: course not everybody's uncle is, but his uncle is, and

549
00:32:39,360 --> 00:32:41,360
Speaker 1: he has a long care company. But I'm like, maybe

550
00:32:41,360 --> 00:32:43,440
Speaker 1: we need to find some places for him to get out.

551
00:32:44,200 --> 00:32:47,080
Speaker 1: He's not sixteen yet, but you know, get out and

552
00:32:47,360 --> 00:32:50,520
Speaker 1: be in the secular workforce. That is true because they're

553
00:32:50,520 --> 00:32:53,200
Speaker 1: going to encounter people with different ideas and that we

554
00:32:53,320 --> 00:32:56,000
Speaker 1: need to. Especially a lot of the kids and parents

555
00:32:56,040 --> 00:32:59,160
Speaker 1: in the audience may have kids being educated in the

556
00:32:59,200 --> 00:33:02,960
Speaker 1: public schools, they're encountering this every day. But for those

557
00:33:03,120 --> 00:33:06,320
Speaker 1: parents who do have their kids, we can isolate them

558
00:33:06,320 --> 00:33:09,840
Speaker 1: too much. If they're homeschooled or if they're in a

559
00:33:10,120 --> 00:33:14,080
Speaker 1: Christian school setting. If you know, that is a wonderful

560
00:33:14,080 --> 00:33:16,840
Speaker 1: thing to get them out there, to have them engaging

561
00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:19,239
Speaker 1: with those ideas and then bringing it back home. I

562
00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:21,880
Speaker 1: love your idea there where you're sitting around the table

563
00:33:22,560 --> 00:33:26,320
Speaker 1: and pow wowing about, Okay, what what happened today? What

564
00:33:26,440 --> 00:33:29,320
Speaker 1: ideas were you presented with? Who who are these other

565
00:33:29,360 --> 00:33:32,720
Speaker 1: people in your life? And what might they believe? And

566
00:33:32,840 --> 00:33:38,960
Speaker 1: how can we compassionately and truthfully share our faith with

567
00:33:39,080 --> 00:33:42,320
Speaker 1: others Because people are hungry, not just for chick fil

568
00:33:42,320 --> 00:33:43,080
Speaker 1: A sandwiches too.

569
00:33:43,240 --> 00:33:47,520
Speaker 3: Absolutely another area that has come up though at the

570
00:33:47,560 --> 00:33:52,120
Speaker 3: workplace and Chick fil A is known. If the world

571
00:33:52,200 --> 00:33:53,760
Speaker 3: would look at Chick fil A and say it's a

572
00:33:53,840 --> 00:33:57,320
Speaker 3: Christian company, yeah, But the reality is when you get

573
00:33:57,320 --> 00:33:59,760
Speaker 3: into the workplace, you have a variety of people that

574
00:33:59,800 --> 00:34:05,080
Speaker 3: are and so there is though a number of people

575
00:34:05,120 --> 00:34:08,360
Speaker 3: that work there that come from a variety of religious backgrounds.

576
00:34:09,160 --> 00:34:11,920
Speaker 3: And that also has been really good for our kids

577
00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:16,879
Speaker 3: because they have been challenged in what they believe from

578
00:34:16,960 --> 00:34:20,319
Speaker 3: other people who believe differently. You know, It's one thing

579
00:34:20,480 --> 00:34:25,000
Speaker 3: if a person who's secular, who believes nothing about the Bible,

580
00:34:25,560 --> 00:34:28,239
Speaker 3: if they challenge you, well, then you could say, well

581
00:34:28,280 --> 00:34:30,359
Speaker 3: I believe the moon's made of cheese, and they'll say, well,

582
00:34:30,400 --> 00:34:33,960
Speaker 3: I just don't believe that. But if another Christian comes

583
00:34:33,960 --> 00:34:37,239
Speaker 3: to you and says, well what do you believe about this, well,

584
00:34:37,280 --> 00:34:40,840
Speaker 3: clearly they have scripture that they're using. You have scripture

585
00:34:40,840 --> 00:34:44,120
Speaker 3: that you're using. And it has really challenged our kids

586
00:34:44,160 --> 00:34:48,160
Speaker 3: to rightly divide the word because they've had to They've

587
00:34:48,200 --> 00:34:51,759
Speaker 3: had to be able to articulate to other people who

588
00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:56,960
Speaker 3: have a baseline understanding of Christianity what they believe and

589
00:34:57,000 --> 00:34:59,120
Speaker 3: why they believe and why they believe it. And that's

590
00:34:59,120 --> 00:35:01,480
Speaker 3: been an excellent challenge for our kids as well.

591
00:35:03,080 --> 00:35:05,760
Speaker 1: That is so good. You know. One thing I wanted

592
00:35:05,800 --> 00:35:09,360
Speaker 1: to mention about what happens in the Book of Daniel

593
00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:12,000
Speaker 1: to these three young men along with Daniel, is the

594
00:35:13,080 --> 00:35:16,239
Speaker 1: moment they get to Babylon. What does Babylon do? They

595
00:35:16,360 --> 00:35:19,279
Speaker 1: change their names, and that is what the world, our

596
00:35:19,320 --> 00:35:21,239
Speaker 1: culture is seeking to do with our kids. You have

597
00:35:21,360 --> 00:35:26,120
Speaker 1: Daniel who was renamed his name, his name Belta Shazar.

598
00:35:26,239 --> 00:35:28,160
Speaker 3: It's in verse number eight, verse number seven.

