Stability

For some reason to start off the post by saying, "the older I get, the more I..." doesn't sit well with me, so I'll write it differently. As life progresses, it is affirmed to me more and more... that there is nothing more important than... ok, that's better - for some reason.
To finish the statement, it's not WHAT I do so much as it is WHO I trust. I never cease to be amazed at the almost nothingness that is stated by sportscasters while I'm watching the Colts (my favorite team). Over and over the themes of strength and intelligence arise, with what they would do if they were playing sprinkled in between. Is strength needed? Yeah... and size too... Is intelligence required, well... that could be a long conversation, but it's most often pinned on the quarter back... so, yeah. But what about determination? What about character? What about courage? What about stick-to-it practices? Such boring subjects... it's not limelight material.
Apply the principle to just about anything. What makes the news? Just about anything but the truth. What make audiences rise and clap for guests on talk shows? Truth? It's all in how it's marketed. We are constantly marketed to and we market to others.
What makes a family marketable? The house? The electronic equipment contained in the house? Whether or not the car will accept blue tooth devices or how many DVD displays it has? How does a good family look? Handsome or beautiful? Popular? Busy? Fit? Smart? What is it that really matters?
All the things above and more are good things, but they can take our time away from the foundation of being Christlike. Great care must be given so that it doesn't become the 'norm' that teens rebel and that the correct response from parents is to become an ATM machine. That's not OK. It would be easy in the pursuit of "ownership of faith" to allow an environment to grow in our homes so that we are afraid to confront and set crucial boundaries. Is "ownership of faith" crucial... you bet! But just because we want our kids to develop their own faith, doesn't mean we shouldn't be a big part of it. Modeling godly contentment is crucial but not sufficient alone, it has to be expected. I believe it's a TRUST issue... do we trust God with the outcome? Do do we trust only what we can see?
David was so successful in a glitzy kind of way. He wrote later in life, "It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect" (2 Sam 22:33). But it wasn't all glitz... we remember the Bathsheba thing, but even more, this great man of valor did not confront the wrongs or the pathetic attitude of his son Absalom - and eventually ended up fleeing from his son. The son? His good lookin' self ended up with his long flowing hair hanging him in a tree - where he was killed (2 Samuel 13-18). This doesn't mean David didn't trust God, because he's called the man after God's own heart. But we can learn from him.
We want our youth to LOCK ON THE ROCK, but we want their families to do so too. Check out the plans for our student ministry. Be a part of it. It's a vehicle to help us get closer to Christ.