~ Against the Norm ~

Sometimes I just feel weary, spent and persecuted. I feel like the oddball, the weirdo, the crazy zealot lady.

Did I get to this place by accident? Or has there been something bigger in play? Has maybe some of my own experiences, and mistakes led me here to this place where not many want to dwell?

Why is it that if we are all following the same Big God and reading his precious, truth filled unrelenting Word are we all sometimes still on different pages?

So many questions, but what am I getting at.

Tradesman and I want so much to equip our kids with hearts of purity. We want them to be unwavering in their choices, unwilling to compromise, unyielding in their beliefs.

This is no easy task in this crazy, self-absorbed, anything goes world.

The world just screams at us from every angle all that it has to offer.

Its like a dark monster lurking around every corner wanting to steal the innocence from our children, bait them into sin and rob them of their joy.

So why as Christian mothers and fathers do we feel we can flirt, tinker, dally a little in this worldliness and not get burned.

I'm so tired of this wishy, washy feel good gospel that seems to be permeating the churches and taken in by so many that sit in the pews every week.
A little of the world never hurt anybody, we aren't all bad people, we can handle it, there is worse we could be doing.

Choose this day whom you will serve!

We are called to be set apart from this world. SET APART...what does that mean? Does that mean watch what those that don't love Jesus watch? Listen to what they listen to? Laugh at what they laugh at?

We need a wake up call!

How can we even begin to share Gods love and His perfect plan when we stumble around in our own darkness.
Shining His light for all to see so to Him we can bring glory and honor. That should be our goal. It has to be our goal if we are going to raise kids that stand out in a crowd. They need us to walk the talk. You can't fool your kids.

When our older children were little, tradesman and I could get away with mediocre Christianity. We weren't always careful about the movies we watched, the shows that made us laugh, we didn't worry about the lyrics playing on the radio, and it never bothered us to walk around a mall.

Slowly, but surely God started working on our hearts. We suddenly started seeing how lazy we had become, how very desensitized we were.
As our boys got older we started really wanting to raise the bar high.
Funny thing happened, we had no choice but to examine ourselves in that light. Not pretty.

If you think your kids aren't going to call you on your sin, you are wrong! Do you think they won't recognize a sham when they see one? A fraud?
There is nothing more refining then examining your life through the eyes of your child.

Around 85% of kids who grow up in Christian homes leave the faith. So sad, but really not surprising. So many are not willing to do what it takes.
This parenting job is not for wimps! It is tough, and brings me to my face in prayer often.

Why??
I feel a burden so huge! For my children, for other children. I am truly afraid for the next generation. Compromise has reared its ugly head into so many homes.

When my son asks me again why our family has this rule or that rule, why we think this way or that way about particular situations, when we sit up listening to his heart, connecting with him, building a relationship of mutual respect with him, I will tell him.

If 85% of Christian kids are leaving the faith, then we will not be doing what 85% of Christian parents are doing. With strength that can only come from God and a grace that can only be given by Him we will hopefully be doing what the other 15% are.

Going stick to our guns and be the odd ones out,