599
00:35:28,360 --> 00:35:30,600
Speaker 1: I was looking for their name meanings. I'd written them

600
00:35:30,680 --> 00:35:33,400
Speaker 1: up here. I have them right here, Okay, Belta Shazar

601
00:35:33,600 --> 00:35:37,319
Speaker 1: that actually means bail protects the king, whereas Daniel means

602
00:35:37,360 --> 00:35:42,880
Speaker 1: God is my judge. Hannanaiyah became Shadrack. Hannanayah means grace, mercy,

603
00:35:43,000 --> 00:35:47,640
Speaker 1: gift of the Lord, whereas Shadraq means command of Aku,

604
00:35:47,680 --> 00:35:51,480
Speaker 1: who is the Babylonian god of the moon. Michelle becomes

605
00:35:51,560 --> 00:35:54,520
Speaker 1: me Shak. Michelle means who is like God, what a

606
00:35:54,719 --> 00:35:57,520
Speaker 1: beautiful name, meeting who is like our Lord? But Meshak

607
00:35:57,600 --> 00:36:01,440
Speaker 1: means belonging to Aku, which God of the moon, and

608
00:36:01,480 --> 00:36:05,320
Speaker 1: then Azariah is helped by God, whereas Abin to go

609
00:36:05,680 --> 00:36:10,000
Speaker 1: a servant of Nego, meaning the Babylonian god of wisdom.

610
00:36:10,880 --> 00:36:13,239
Speaker 1: So that's what's going to happen as our children get

611
00:36:13,280 --> 00:36:17,440
Speaker 1: out there in this Babylonian culture, is that the enemy

612
00:36:17,480 --> 00:36:19,600
Speaker 1: is going to come and he's going to want to

613
00:36:19,719 --> 00:36:26,080
Speaker 1: change their identity, change their name, change their standard. That's

614
00:36:26,080 --> 00:36:29,759
Speaker 1: what he did with Shadrakmischak and Bendigo and Daniel. These

615
00:36:29,760 --> 00:36:31,480
Speaker 1: are the things you should be eating. This is what

616
00:36:31,560 --> 00:36:34,120
Speaker 1: you should be consuming. That's what the world is going

617
00:36:34,160 --> 00:36:38,080
Speaker 1: to say. And our hope and our prayer is as

618
00:36:38,120 --> 00:36:41,640
Speaker 1: we've taught our children, and I've got I'm sitting here

619
00:36:41,680 --> 00:36:43,719
Speaker 1: with all of these children under my nest, and I

620
00:36:43,760 --> 00:36:45,919
Speaker 1: see some that are flourishing. And I've got this one

621
00:36:45,960 --> 00:36:48,920
Speaker 1: as I just mentioned, who is struggling in the faith.

622
00:36:49,560 --> 00:36:54,960
Speaker 1: But we have prepared them with the truth of who

623
00:36:55,000 --> 00:36:58,319
Speaker 1: God says they are. They do know this, and I

624
00:36:58,440 --> 00:37:02,200
Speaker 1: trust I am praying for for my one child who's

625
00:37:02,200 --> 00:37:06,440
Speaker 1: struggling to come and have an encounter with God. But

626
00:37:06,880 --> 00:37:09,320
Speaker 1: the truth of who our children is, their identity in

627
00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:12,880
Speaker 1: Christ is where we need to spend a lot of

628
00:37:12,920 --> 00:37:18,640
Speaker 1: time transferring that idea to them, because the world, the

629
00:37:18,680 --> 00:37:20,920
Speaker 1: second they get out and into the world, is going

630
00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:23,960
Speaker 1: to transfer that idea of who they are and rewrite

631
00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:27,239
Speaker 1: their name, rewrite who they are, their purpose and their

632
00:37:27,280 --> 00:37:32,040
Speaker 1: meaning in life. And Daniel is one really great place

633
00:37:32,880 --> 00:37:36,000
Speaker 1: to camp as parents. I'm so glad that you've unpacked

634
00:37:36,040 --> 00:37:39,320
Speaker 1: this for us. Tell us again where they can learn

635
00:37:39,360 --> 00:37:43,040
Speaker 1: more about you and your podcast DJ, and get in

636
00:37:43,080 --> 00:37:44,080
Speaker 1: touch with you if they want to.

637
00:37:44,480 --> 00:37:48,160
Speaker 3: Absolutely so. Our website is growing beetter together dot org,

638
00:37:48,760 --> 00:37:52,919
Speaker 3: and our podcast is growing better together with DJ and LORII,

639
00:37:54,040 --> 00:37:57,960
Speaker 3: and of course we're on Facebook and other things like

640
00:37:58,000 --> 00:38:01,359
Speaker 3: that other social media outlets. But honestly, if people are

641
00:38:01,400 --> 00:38:03,400
Speaker 3: just want to come listen to our podcast, that's really

642
00:38:03,400 --> 00:38:05,920
Speaker 3: what we would enjoy. But Catherine, I want to let

643
00:38:05,960 --> 00:38:09,479
Speaker 3: you know how much I have just absolutely enjoyed talking

644
00:38:09,520 --> 00:38:10,840
Speaker 3: with you. This has been such a blessing.

645
00:38:10,960 --> 00:38:14,440
Speaker 1: I know this went way longer than we planned. It's awesome.

646
00:38:14,800 --> 00:38:18,160
Speaker 3: And I want to highlight one thing that I think

647
00:38:18,239 --> 00:38:24,759
Speaker 3: is important. Even even those who grew up not grew up,

648
00:38:24,800 --> 00:38:30,320
Speaker 3: even those who had the closest relationship with Jesus Christ,

649
00:38:30,560 --> 00:38:37,319
Speaker 3: the twelve Disciples, even among those when Christ was crucified.

