Spiritual Milestones

There are many spiritual milestones I enjoy celebrating when I see them in my kids. The first, and by far the most fulfilling and comforting to me as a parent, is when they make the decision to choose Jesus and have a personal relationship with Him. I have been tremendously blessed to see all four of my kids make that decision already. After they make that decision, the next one that I cherish is getting to hear my kids read the word of God. I look forward to their baptisms and watching them grow in their faith, but aside from maybe when I see they've truly made their faith their own, hearing them read God's word is second only to that initial decision to follow Christ to me. Maybe it is because the Bible has had such a powerful effect on my own relationship with God. God's word truly transform and there is something supernatural that happens when we read it and take it in. So I always long for the day when my kids can read well enough to read it on their own....their first step to getting to experience that transformation by reading it themselves. My Nathan did that this past week and it made me tear up. You may find that odd, especially considering that after he read it his comment was that he wanted to rewrite John 3:17 instead of John 3:16 because it was shorter (a Cub Scout assignment he was working on), but knowing that my child can read God's word by himself brought me so much encouragement and comfort. In the days ahead in his life, he always has something to turn to whether I am with him or not. When he feels like God is silent, he can open His word and know that He is not. "For the word of God is living and active...." Hebrews 4:12