Why We Tell the "Whys"

I had a conversation yesterday with a friend who has grown children who are no longer walking with God. Her heart is broken. More and more often I have these conversations as more and more often people tell me about their loved grown children who are turning away from their faith. These friends never thought their sons/daughters would turn away from their faith. When they were little, they took them to church, modeled faith in the home, taught, and handed down the faith. These friends did everything they knew to do as parents to hand down the faith, but today, their grown children are turning away from the faith and are they are alone in handing faith to their grandchildren.

It is a difficult and painful place to be. If your grown children are walking with God, rejoice, but do not think for one minute this is something which will not happen to your grown children. My friends did not think it would happen with their grown children. You are only one difficult situation in life, one church leader or Christian friend who lets them down, one friend who is not a believer - or once was and is no longer and your grown children may question their faith and end up turning away from it. If this doesn't happen with your grown children, you may be certain it will happen with the grown children of a family member or friend and leave them wondering what happened. 

When we were parents we were told to hand down the faith in our homes and by getting our children into and involved with a solid church. These things are important, but it is also essential for us to teach the the "whys" - why they are able to believe God is real and trust His Word with confidence. If we do everything but teach the "whys", we leave the ones we love in a place where they may end up questioning their faith and turning away from it. This goes for our dear grandchildren as well - especially if we are the only ones handing faith to them.

So, if this is not the experience of your family, pray for them to continue to walk closely with God, hand down confident faith to your grandchildren, and be absolutely certain you teach them the "whys". If this is the experience of your family, pray for them to return to a close walk with God, hand down confident faith to your grandchildren, and be absolutely certain you teach them the "whys". It matters so much for us to be intentional when it comes to telling the ones we love the "whys".

And, be encouraged today by Jeremiah 24:4-7 and consider making it your prayer -

Then the word of the Lord came to me: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Like these good figs, I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I sent away from this place to the land of the Babylonians. My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them. I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart." 

#grandmas #handingdownconfidentfaith #itmatterswhatwedo #grandparentingonpurpose