650
00:38:37,520 --> 00:38:42,400
Speaker 3: Only one stood around. You had multiple that walked away

651
00:38:42,880 --> 00:38:47,520
Speaker 3: that were doubting and questioning. And it isn't until after

652
00:38:47,600 --> 00:38:51,799
Speaker 3: the resurrection that Jesus came to Peter and the other

653
00:38:51,880 --> 00:38:54,000
Speaker 3: men as they were fishing, and he was on the

654
00:38:54,000 --> 00:38:59,279
Speaker 3: seashore and they see him walking, and Peter says, is

655
00:38:59,320 --> 00:39:01,680
Speaker 3: that our Lord? And he throws off his jacket and

656
00:39:01,719 --> 00:39:04,799
Speaker 3: he swims, as Peter always does in the scripture. He

657
00:39:04,920 --> 00:39:08,560
Speaker 3: just with with reckless, abandoned swims to the Savior. And

658
00:39:08,600 --> 00:39:12,080
Speaker 3: it's at that point that Jesus looks in Peter and says, Peter,

659
00:39:12,160 --> 00:39:15,279
Speaker 3: do you love me? Peter? Do you love me? Peter?

660
00:39:15,360 --> 00:39:18,080
Speaker 3: Do you love me? And I'm so thankful that even

661
00:39:18,120 --> 00:39:22,880
Speaker 3: when our children stray from where we want them to

662
00:39:22,960 --> 00:39:26,160
Speaker 3: be and where we hope they would be, our heavenly

663
00:39:26,200 --> 00:39:29,080
Speaker 3: Father hasn't changed where he is. He's still right there

664
00:39:29,120 --> 00:39:32,480
Speaker 3: saying I love you, I'll welcome you back, and I

665
00:39:32,520 --> 00:39:35,040
Speaker 3: want you to know my prayer will be, and at

666
00:39:35,440 --> 00:39:37,319
Speaker 3: me and my wife, our prayer will be that God

667
00:39:37,360 --> 00:39:40,640
Speaker 3: will do a work in your family. But I'm thankful

668
00:39:40,640 --> 00:39:43,560
Speaker 3: that God is right there, yes, and he's right there

669
00:39:43,560 --> 00:39:49,040
Speaker 3: with y'all as well, And though sometimes as parents we

670
00:39:49,120 --> 00:39:51,439
Speaker 3: go through times of hardship. We have a faithful God

671
00:39:51,480 --> 00:39:52,560
Speaker 3: and I'm so thankful for that.

672
00:39:53,360 --> 00:39:56,200
Speaker 1: I am too. I've grown a lot, I've learned a lot.

673
00:39:56,440 --> 00:39:59,880
Speaker 1: My husband and I are completely united, and you know,

674
00:40:00,080 --> 00:40:02,239
Speaker 1: we have a Here's one thing I can attest to.

675
00:40:02,320 --> 00:40:04,680
Speaker 1: We have a really great relationship with all of our kids,

676
00:40:04,719 --> 00:40:07,239
Speaker 1: even our kids who's struggling in their faith. We have

677
00:40:07,320 --> 00:40:09,839
Speaker 1: a really great and like I said, I actually asked

678
00:40:09,880 --> 00:40:12,360
Speaker 1: this child recently, can I talk about that? Sometimes? I

679
00:40:12,360 --> 00:40:14,880
Speaker 1: have a podcast about this pH up and say and

680
00:40:14,880 --> 00:40:17,880
Speaker 1: they're like, you know, I've been very sensitive because I

681
00:40:17,880 --> 00:40:19,640
Speaker 1: don't want to ever do anything that would damage my

682
00:40:19,680 --> 00:40:24,200
Speaker 1: relationship with my child. That's a paramount importance to me.

683
00:40:24,239 --> 00:40:27,560
Speaker 1: But my child said, sure, that's okay, that's okay. It's

684
00:40:27,600 --> 00:40:31,920
Speaker 1: where I am. And so we're walking through this faithfully,

685
00:40:32,000 --> 00:40:34,080
Speaker 1: along with a lot of my listeners. I get more

686
00:40:34,200 --> 00:40:37,319
Speaker 1: emails about that than anything else. And I will say

687
00:40:37,320 --> 00:40:39,680
Speaker 1: I was always sensitive to this, even before it became

688
00:40:39,800 --> 00:40:42,160
Speaker 1: part of my own journey. And I don't know exactly

689
00:40:42,200 --> 00:40:45,600
Speaker 1: why it's become part of my journey, but I think

690
00:40:45,640 --> 00:40:48,800
Speaker 1: I do know why, because we raised these little, beautiful

691
00:40:49,000 --> 00:40:51,640
Speaker 1: human beings. But they are autonomous creatures. God gave them

692
00:40:51,719 --> 00:40:55,920
Speaker 1: free will. We cannot we cannot coerce them. We cannot

693
00:40:56,000 --> 00:40:59,120
Speaker 1: convict them. That God's job to convict. It's the enemy's

694
00:40:59,200 --> 00:40:59,920
Speaker 1: job that coerce.

695
00:41:00,200 --> 00:41:00,279
Speaker 3: Is.

696
00:41:00,400 --> 00:41:04,080
Speaker 1: We're supposed to guide them and to love them unconditionally

697
00:41:04,480 --> 00:41:08,040
Speaker 1: and to point them towards the truth. And that's where

698
00:41:08,120 --> 00:41:10,880
Speaker 1: we are with all of our kids. And for whatever reason,

699
00:41:10,960 --> 00:41:13,719
Speaker 1: you know, we have kids that are really flourishing in

700
00:41:13,760 --> 00:41:16,399
Speaker 1: their faith and then one who's struggling. But praise God,

701
00:41:16,600 --> 00:41:20,279
Speaker 1: we're encouraged and we stay in the Word every day

702
00:41:20,280 --> 00:41:24,160
Speaker 1: and we pray faithfully for a child. And I've really

703
00:41:24,239 --> 00:41:26,840
Speaker 1: enjoyed this time with you as well. I honestly, I

704
00:41:27,680 --> 00:41:29,600
Speaker 1: didn't know that we were going to talk about that today,

705
00:41:30,719 --> 00:41:32,520
Speaker 1: and I was kind of debating in the middle of it.

