When do you know

At a young age we begin to teach our young the foundation of faith and who God is. Then we begin to see their walk transition into where they are willingly following Christ on their own. For each child this may come at different ages. More than likely they are following by their preteen years.

What about if you decide to become a parent to teenagers? You decide to take a step into adoption, and you are called to become a parent not of young ones but of ones who are already in the phase where they have made up their minds about faith. The foundation was never laid out for them. The seed was never planted. Not a lot of time left to share who God is and how life without God will be a life of hardship. Don’t get me wrong a life even with God has hardships. But a life without faith… a life with no one to call out to… I can’t imagine what that could look like. I would guess it would be dark. It would be a life of hopelessness. No hope… in this world now, not having hope…

So back to raising adopted teenagers… They have already come with their own values. Does this keep me from sharing my belief, absolutely not! God is love. God is hope. He is the foundation on which I have my faith and life. One of our adopted children grasped this quickly that is God is amazing to have in your corner. To have God always with you. That God is hope and love. Our other child we have sown the seed and we have prayed over. They now want to turn to worldly pleasures, like the prodigal son in Luke 15.

We as parents know there is a conversation to be had with them about bearing their own cross and having to walk their own path. We have showed them the way to eternal life through Jesus. Now they have to choose for themselves. Knowing as a parent to let your child choose their own path is never going to be easy. Especially when you know the path they choose will not lead them to Jesus but to the world.

What to do now is to pray protection, grace and mercy over them and keep being a Christian witness to them. I am to completely surrender my children over to God’s will for their life.