THE SPIRITUAL NEST

One morning my son told me, "Mom, I feel like saying 'YIPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE'." I asked him why and he said it was because he's glad he's serving God. Wow! An unexpected shot of joy and encouragement through this mom's heart. Galatians 6:9 says, "Let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not." How beautiful to see some of the fruits of our labor - to know your child is forming their own personal experience with God. To know God is talking to their hearts and blessing them.

We strive to love and train our children to the point where they can leave the nest and fly on their own. I'm not just referring to when they graduate from school and you encourage them to get a job and their own place. I'm talking about leaving the spiritual nest by having their own personal experience with God. One of my goals is to make sure my children don't end up with "mom and pop religion" where they just go through the motions of serving God but don't have an actual experience of salvation. In my 20 years of serving God I've seen too many young people try to serve God while they are at home, then once they move out they stop coming to church. I want my children to have their own foundation on God, so when they face the world full-on as young adults they'll be able to stand firmly on their own two feet. So I echo my son in saying YIPPEEEEEEEEEEE, my children are on their way!