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Discipling Kingdom-Hearted Children

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By Rochele Griffin

A few weeks ago, my children and I were feeling like we just needed to get out of the house. So we did just about the only thing we could do on a rainy quarantine day, and went for a drive. 

Just a few minutes down the road, one of my children asked, “Mom, do you think this could be the end of the world?” His question was not said in a joking manner, and it kind of caught me off guard. I hadn’t realized how much my children had been processing what was happening around us. They didn’t just see a change of schedule or plans; they were keenly aware that everything feels different. 

We have a choice in these moments with our kids to give a quick and comforting answer: “No buddy, it’s not, and we don’t need to worry about that.” Or we can stop for a moment and ask the Lord to meet us with wisdom as we speak to the souls of our little ones.  

2 Timothy 3:14-17 says:

14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom[a]you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God[b]may be complete, equipped for every good work.

It’s our job to teach the word of God to our children. We are the ones “from whom they will learn it.” And we do so knowing that all of it is profitable and can and should be used for training in righteousness. 

During this season filled with hard questions from the searching souls of our children, we are given a special opportunity to address parts of their discipleship that may normally be overlooked. Coronavirus gives us the opportunity to step outside of the normal day-to-day training and teach our children that not only do we keep our eyes on Jesus, but we do so with strides toward heaven. 

So how do we point them to the joy of eternity in everyday coronavirus-impacted conversations? 

As our children deal with disappointment over canceled events, plans, and birthday parties, we draw their attention to the ever-certain, never-ending celebration that Heaven will be. (Revelation 19:6-9)

As we grapple over our rights and freedoms, we teach them (and remind ourselves) that eternity holds perfect fellowship with God and one another. It will never be interrupted—nothing and no one will ever strip it away. (Revelation 21:3)

As their tears of loneliness, frustration, and pain surface, we teach them that soon every tear will be wiped from their eyes. (Revelation 21:4)

As these days seem to get long, we tend to become irritable, and things aren’t as peaceful in our homes as we’d like them to be, as we take the steps to repent and make amends, we can teach our children that in heaven, every relationship will be made perfect. We will no longer have to seek peace, but will live in it, completely. 

It isn’t easy, but this is also a great time for us to open the eyes of our children to the sufferings of the world, to show them what it is to have a heart that cries “Lord Jesus, come quickly!” When our children have an opportunity to see pain in the world, we give them the opportunity to desire true healing. When our children are exposed to the results of widespread sin and the realities of depravity, when they glimpse the pain of life lived without Jesus, they can begin to understand not only their need for Him, but also the need to share Him with others. 

In this season, we ought to be expressing the joy of eternity come, so that our children can’t help but want to share it too.

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Songbirds and Plastic Chairs

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By Jeff Foerster

Quickened by the rays of the morning sun. Ears dancing to interlacing melodies of songbirds. Belly being filled by breakfast. I sat enjoying the last morning at home in Oregon under ideal conditions, neither too warm, nor too cold. The sunlight upon me, but not shining in my eyes. The air was fresh and any traffic was but a minor lull, like distant breaking waves barely audible.

I had assembled some breakfast and took it to the front deck. The house was nearly empty of belongings and I was the last one to sleep over from the night before. I opened the door to sunlight and a welcomed breeze, slowly moving. The home belonged to my mother, having purchased it some 29 years ago. I had spent some of childhood there and nearly every Thanksgiving, Christmas, and other extended weekends, since. Likewise, summer included several trips back home to landscape, mow, trim, etc., and simply to visit and talk about what the Lord was doing, had done, and looking forward to what He has promised.

So here I was, taking in my last morning before the keys would be passed along. Though all was serene around me, something was wrong inside me. I wanted to savor that moment, to etch in a small memory I could later bring out and look at from time to time, like a worn photograph. Something was missing. Something felt hollow. Like the white plastic chair I sat upon, the pleasantness of the moment was but superficial and temporary. She who had made the house the home was not there. Though not 10 miles away at my sister’s house, at the moment my Mother was gone from my presence. This place was made special by her, not by its construction nor any natural accompaniments.

This makes me think of our home in Heaven. It is not a place constructed by human hands. No eye has seen and no mind has conceived of the splendor and greatness of our eternal home (1 Corinthians 2:9). Even so, I venture to say that even a place as perfect as Heaven would be only a place without the One who created it. Without our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, even the majesty of Heaven would disappoint. Yet this is not our destiny; ours is one with fullness of relationship with our Maker, the One who knows us better than we ourselves and loves us with love greater than all.

Heaven is the perfect place. It is the place of perfect relationship, first with our Heavenly Father, then with others who have gone before us. It is a place made special by the One who dwells there in all His glory. And those loved ones await us, in perfect communion with the Father. So will we join them all in fellowship and joy forever!

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