706
00:41:32,560 --> 00:41:33,160
Speaker 1: Do I go here?

707
00:41:33,239 --> 00:41:33,879
Speaker 3: Do I go here?

708
00:41:33,960 --> 00:41:36,960
Speaker 1: I don't know, but I think, you know, at some

709
00:41:36,960 --> 00:41:38,400
Speaker 1: point I knew I was going to talk about it,

710
00:41:38,400 --> 00:41:41,279
Speaker 1: probably on the show. It's where I've been for We've

711
00:41:41,320 --> 00:41:43,760
Speaker 1: been going through this for about eight months now, I think.

712
00:41:44,080 --> 00:41:47,279
Speaker 1: So Anyways, for whatever reason, I guess that God, God

713
00:41:47,360 --> 00:41:52,399
Speaker 1: chose you today to have that conversation and to guide

714
00:41:52,480 --> 00:41:54,640
Speaker 1: us along. And I do want to encourage people to

715
00:41:54,640 --> 00:41:56,600
Speaker 1: go to your website and to listen to your podcast.

716
00:41:56,680 --> 00:41:59,560
Speaker 1: I was listening to one last night that is awesome,

717
00:41:59,600 --> 00:42:01,399
Speaker 1: and I was telling you for the show, I want

718
00:42:01,400 --> 00:42:04,640
Speaker 1: you to come back on, Okay in twenty twenty four sometime,

719
00:42:04,760 --> 00:42:06,640
Speaker 1: I really want you to come back on. It's seven

720
00:42:06,680 --> 00:42:09,759
Speaker 1: ways to win every argument with your spouse and lose

721
00:42:09,800 --> 00:42:10,520
Speaker 1: your marriage.

722
00:42:10,640 --> 00:42:13,320
Speaker 3: Absolutely, you can do it. You can win the argument.

723
00:42:13,400 --> 00:42:14,080
Speaker 3: You sure can.

724
00:42:14,520 --> 00:42:18,480
Speaker 1: It was so good. So why don't next time we

725
00:42:18,520 --> 00:42:20,200
Speaker 1: get together. Okay, I'm gonna be on your show in

726
00:42:20,239 --> 00:42:22,439
Speaker 1: a little bit talking about ways that our kids can

727
00:42:22,800 --> 00:42:24,600
Speaker 1: we can help our kids to be countercultural.

728
00:42:24,920 --> 00:42:26,879
Speaker 3: Yes, and I'm so looking forward to that.

729
00:42:27,160 --> 00:42:29,480
Speaker 1: I'm very excited about that. I've written on that and

730
00:42:29,560 --> 00:42:32,520
Speaker 1: podcasted on that before. But I I if you'll commit,

731
00:42:32,560 --> 00:42:34,160
Speaker 1: maybe at the same time, we can tag team if

732
00:42:34,160 --> 00:42:37,439
Speaker 1: we don't talk too long, so you just keep going.

733
00:42:37,760 --> 00:42:39,800
Speaker 1: But have you back on to talk about those seven

734
00:42:39,840 --> 00:42:41,960
Speaker 1: ways to win every argument with your spouse and lose

735
00:42:42,000 --> 00:42:42,600
Speaker 1: your marriage.

736
00:42:42,640 --> 00:42:43,440
Speaker 3: We'd love to do it.

737
00:42:43,600 --> 00:42:46,799
Speaker 1: I was a little convicted with a few though, so

738
00:42:46,840 --> 00:42:49,120
Speaker 1: I was like, Ooh, I've done that, Ooh, I've done that.

739
00:42:49,520 --> 00:42:51,040
Speaker 1: So I'd love to have you back on. Thank you

740
00:42:51,080 --> 00:42:55,359
Speaker 1: so much. This has just been wonderful. This has been awesome. Hey,

741
00:42:55,360 --> 00:42:57,480
Speaker 1: I want to encourage you to stick around for an

742
00:42:57,560 --> 00:43:01,120
Speaker 1: update for anyone who is going through a similar journey

743
00:43:01,160 --> 00:43:04,160
Speaker 1: with your family. I think the update from my family

744
00:43:04,239 --> 00:43:17,480
Speaker 1: is really going to inspire and encourage you. Yeah.

745
00:43:17,520 --> 00:43:19,400
Speaker 2: So, now, in five.

746
00:43:19,360 --> 00:43:23,279
Speaker 1: Years of podcasting, I'm re recording the intro and the

747
00:43:23,320 --> 00:43:26,480
Speaker 1: post conversation thoughts here in August of twenty twenty six.

748
00:43:27,000 --> 00:43:31,880
Speaker 1: This is still by far the rawest interview I have

749
00:43:32,160 --> 00:43:36,640
Speaker 1: ever done. It honestly took me by surprise when DJ

750
00:43:36,800 --> 00:43:39,719
Speaker 1: pointed out how sensitive I was in the conversation to

751
00:43:39,840 --> 00:43:44,799
Speaker 1: the plight of parents of prodigals, and well, now you

752
00:43:44,840 --> 00:43:47,200
Speaker 1: know why in the moment.

753
00:43:47,000 --> 00:43:49,040
Speaker 2: I wasn't really sure how to handle it.

754
00:43:49,080 --> 00:43:49,799
Speaker 1: Do I go there?

