Saturday, April 12, 2008

The Best Investment I Have Ever Made

One of my heroes is Susanna Wesley. When asked by someone about her method for raising children, she made this statement. "No one can, without renouncing the world in the most literal sense, observe my method: and there are few, if any, that would entirely devote above twenty years of the prime of life in hopes to save the souls of their children. "


The older I get, the more I see how much of an investment of time and energy it takes to invest in the lives of our children. Often our poor excuses for not investing in our children is a shallow cover for really wanting to pursue our own dreams and ambitions. I think Susanna Wesley was never more right when she said that few if any would really give what it takes in hopes of "saving the souls of her children." Taking twenty or more years of the prime of my life is the best investment I will ever make if my children are with the Lord forever in eternity. Why then is it so easy to trade temporary and selfish pursuits at the cost of investing in these little lives? It is a focus that is not on eternity. It is forgetting that a goal of seeing all of my children faithfully serving the Lord all of their lives is a goal that does not come easily. It comes from laying aside everything that would keep me from my goal and only investing my life in what will matter in eternity.


The more that I invest in the lives of my family, the happier I become! If we could ever once realize the tremendous potential that children have, we would realize that every minute spent with a child is an investment that could never be matched!

Speaking of potential, our house is bursting with it! We recently found out that with baby number 10 on the way, we could potentially just start our own mission board someday! Right now we have our own public relations firm every year when we go to the National Religious Broadcasters convention. Other broadcasters have to pay big money to attract attention at these huge conventions. We just appear and the attention is there! Recently at this convention our children shook hands with President Bush and got a picture taken with James Dobson. It all happened on Caleb's birthday, so I hope he doesn't expect it every year!


My prayer is, "Lord help me to give to my children like you have given to me. Help me to give until it hurts. Thank you for giving of yourself way past where it hurt. Thanks for giving your all!"

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1 comment:

Karen Carroll said...

I love your large family! They sure have grown since I saw them over 12 years ago in Hobe Sound! God Bless!