Well, it has been 6 months since my last blog post, and YES, things with Ethan's health are still great. He is settling in nicely to Gr.6 and Adam is in Gr. 8 this year. I would say we are definitely in the years of change, not only physically but emotionally and spiritually. Watching my oldest enter into his teen years has brought me back to what I felt like at his age, and one very important decision that helped define and guide me during those crazy teenage years. I thought I would share it with you as I have now with my Sons.
I remember so well being challenged by my youth pastor at the age of 12 to make the decision NOW for what I was and wasn't going to do when I was a teenager. That way I wouldn't be tempted or caught off guard when the time came. From as far back as I can remember, I have always felt strongly about what was right and wrong, black and white, with not much room for grey. I was never really tempted to go beyond my parent's boundaries. My Mom tells me that when I was 2, I used to go outside our house and walk around the house and come back in, never venturing much farther on my own. Now I was far from a perfect teenager but I did not struggle with the traditional rebellion that some teenagers go thru with their parents. I think the biggest reason why is that I had committed myself early on in my teen years to Christ and I knew that those choices would not be good for me or my relationship with Jesus. Having an older brother who pushed the boundaries and seeing the pain it caused also made me realize, rebelling was not the choice I wanted to make.
I remember the teen years with some good and not so good memories. I was never one of the most popular kids and in my Grade 7 year was labelled a Jesus Freak and bullied mercilessly for my Christian beliefs. It was in that year that I grew in my faith far beyond what I could have ever imagined. Persecution does that to people!!! You see, every day that I went to School, I had to come prepared for battle, because there was a new student in our class who on the first day he arrived came around to every student in the class and asked if they were a Christian or not? He started at the far end of the classroom and went down the aisle one by one and every single person was terrified. He threatened that if we answered yes to being a Christian, he would make our lives a living Hell. Every single student said NO, even the ones that I knew were Christians. From where he started I knew that I would be the very last person to answer. What would I do and say? I knew that I had only one answer, I could not deny my love for Jesus and that I was in fact a follower of Christ, no matter the cost. I knew there would be a cost, but how high a cost, I didn't really know. I lost pretty much all of my friends as no one wanted to be associated with me lest they receive the wrath of this young man. He claims that he was follower of Satan, and so every single day he would come to School taunting me with what he believed and challenging me to know the answers to defend mine. Every night I would read my Bible and highlight the verses and memorize scripture in order to be ready for the next day. It was not my favourite year to say the least, it was incredibly lonely, but God was faithful, and he always protected me from him physically, he did try to sacrifice two boys to Satan by setting them on fire in the boys washroom. Which finally led to his expulsion from School!!! He is a very troubled young man, to this day and continues to make his name known in the newspaper and has been in jail for attempted murder among other serious offenses.
So coming from this experience as a young person to now seeing my sons enter this crucial age of testing boundaries, finding out about life and what you believe and don't. I am praying hard that my boys will have the strength and courage to also stand up for what they believe in. Even if that means they have to stand alone. It can be done, I survived and lived to tell about it :) I have been told by parents who have already gone thru these years that Prayer is an important part, and I have been specifically told to get down on my knees and pray. Which typically I lie down to pray but then end up falling asleep so maybe I should try this?
Ephesian 6:10-18 is one of the verses I highlighted in my Bible many years ago and became a great source of strength. Praying the same for the next generation.
"Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up your shield of faith, with which you can extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all of the saints.