755
00:43:49,920 --> 00:43:52,439
Speaker 2: Do I not go there? Is this the right time

756
00:43:52,480 --> 00:43:57,200
Speaker 2: to share this part of our story? I honestly wasn't sure.

757
00:43:57,719 --> 00:43:59,759
Speaker 1: Now. At the time of this conversation a couple of

758
00:43:59,840 --> 00:44:03,320
Speaker 1: year years ago, I had recently been invited to speak

759
00:44:03,440 --> 00:44:06,920
Speaker 1: on the topic of prodigal parenting on the Redeeming the

760
00:44:07,000 --> 00:44:10,480
Speaker 1: Chaos podcast with Laurie Christie. So I asked my daughter

761
00:44:10,560 --> 00:44:13,080
Speaker 1: beforehand if she was okay with me sharing this part

762
00:44:13,120 --> 00:44:16,600
Speaker 1: of our journey, and she said yes. But listen, moms

763
00:44:16,640 --> 00:44:18,400
Speaker 1: and dad, if she had not been okay with that,

764
00:44:18,520 --> 00:44:22,160
Speaker 1: I would not have talked about our personal journey. Nothing

765
00:44:22,320 --> 00:44:26,880
Speaker 1: is more important to me than my relationship with my daughter,

766
00:44:27,320 --> 00:44:29,000
Speaker 1: with all of my kids, so I'm sure that you

767
00:44:29,000 --> 00:44:30,960
Speaker 1: feel the same way. I just want you to know

768
00:44:31,040 --> 00:44:33,960
Speaker 1: I had her permission to share this, and because she

769
00:44:34,160 --> 00:44:36,880
Speaker 1: had given me permission, I felt free to share this

770
00:44:36,960 --> 00:44:39,440
Speaker 1: part of our journey with you. You know, I kind

771
00:44:39,480 --> 00:44:41,560
Speaker 1: of imagined that when I finally did share this part

772
00:44:41,600 --> 00:44:44,800
Speaker 1: of our story, it would be a very planned, intentional moment.

773
00:44:45,560 --> 00:44:47,560
Speaker 1: But you know what, I think God saw a fit

774
00:44:47,680 --> 00:44:51,320
Speaker 1: for me to share it with DJ, and I could

775
00:44:51,320 --> 00:44:55,480
Speaker 1: not have asked for a kinder, more compassionate person to

776
00:44:55,520 --> 00:44:59,960
Speaker 1: share that revelation with DJ. He has such a pastor's

777
00:45:00,120 --> 00:45:02,920
Speaker 1: hear you is such a soft place for me to land,

778
00:45:02,960 --> 00:45:06,920
Speaker 1: and I'm so grateful for his wisdom, his encouragement, and

779
00:45:07,600 --> 00:45:11,719
Speaker 1: especially the prayer that he prayed over our family. It

780
00:45:11,760 --> 00:45:12,680
Speaker 1: was so special to me.

781
00:45:13,840 --> 00:45:14,640
Speaker 2: And I can.

782
00:45:14,440 --> 00:45:18,000
Speaker 1: Now give you an update because this interview originally aired

783
00:45:18,000 --> 00:45:21,960
Speaker 1: a couple of years ago, My daughter was agnostic for

784
00:45:21,960 --> 00:45:25,080
Speaker 1: about a year, but she has come back around to

785
00:45:25,200 --> 00:45:26,320
Speaker 1: believing in God.

786
00:45:26,960 --> 00:45:29,200
Speaker 2: Now I can't say she's exactly where I would like

787
00:45:29,239 --> 00:45:31,040
Speaker 2: her to be spiritually, and she knows that.

788
00:45:31,600 --> 00:45:37,120
Speaker 1: But we have really deep, rich, wonderful relationship with each other.

789
00:45:37,239 --> 00:45:40,759
Speaker 1: We have open lines of communication, and I know that

790
00:45:40,800 --> 00:45:43,360
Speaker 1: she is searching for truth. And while she is searching,

791
00:45:44,080 --> 00:45:45,080
Speaker 1: I'm doing what I can do.

792
00:45:45,160 --> 00:45:45,680
Speaker 2: I'm praying.

793
00:45:46,960 --> 00:45:49,279
Speaker 1: I can also honestly say that my husband and I

794
00:45:49,360 --> 00:45:54,120
Speaker 1: pray the Word of God over my daughter every single day.

795
00:45:54,440 --> 00:45:57,840
Speaker 1: Those scriptures I put together as a free resource for parents.

796
00:45:57,960 --> 00:46:01,040
Speaker 1: It's called Scriptures to Pray over Prodigal Children. And you know,

797
00:46:01,080 --> 00:46:04,719
Speaker 1: when I created that resource for subscribers at my website,

798
00:46:04,920 --> 00:46:09,000
Speaker 1: Katherine seekers dot com, I never imagined that one day

799
00:46:09,520 --> 00:46:13,440
Speaker 1: we would be praying those very scriptures over our own child.

800
00:46:14,400 --> 00:46:20,560
Speaker 1: But we have, and we do every single day without

801
00:46:20,600 --> 00:46:25,000
Speaker 1: fail because I know, I know that the Word of

802
00:46:25,040 --> 00:46:28,719
Speaker 1: God does not return void. There's nothing more powerful that

803
00:46:28,800 --> 00:46:34,759
Speaker 1: you can pray over your children than the Word of God. Now,

804
00:46:34,800 --> 00:46:36,760
Speaker 1: I want to leave you with a few final thoughts

805
00:46:36,800 --> 00:46:42,319
Speaker 1: on prodigal parenting. Wisdom that I've earned over the what

806
00:46:42,480 --> 00:46:45,319
Speaker 1: is it three years now I've been in that part

807
00:46:45,360 --> 00:46:48,359
Speaker 1: of the journey myself, because I believe these thoughts are

808
00:46:48,800 --> 00:46:51,399
Speaker 1: going to encourage you, and I especially want to say

809
00:46:52,080 --> 00:46:56,680
Speaker 1: this because prodigal parents can sometimes carry a very unnecessary

810
00:46:56,840 --> 00:47:02,520
Speaker 1: burden of shame within the church and within Christian circles.

