CHRISTIAN PARENTING
Your Children Are Established in Christ? A Personal Testimony |
that your child is established in the Lord? |
In this testimony, I share my own personal experience of God’s assurance that my teen daughter is indeed an established child of God.
CHARTING A COURSE
During her high school years, it seemed to me that my daughter’s interests would lead her to politics or government service. She thoroughly enjoyed history in her growing-up years through all the play-acting she did; she loved to watch Senate hearings and political talk shows as well as to discuss politics and government; she relished debating; and she developed an interest in the military, especially the Air Force.
In 2006, she began preparing at home to become an airline pilot and hoped to join the ROTC in college so she could begin a military career. My husband and I were looking into flying lessons nearby.
Also in 2006 she attended a two-week debate camp and became quite ill while there. It took her weeks to recover.
TURBULENCE
In 2007, she registered for classes at our local community college, and my husband and I noticed that she seemed more tired than usual. We attributed this tiredness to her change of schedule. We allowed her to set her own academic study schedule throughout her high school homeschooling years, and she found that studying in the evenings after her four younger siblings were a-snooze suited her well. But now she was following a more traditional classroom timetable at community college.
She also seemed to be ravenous, which we attributed to her growing teen years. She ate and ate and ate, drank, and drank and drank. She had begun an exercise program to prepare for the rigors of the military and had lost some weight quite easily even though she was eating so much.
Around her birthday in May 2007, I took her for her well-child check. It was discovered, through a few testing processes, that she had Type 1 (insulin dependent) diabetes!
I remember sitting in the family doctor’s office, watching the nurse give her that first injection of insulin—my daughter chatting pleasantly with the nurse and doctor—thinking, Is this her lot for a lifetime? What about her dreams for the military—how will this diagnosis affect those?
The next day we met with the endocrinologists for the first time. My daughter asked such in-depth questions about diabetes as she listened to them, as well as questions like, “Is there anything I can’t do now that I am a diabetic?”
When the doctor replied, “A diabetic can’t fly a plane commercially or for the military,” my heart sank for her but I said nothing. I wanted to give her the time to process these changes in her life, so I listened to rather than talked to her on the drive home.
NAVIGATING THROUGH THE TURBULENCE
A few days later, as my daughter and I were processing together, I asked her what she thought about her military aspirations. She responded affably, “Well, Mom, we prayed that God would open and close doors, and that one is closed.” My heart rejoiced that a 17-year-old would accept such a change so easily.
At our third visit to the endocrinologist, about three months after her diagnosis, the doctor commented, “You know, sweetie, if you have any types of emotions that you need to release, please let me know about that. Most teens who are diagnosed at your age have a hard time dealing with it emotionally.”
And my daughter replied, “Why would I have a hard time with this? It’s saving my life!” Again my heart rejoiced.
Sometime later, as is our usual custom, my daughter and I were having one of our deep talks and I related to her my surprise and deep thanksgiving that she had such a good attitude about accepting this diagnosis.
She replied, “Mom, you’ve always told me that God grows us through relationships and circumstances. He’s growing me through this circumstance. Why would you think I would respond differently than I am?” She was right—why would I think that?
“But what about your military aspirations?”
“He closed that door, and I trust Him.”
My heart rejoiced. When the circumstances of her life bumped her, what poured forth from her heart is who she really is: an established child of God!
HEART ASSESSMENT: You too can see who your children— How? and your own— when life’s circumstances and relationships bump them. |
TRUSTING THE ONE WHO ADJUSTED THE COURSE
Never once since that initial diagnosis in May of 2007 have I heard her complain about the changes in her life—either the physical changes of shots four times a day and tracking her food intake or the change in future plans. She does indeed trust the Lord of her life and accepts where He leads her.
Why?
Because her mind was not set on the military or politics or music or her other interests. Her mind was set on serving others through leadership to the glory of God! She can serve and lead others in many realms, just as your children can.
She is now exploring careers in medical research related to the autoimmune system. I wonder why! The diabetes diagnosis did not devastate her; on the contrary, this chronic disease gave her fresh focus. She can lead and serve in this field, as well as many others.
LESSONS LEARNED
I’ve asked questions below for you to ponder. Then I’ve answered them as a result of what I learned and shared with you through the above testimony.
- What is the purpose of interests in your child’s life?
Although I believed that my daughter’s interests would lead to a career, I now see that her love of history, politics, and the military were simply interests that I could use to help her develop the tools of learning. She loves to learn, and she certainly knows how to use those tools well, which has prepared her for the rigors of college.
- Who opens and shuts the doors in your child’s life?
Had our family been walking in the bondage of images, we could have shut the doors to many opportunities for developing her whole person; but since we chose to stand firm in liberty, we made room for God to open and shut the doors of her life. And He certainly did! Praise Him!
- What doesn’t change when God makes a course correction?
Really though, the most important lessons I learned was that who my daughter is didn’t change—she still wants to serve and lead; rather, what my daughter planned to do was redirected by the One who is the true Leader of her life.
As my precious, beloved daughter told me as she was proofreading this article for me, “Walking in vision is seeing Christ the Lord going before you. You don’t necessarily see what you’re going to do; but you trust the One you’re following.”
who are the called according to His purpose.
Through these circumstances, God assured me that my child—no, His child—is established, which increased my faith in and love for Him as well.
I also released my precious child fully to Him at that time, knowing that she is totally His!
I no longer parent my established child but only mentor her.
And the blessing of such a close relationship is that she mentors me too as she lives the genuine Christian life before me—one of trust in God’s directing of her life.
Children are indeed a blessing from the Lord!
free from images, and
to God be the glory for His work in their lives
which gives you assurance,
increased faith,
and a deepening love for Him.
we praise You, thank You, and love You.
Give this mom the assurance she desires
that her children will become established
in the Truth, Love, and Life Who is Christ.
Strenghten her resolve to let Your Spirit Life
flow from You through her to her beloved children.
Grow each member of this family into Christ her Head.
so walk in Him,
having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him
and established in your faith, just as you were instructed,
and overflowing with gratitude.
Colossians 2:6-7
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