Just like every time we look forward to God’s blessings, the evil one struck our family. My dad’s health declined, and he was hospitalized, making my parents unable to go. Wanting to spend time with my parents, I was left with the decision if I should stay with them or take the girls to camp as planned, knowing how hard it would be on me. I decided to go. 

Let me tell you, there were moments during that week that I questioned my decision — the lack of sleep and routine made for crazy kids, a heat-related health scare with my oldest, not being able to spend time reconnecting with saints that I hadn’t seen in a long time because of bedtime and them needing downtime, not being able to simply go for a walk by myself for a few minutes (as an introvert who likes movement, this is crucial for me) on top of having to deal with work tasks, including a serious employee issue. 

But God’s blessings always come through when we serve Him. Feeling God’s spirit in my seminar and in the church services uplifted me. Spending meal times with my brother’s family and best friend (who I met at camp when I was 11) was special. If you watched the kids’ concert, you would have seen my daughter, front and center, lighting up the stage singing praises to God. And the most meaningful to me was on Wednesday night at bedtime, for the first time (for either kid), my youngest offered the most beautiful, sweet prayer. She was so excited by it that she told me she was going to volunteer to say the prayer at kids’ church the next morning (which she did).

Since coming home, both girls have consistently been praying their own prayers at bedtime and meal times (previously, they’d recite “God is Great” or “As I Lay Me Down”) and sometimes even fighting over who gets to say the prayer. It always touches my heart hearing all the sweet and precious things they ask God for. And my husband, who, as I’ve shared before, is not in our church, is witnessing this change in them, too.

So parents, as I’ve learned, even though it’s hard, and even though you might not be able to fully enjoy it to the capacity that you want, making the effort to show your kids about serving is never the wrong choice. 

God Bless,
Sis Stefanie