811
00:47:02,960 --> 00:47:05,960
Speaker 1: Like I said earlier, I never thought we would be here,

812
00:47:06,320 --> 00:47:10,480
Speaker 1: even though I knew so many amazing godly parents who

813
00:47:10,520 --> 00:47:16,560
Speaker 1: had been incredibly intentional about teaching scripture, instilling biblical principles,

814
00:47:16,640 --> 00:47:22,000
Speaker 1: and engaging their children in deep spiritual conversations, and many

815
00:47:22,000 --> 00:47:26,920
Speaker 1: of them, like me, were homeschooling parents. I still somehow thought, no,

816
00:47:27,160 --> 00:47:31,920
Speaker 1: not me, That won't be me, not my kid. Somewhere

817
00:47:31,920 --> 00:47:35,279
Speaker 1: deep inside, I believe that if I dotted every eye

818
00:47:35,880 --> 00:47:40,160
Speaker 1: and crossed every tea of biblical parenting, I would get

819
00:47:40,280 --> 00:47:44,880
Speaker 1: a different result. My child would not experience a season

820
00:47:44,920 --> 00:47:49,839
Speaker 1: of doubt or wandering. But as I have said many

821
00:47:49,920 --> 00:47:54,400
Speaker 1: times on this show, God is the perfect parent, and

822
00:47:54,440 --> 00:47:58,320
Speaker 1: he had two children in a garden with an infinite

823
00:47:58,440 --> 00:48:01,520
Speaker 1: number of good choices they could make on any given day,

824
00:48:02,280 --> 00:48:06,319
Speaker 1: and only one bad choice.

825
00:48:06,400 --> 00:48:09,000
Speaker 2: And still they chose the one bad choice.

826
00:48:09,560 --> 00:48:14,400
Speaker 1: With perfect parenting, Adam and Eve walked away from God.

827
00:48:14,719 --> 00:48:18,799
Speaker 1: So if our expectation with godly parenting is Nope, not me,

828
00:48:18,960 --> 00:48:22,080
Speaker 1: not my kid, that will never happen in my house,

829
00:48:23,680 --> 00:48:25,520
Speaker 1: then we would have to be a better parent than

830
00:48:25,640 --> 00:48:31,440
Speaker 1: God to guarantee that outcome. And moms and dad, we're

831
00:48:31,480 --> 00:48:34,920
Speaker 1: not a better parent than God. And you know what,

832
00:48:35,000 --> 00:48:40,760
Speaker 1: that kind of thinking can lead to two very damaging outcomes. First,

833
00:48:41,280 --> 00:48:44,440
Speaker 1: if our child doubts God or walks away from the faith,

834
00:48:45,160 --> 00:48:48,840
Speaker 1: we can spiral and to blame and shame. Well, I

835
00:48:48,920 --> 00:48:50,640
Speaker 1: guess it must have been my fault or it was

836
00:48:50,719 --> 00:48:54,240
Speaker 1: my spouse's fault, and we start searching for the place

837
00:48:54,760 --> 00:48:58,480
Speaker 1: where we failed. But that is not helpful and it

838
00:48:58,520 --> 00:49:04,480
Speaker 1: is not biblical. Your child's choices are not yours, and

839
00:49:04,520 --> 00:49:08,200
Speaker 1: their choices are not your fault. Now, that is not

840
00:49:08,600 --> 00:49:12,359
Speaker 1: to say that we shouldn't take inventory of our mistakes

841
00:49:12,560 --> 00:49:16,279
Speaker 1: and repent where we have missed the mark where we

842
00:49:16,360 --> 00:49:19,200
Speaker 1: have sinned. Of course, yes, of course we should do that.

843
00:49:20,120 --> 00:49:25,200
Speaker 1: But our kids can't point to our failures to justify

844
00:49:25,480 --> 00:49:28,640
Speaker 1: their own anymore than we can point to the failures

845
00:49:28,640 --> 00:49:32,080
Speaker 1: of our parents to justify our failures. You know, that

846
00:49:32,239 --> 00:49:35,960
Speaker 1: is what Adam did in the garden. He pointed at Eve,

847
00:49:36,040 --> 00:49:39,360
Speaker 1: and Eve pointed at the snake. That is how the

848
00:49:39,480 --> 00:49:44,480
Speaker 1: enemy operates. He's always pointing at someone else to blame.

849
00:49:44,560 --> 00:49:46,480
Speaker 1: And you know what, we can take that blame on

850
00:49:46,560 --> 00:49:50,920
Speaker 1: ourselves as parents and point at ourselves over and over

851
00:49:51,160 --> 00:49:55,879
Speaker 1: and over, but no good comes of it. We got

852
00:49:55,920 --> 00:50:01,120
Speaker 1: to take that blame and nail it to the cross,

853
00:50:01,560 --> 00:50:06,520
Speaker 1: moms and dads, because Jesus took that blame on himself,

854
00:50:07,480 --> 00:50:09,919
Speaker 1: and the other outcome can happen when our kids do

855
00:50:10,080 --> 00:50:14,480
Speaker 1: follow the Lord. We can quietly begin to judge other

856
00:50:14,560 --> 00:50:18,879
Speaker 1: parents and think, well, obviously I was more diligent, I

857
00:50:19,080 --> 00:50:22,360
Speaker 1: was more faithful, I was more strategic. Look at my kids,

