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