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Someone recently shared a story with me regarding a conversation she was having with an acquaintance. This particular acquaintance was sharing the news of her upcoming wedding. With congratulations being given, inevitable questions were asked regarding the details of the couple’s proposal for marriage, engagement, and plans for the wedding ceremony. The bride-to-be began to share of the brokenness in her family’s history which is inevitably affecting the plans for her wedding. In particular, she commented that she would have no one to walk her down the aisle to the groom. Pretending not to care, she stated, “I am not close to either of my parents, so I will just walk down the aisle by myself.” When she was asked who would give her away to the groom, she stated, “They gave me away a long time ago.”
Did you catch the jaded pain of such a statement? The disconnect in her family reinforced an inevitable sense that she was unwanted and discarded. While we may hope that such a situation would be rare, in reality it has become commonplace in our current culture. Brokenness and discontent in the family has left a wake of destruction. Unfortunately, it is often the youngest among us who suffer the greatest consequence. It is not unlike the sins of God’s people nearly three thousand years ago. One of Israel’s kings, Manasseh, would bring God’s judgment with a common practice in his day. “He made his sons pass through the fire” (2 Chronicles 33:6). This is the description of a literal child sacrifice as parents would discard their children to false gods in the hopes of attaining wealth or security. How many adults today will upend their marriages and discount their children in the pursuit of careers and personal comforts? How many, in an attempt to be “happy”, have left a wake of destruction in their families?
This past week I have had the privilege of spending time in our local schools as we offered encouragement to the students and faculty with a challenge from Matt Kelley with Equip Ministries. In a riveting and sincere way, Matt challenged our young people to make choices which lead to life, not destruction. His own struggles with and redemption from addiction provide an excellent platform to challenge us all. While greatly encouraged by the promise of our young people, I was starkly reminded of the difficult choices before them and just how many have already begun to walk down a dark path. Like never before, our children need us to protect them, nurture them, and lead them to Christ in word and deed.
On Sunday, September 9, our Community Home Groups will begin for this semester. We will gather together in the church sanctuary for the presentation of Connect: Real Help for Parenting Kids in a Social Media World. This documentary will challenge and encourage all of us toward tending to those relationships that are most important. By staying connected as families and with each other we will find the means to safely navigate a broken, dangerous world and find hope even in the face of hardship. Following the presentation, we will have a short time of discussion led by our Community Home Groups Leaders. If you have never participated in this ministry opportunity, this will provide a meaningful experience. The following week, these groups will be meeting in various homes in our community. I cannot express strongly enough how important this opportunity for connection can be to your faith and your family.
Lord willing, I look forward one day to attending the weddings of each of our children. When that day arrives, I want them to have not only my blessing and support, but the invaluable treasure of my own example as a godly husband and father. This foundation will confirm their invaluable worth and point them to their only hope—Jesus Christ. God help us all to do no less than this.
Jason