I was raised in a very Christian home, where I was saved by 2, praying for healing with immediate results, and filled with the Holy Spirit by about 8. We listened to nothing by Country and Christian music and we (mom, dad, myself, younger brother, and younger sister - and generally my maternal grandma) went to church Sunday morning and night and Wednesday nights. I went to Christian school K-12, and I was a GOOD kid. Oft called a goody-goody and left out of parties and outings because I wasn't "cool" or I was going to tell my mom about the things they were doing. 2nd-6th grade my school/our church/and my mom's work were all one place. We spent more time there than we did at home. During that time, my parents also led the single's group so the time between services on Sunday was spent socializing with their group, as were many Saturdays.
Somewhere in there - it kind of turned into work and we got burned out...and we drifted. All of us...as a family. We didn't turn, we didn't rebel, but we lost our spark and our fire and we drifted. I can't pinpoint when it happened or why, but my "very Christian" family became a family who also happened to be Christians. We still went to church every week, but only Sunday morning and we were often late. We bounced from church to church for a period of about five years - never completely settling, never completely plugging in. It was a period of transition in my family - that to be honest I'm not sure is over. We went from praying before every meal to praying on holidays and occasional other meals. This spiritual valley affected my siblings and I differently based on the different points that we each were in our lives (and I won't speak for how they felt or reacted - over even if they felt the shift as I did).
For me - this was somewhere around my junior year of high school and it was hard. I didn't fit or have friends at church, and I began to stray into the wrong friendships and relationships. These led me down a less that righteous path for about 5 years, as I lived like I was "of the world" rather than just in it. I had to come to terms with the idea that being "good" was for my own good and it was for God/my Abba, not just for my parents here. I had to learn that following God was bigger than following the rules (and much bigger than just not getting caught not following them). I learned to make my faith my own - in an adult way.
Now it's my turn to be the mom - and to raise up a new generation of children to love and follow the Lord. I want my children to know Jesus like I do (or even more than I do), I want him to be real and personal to them, I want them to have hearts after His, I want them to be lights to the world and salt on Earth, I want them to stand for what they know is right even in the face of adversity (because lets be honest - the world today isn't the friendliest place to be a "Bible-thumping, conservative, Jesus Freak." I want them to be all of that and more - I want them to exceed my wildest dreams, wishes, and imagination. I want them to be all that God called them and created them to be without limiting them to only what I can dream - because compared to God - I'm really not all that creative! :) This means that I need to do what I can to raise them with the same values that I was taught - protect them from things that could harm their faith - and make sure that I show them my faith and teach them to love God. Yet I also need to make sure I don't make God - or anything else I want them to love - a burden or an obligation.
Most of all I want my kids to know and show love to God and others...in all they do.