858
00:50:22,400 --> 00:50:27,040
Speaker 1: they're all following the Lord, moms and dads. That is

859
00:50:27,200 --> 00:50:31,680
Speaker 1: dangerous territory too, it really is. If your child is

860
00:50:31,800 --> 00:50:36,120
Speaker 1: doubting or not following the Lord, hear me, clearly, stop

861
00:50:36,160 --> 00:50:39,120
Speaker 1: with the blame game. You were not a perfect parent,

862
00:50:39,160 --> 00:50:41,920
Speaker 1: because no one is except for God, and even God's

863
00:50:42,160 --> 00:50:46,640
Speaker 1: children rebelled. We all make mistakes, we all have things

864
00:50:46,640 --> 00:50:51,279
Speaker 1: we could have and should have done differently. But your

865
00:50:51,360 --> 00:50:57,520
Speaker 1: child's response to God ultimately belongs to them. And if

866
00:50:57,560 --> 00:51:01,480
Speaker 1: your kids are following the Lord, praise God. Be grateful,

867
00:51:01,719 --> 00:51:02,920
Speaker 1: celebrate His work.

868
00:51:02,719 --> 00:51:03,560
Speaker 2: In their lives.

869
00:51:03,719 --> 00:51:07,600
Speaker 1: Yes, you may have faithfully invested in their spiritual formation,

870
00:51:07,760 --> 00:51:11,560
Speaker 1: and you should continue to do that, But their response

871
00:51:11,600 --> 00:51:16,800
Speaker 1: to the Lord was ultimately not your doing. The work

872
00:51:16,800 --> 00:51:19,800
Speaker 1: he does in your child's heart is his work, yeah,

873
00:51:19,920 --> 00:51:23,200
Speaker 1: not yours. You know, I want to tell you a

874
00:51:23,280 --> 00:51:27,680
Speaker 1: quick story that encapsulates my thoughts on godly parenting.

875
00:51:27,880 --> 00:51:28,200
Speaker 2: Here.

876
00:51:29,320 --> 00:51:31,840
Speaker 1: In high school, I had a friend named Miriam, or

877
00:51:31,840 --> 00:51:35,080
Speaker 1: at least I'm going to call her Miriam. Miriam was

878
00:51:35,200 --> 00:51:39,440
Speaker 1: the butt of every bad joke on our campus. She

879
00:51:39,600 --> 00:51:44,319
Speaker 1: was socially awkward, she had no friends, and honestly, she

880
00:51:44,400 --> 00:51:49,200
Speaker 1: had a really difficult journey. Her parents were not Christians,

881
00:51:49,200 --> 00:51:52,080
Speaker 1: they didn't take her to church, and her younger sister

882
00:51:52,160 --> 00:51:56,560
Speaker 1: got pregnant in high school. But Miriam chose a very

883
00:51:56,640 --> 00:52:01,360
Speaker 1: different path. I befriended Miriam. I invited her to church,

884
00:52:01,440 --> 00:52:04,319
Speaker 1: I took her to youth events. She got connected with

885
00:52:04,640 --> 00:52:09,239
Speaker 1: young life, and Miriam came to know the Lord. She

886
00:52:09,320 --> 00:52:14,360
Speaker 1: found Jesus with parents who did nothing to cultivate her faith,

887
00:52:14,600 --> 00:52:20,160
Speaker 1: like literally nothing. And you know what, Miriam never wandered.

888
00:52:20,560 --> 00:52:25,240
Speaker 1: She never took the prodigal path, despite having prodigal parents.

889
00:52:26,840 --> 00:52:29,200
Speaker 1: I tell you this not to absolve any of us

890
00:52:29,239 --> 00:52:34,000
Speaker 1: from our responsibility as parents. We absolutely are called to

891
00:52:34,040 --> 00:52:36,759
Speaker 1: train our children in the way they should go. We

892
00:52:36,800 --> 00:52:40,120
Speaker 1: are called to take seriously these incredible lessons from the

893
00:52:40,160 --> 00:52:43,759
Speaker 1: Book of Daniel. That is our job, that is what

894
00:52:43,800 --> 00:52:48,880
Speaker 1: it means to be a godly parent. But the results, yeah,

895
00:52:49,239 --> 00:52:53,080
Speaker 1: the results are not up to us. They are in

896
00:52:53,640 --> 00:52:54,760
Speaker 1: God's hands.

897
00:52:55,800 --> 00:52:56,719
Speaker 2: And I know that can.

898
00:52:56,640 --> 00:53:01,279
Speaker 1: Feel very disheartening because we would like more trust me,

899
00:53:01,360 --> 00:53:06,399
Speaker 1: I know, But in reality and truth, it's very liberating

900
00:53:07,120 --> 00:53:10,839
Speaker 1: because I am only called to do my part and

901
00:53:10,920 --> 00:53:14,160
Speaker 1: then I can leave the rest of my child's journey

902
00:53:14,680 --> 00:53:18,719
Speaker 1: in God's hands while I pray like I've been adictine MOMK, yeah,

903
00:53:19,080 --> 00:53:19,520
Speaker 1: I do that.

904
00:53:20,600 --> 00:53:22,000
Speaker 2: But here's what we've got to remember.

905
00:53:22,200 --> 00:53:26,440
Speaker 1: We are not judged by God based on our results.

906
00:53:26,920 --> 00:53:27,960
Speaker 2: Now, let's be honest.

907
00:53:28,000 --> 00:53:30,640
Speaker 1: We may be judged by other Christian parents based on

908
00:53:30,719 --> 00:53:32,920
Speaker 1: our results, but we are.

909
00:53:32,800 --> 00:53:34,120
Speaker 2: Not judged by God.

