Too often people leave their children out of their plans to be involved in service to God and to others. In my opinion (for whatever that is worth), this is a serious mistake. It is vitally important that our children be involved in everything we do for the church, whether it is attending services, taking food to shut-ins, door-knocking campaigns, or anything else. Our children are not just the church of tomorrow. They are part of the church of today, and we need for them to see how important it is that they do as much as they can right now.

As an example, our congregation has a nursing home service once a month. It brightens the day for a lot of the residents of the nursing home to come and sing songs with us and listen to a message from God's word. My husband and I take our children with us when we go. Other families also bring their children. The presence of these little children is a delight to the residents at the nursing home. They smile and talk to the children and seem to come out of their shells a little more, and be more receptive to the service the church is holding there. These children are making a difference in people's lives, as young as they are. My children are also gaining more than they give when they go, because they are learning to be helpful to others, polite to strangers, and to give of themselves. There is no age too young to start this.

Young people are so critical to the life of the church. I was not brought up in a Christian home, but I am a Christian today in large part because of a little pig-tailed fourth-grader who asked my mother to bring my sister and me to VBS. Our children should be kept involved in everything possible and made to know how important they are. Give them a reason to live up to 1 Timothy 4:12: "Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." -29 Flora Drive, Bedford, OH 44146. drkenny@email.com

Return to West Virginia Christian