Saturday, February 1, 2014

Mothering with the END in mind

Ooh, this is a big topic.

How do you prepare your children for the return of Jesus?

As the world winds down and we see Biblical prophecies being fulfilled right and left, I have been keenly aware of the possibility that our King could return in my lifetime.  I certainly hope He does.  I've about had it with the madness and misery that are rampant in this broken world.

I remember being a little girl and terrified of "the end of the world."  I would stay up late hoping to see the clock tick over to the next day.  I had no idea what the Rapture was and I certainly had no understanding of Scripture.  I was scared to death of not growing up and everything ending in awfulness.

I don't want that for my kids.

So we talk, a lot, about Heaven.  We talk about the coming persecution...what it means to stand for Jesus and be willing to be the only one doing so.  We talk about brothers and sisters around the world who die for Him, about the special reward that awaits them when they are in His presence.  When they have hard questions, "what-if's", I remind them that NO MATTER WHAT...when we get to Heaven it will be worth it. That if we die, we are in Heaven with Jesus and we won't want to be anywhere else.  If we live, God will walk beside us and give us strength to obey Him even when it is hard.  We have to practice, now, obeying God while it is not so hard.

Because if we can't obey Him in little things, we will surely not obey Him in big things.

We talk about why obedience is important, how His boundaries are there out of love.  How walking with Him is truly the safest place to be.  How Satan wants to fool us, so we must fill our minds with the Truth of His Word so we will recognize lies when we hear them.

Does this sound morbid?  It really is such a joyful conversation.  I love when Gracie sinks onto the couch next to me and sighs, saying "Mom, I just can't wait to go to Heaven."

Or when Drew sings worship songs loudly from the back seat and we imagine what it will be like when we are singing face-to-face with Jesus.

Or when one of my older kids struggles in their tween relationships and all the drama that is present at this age...we talk about how, one day, everyone will get along and love each other well.  This life is practice...and these hard relationships are opportunities to set the bar and be a good example of a godly friend.

When we see a glorious sunset, I tell them that God painted that for us...so that we would notice and think of Him.  And if that is one of the most beautiful things we see on this earth, can we even begin to imagine how beautiful HEAVEN will be?

To see my children look forward to the Day that all will be made right?  Is there anything more grounding for the spirit of a Believer than to know where you are going and why you are here?  That is my goal as a mother.

How about you?  How do you help your children keep eternity in mind?  

2 comments:

  1. I was scared to die when I was a kid. I remember waking my mother in the middle of the night, telling her, through tears, I didn't want to die. Fast forward to today, and I'm like you. Jesus come quickly! But at the same time, I do want my children to anticipate the glorious end and not be afraid. I like everything you're doing. The sunset thing, yes, we always say, isn't God so creative? I need to tell them He did that for us to see Him. We have a prayer board in our HS room (the foyer=) that has a poster of all the countries in red where there is opposition to Christianity, and we pray for them.

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  2. Such a beautiful post, Full Heart! I resonate with you, sister, and we must cling closely to our Lord Jesus! Praying for your family :)

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