910
00:53:35,480 --> 00:53:40,960
Speaker 1: God judges our faithfulness. He judges our obedience to Him

911
00:53:41,000 --> 00:53:41,760
Speaker 1: in our parenting.

912
00:53:42,800 --> 00:53:44,200
Speaker 2: And here's the beautiful part.

913
00:53:44,719 --> 00:53:50,040
Speaker 1: Our faithfulness and standing firm maintaining a godly witness as

914
00:53:50,120 --> 00:53:53,360
Speaker 1: our children go out into the world and faithfully praying.

915
00:53:54,080 --> 00:53:57,760
Speaker 1: Don't forget to pray over them every single day. None

916
00:53:58,120 --> 00:54:03,200
Speaker 1: of that work returns void. Galatians six, verse nine says,

917
00:54:03,320 --> 00:54:06,880
Speaker 1: let us not become weary and doing good, for at

918
00:54:06,880 --> 00:54:10,080
Speaker 1: the proper time we will reap a harvest if we

919
00:54:10,160 --> 00:54:13,600
Speaker 1: do not give up. But here's the thing, moms and dads,

920
00:54:14,920 --> 00:54:18,479
Speaker 1: we don't get to determine the proper time God does.

921
00:54:19,360 --> 00:54:22,400
Speaker 1: That means we may not reap that harvest when we

922
00:54:22,440 --> 00:54:25,920
Speaker 1: want to, which is if we're honest. For every parent

923
00:54:26,120 --> 00:54:28,399
Speaker 1: is right now. We want to see the fruit now.

924
00:54:28,480 --> 00:54:31,200
Speaker 1: We want to see our kids walking closely with the Lord. Now.

925
00:54:31,880 --> 00:54:34,200
Speaker 1: We want to know that all of those prayers, all

926
00:54:34,239 --> 00:54:37,520
Speaker 1: of those conversations, all of those moments of pouring into

927
00:54:37,640 --> 00:54:40,839
Speaker 1: them have made a difference now.

928
00:54:42,480 --> 00:54:43,920
Speaker 2: But we don't get to do the reaping.

929
00:54:44,280 --> 00:54:50,520
Speaker 1: Our job is not controlling the outcome. Our job is faithfulness.

930
00:54:50,880 --> 00:54:55,800
Speaker 1: Our job is perseverance. Our job is trusting that God,

931
00:54:56,200 --> 00:55:01,520
Speaker 1: the perfect parent, loves our children even more then we do,

932
00:55:02,440 --> 00:55:07,560
Speaker 1: and he will pursue our children to the ends of

933
00:55:07,600 --> 00:55:12,920
Speaker 1: the earth. Our job is to partner with him by

934
00:55:12,960 --> 00:55:15,799
Speaker 1: the way. Galatians six, verse nine is one of the

935
00:55:15,920 --> 00:55:20,279
Speaker 1: scriptures I included in my resource for parents of prodigals,

936
00:55:20,600 --> 00:55:23,680
Speaker 1: and my husband and I know that verse very well.

937
00:55:23,480 --> 00:55:25,239
Speaker 2: Because we have been praying it over our.

938
00:55:25,200 --> 00:55:31,280
Speaker 1: Daughter every single day for the past four years, along

939
00:55:31,320 --> 00:55:34,200
Speaker 1: with all the other verses on that list, every one

940
00:55:34,200 --> 00:55:35,040
Speaker 1: of them.

941
00:55:36,080 --> 00:55:37,680
Speaker 2: So, moms and dads, I want.

942
00:55:37,480 --> 00:55:41,759
Speaker 1: To leave you with one final thought. If this episode

943
00:55:41,800 --> 00:55:45,080
Speaker 1: touched a tender place in your heart, if you are

944
00:55:45,120 --> 00:55:49,000
Speaker 1: walking through the pain of a child who is questioning, wandering,

945
00:55:49,280 --> 00:55:52,600
Speaker 1: or is very far from the heart of God, please

946
00:55:52,680 --> 00:55:56,880
Speaker 1: now you are not alone, and if you need a

947
00:55:56,920 --> 00:56:00,120
Speaker 1: sympathetic ear, feel free to email me at Catherine You're

948
00:56:00,160 --> 00:56:03,440
Speaker 1: in at Katherine Segers dot com. I truly love hearing

949
00:56:03,600 --> 00:56:07,080
Speaker 1: from my listeners and I would be honored to hear

950
00:56:07,160 --> 00:56:11,880
Speaker 1: your story and to pray for you and your child personally.

951
00:56:13,120 --> 00:56:18,520
Speaker 1: And as always, remember God gave you your kids, your specific

952
00:56:18,680 --> 00:56:22,680
Speaker 1: kids for a reason. That's because you hold the key

953
00:56:23,400 --> 00:56:24,520
Speaker 1: to unlocking who.

954
00:56:24,480 --> 00:56:28,399
Speaker 2: God created them to be. We'll see you next time.

955
00:56:35,600 --> 00:56:38,840
Speaker 4: Christian parent Crazy World is a production of Life Audio

956
00:56:38,960 --> 00:56:41,680
Speaker 4: and Salem Media. If you liked what you heard today,

957
00:56:41,800 --> 00:56:44,719
Speaker 4: please take a second to rate and review this podcast

958
00:56:44,840 --> 00:56:47,839
Speaker 4: in your favorite podcast app so that more listeners like

959
00:56:47,880 --> 00:56:52,200
Speaker 4: you can find the show. For more faith filled inspirational podcasts.

960
00:56:52,440 --> 00:57:02,480
Speaker 4: Visit us at lifeaudio dot com.

961
00:57:00,120 --> 00:57:00,160
Speaker 3: Y