Participants: Richard O'Fill, Kathy Matthews
Series Code: TAH
Program Code: TAH000152
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00:32 Welcome to Thinking About Home.
00:33 I'm Kathy Matthews, and thankful that you've 00:35 joined us again. Our guest today is Pastor 00:38 Richard O'Ffill from the Florida Conference 00:40 of Seventh Day Adventist. 00:41 Thank you for being back. 00:43 I'm glad to be here. Thinking About Home, 00:48 I'm a father, grandfather. I've been 00:53 married to the same girl. That's good. 00:57 No, no I don't know why that you know that 00:58 we should boost on that, but it's getting 01:00 the place where our homes are breaking up 01:02 at such a tremendous rate. Well why not, 01:05 why not say a little something good for that. 01:08 Well you know if the devil can get at our 01:11 homes, he's got us and I think some of us 01:15 Kathy when we thought of the last day events. 01:18 We thought well maybe it was the signs and it 01:21 is, don't hear me wrong, but there wouldn't 01:23 be earthquakes and all kinds of problems and 01:26 religious and secular struggles, but I think 01:30 that right now if the truth would be known 01:33 that the devil, his, his most affective work is in 01:38 our homes. Yes. And I think that as Christians 01:43 that unless we, we come to, we come to 01:45 grips with this, yes, that we're missing what 01:48 the gospel is all about and sometimes when I 01:51 preach I argue and don't hear me wrong, 01:54 but I feel that, that we're not implementing in 01:59 our homes sometimes the most fundamental 02:02 of what the gospel is about. No we're not. 02:05 If, if we were, though we would be suffering, 02:08 it wouldn't be so much. Our homes are 02:10 breaking and as in my case we have four 02:15 children and eight grandchildren. 02:17 It seems like if we've got a disability in our 02:20 homes it's divorce. Now Betty and I you know 02:25 we've been together these many years, 02:27 but I'm getting to the place when I'm almost 02:30 embarrassed to think of all the sons-in-laws 02:32 and daughters-in-laws and former sons-in-laws 02:35 and I had this terrible joke. You know 02:36 sometimes you have to laugh when you're 02:39 not crying. Where two little boys were out on 02:42 the playground and they're mad, they're about 02:45 to fight see. One of them says to the other 02:48 that my dad can beat up your dad. 02:51 The other says what do you mean my dad is 02:52 your dad. And it's getting to be that way, 02:56 it's getting to be that way and, and 02:59 especially I think we as parents as our 03:03 children get older and when they were little, 03:05 we could hold them you know we could give 03:07 them a bath and tell them when to get up 03:09 and when to go to sleep and get them off to 03:12 school, but when they're grown, 03:16 things change and I remember Kathy that 03:20 when my oldest daughter got married. 03:24 Betty said well that's one less to worry about. 03:27 Right. Not at all, not at all. Well, no it's been 03:30 more complicated having a grown children 03:33 and grandchildren then it ever was to raise 03:37 little ones and sometimes when I'm in 03:39 the supermarket and I see these little 03:41 mothers with these little children running 03:43 around, I actually say to them enjoy it. 03:48 Well but we don't want to just look well I don't 03:50 want to get into that subject right now. 03:51 That could take us off on a tangent, 03:53 but I think of what we've been talking about 03:56 is that we're not alone in all of this. 03:59 And I could like to preview just a little of 04:01 that. We have been facing 04:02 the heartaches and suffering. 04:04 In another program I told a little bit about my 04:08 own experience of my youngest son and how 04:11 he began to take drugs, and I didn't even 04:16 go into all gruesome details that not only will 04:19 he be taking drugs and I would be going to 04:21 Alana, but about that time his 15-year-old 04:28 girlfriend is expecting and so here, here I am 04:33 as a minister in the Florida Conference. 04:36 The director of temperance. My son is 04:38 taking drugs and his girlfriend is you know 04:41 expecting and I was the, I was actually a 04:45 grandfather before I was a father-in-law and 04:48 I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. 04:50 But you know I think the thing that was 04:52 comforting to me was that they never left 04:58 us, in another words you see we have this, 05:01 this tendency to think well if I go through 05:03 that everybody look down on me. 05:06 And one day Betty came home from the office 05:11 and her face was just blank I mean I don't even, 05:15 I know the word serious isn't the word. 05:18 It was more than serious. It was nothing. 05:21 And her face was so blank and maybe after 05:24 about a half an hour I said honey you know 05:27 what's going on? And she said today somebody 05:32 came to the office and said, Betty we know 05:35 what you're going through, we're praying for 05:37 you. Now that's wonderful, I can't think of 05:39 anything more appropriate. You know for 05:42 somebody to have said, but it hit Betty wrong. 05:45 And she said. Yeah you're not saying 05:47 that they shouldn't tell? 05:48 Oh well, what else there was to say I probably 05:50 would have said that, but Betty was so brittle 05:53 because of all the emotions of her, of what 05:55 was going on in our home with our boy 05:58 you know that when this person says Betty 06:00 we're praying for you and Betty said I felt 06:03 like Mrs. Bundy. You know the mother of the 06:06 mass murderer. Yes, yes right. 06:07 She said Dick, I think I ought to wear dark 06:09 glasses when I go to work. As if you know 06:12 I can't have people recognize who I am. 06:16 And I said to her honey, I said they love us. 06:19 Our friends haven't forsaken us and in that 06:23 other program that we did that we're alone. 06:26 This is what we've got to realize. 06:27 We always thought well if I'm a Christian 06:29 you know I can't let people know the truth 06:32 about me. Well the truth is I love Jesus. 06:35 The truth is I'm committed to Him and I 06:37 know He loves me, but the other part of the 06:39 truth is that he said in this world you will have 06:42 tribulation. Yes. Now we might have thought, 06:44 well that means I'll be persecuted for 06:46 righteousness sake. Well what maybe part of the 06:50 tribulation of the last days is our children. 06:54 And what's going on in their lives. 06:57 We thought well it's gonna be out there in 06:59 some place far away. No, what if it's right 07:01 under your own roof. I think that this is the 07:04 big test we have. And so, and so I was about 07:08 to tell you that, I said to Betty of course, 07:11 no honey they love us talking about the people 07:13 in the church you know. Right. And you know 07:17 we have a baby shower for Andrea. 07:21 And no, you know I should put into disclaimer 07:24 here before I go any further. People are 07:27 already thinking why in the world is he giving 07:29 names and places. I asked my son permission. 07:33 Good to say that. Yeah it's important in fact 07:35 before I wrote the book God keep your 07:38 mentions I said, son could I tell this story. He 07:41 said dad after all I put you through that's the 07:43 least I could do. Really, really. But anyway. 07:46 Well that was gracious of him. 07:47 It's not hard, it's not easy to come through 07:49 these things. No it's, no it's true I was telling 07:51 someone the other day. I said you know with 07:53 the divorce that's going through our homes I 07:55 said you know don't try to keep a divorce 07:57 secret you know, it's in the paper. 08:00 Divorce is printed in the paper you know, yeah, 08:02 and so, and so I don't think that, 08:04 that we boosted these, I don't think I go 08:06 around telling everybody, no that's not we're 08:08 saying, that my child takes drugs or did 08:11 take drugs or my kids are getting a divorce. 08:14 It's just that, that you ought to know that 08:16 I know what suffering is like, yes, and 08:20 probably if you will be honest with me. 08:22 You know what suffering is like. 08:24 Anyway we had a baby shower for Andrea. 08:30 And there were 50 people at that baby 08:32 shower. That supported you. And I've, 08:35 well you could imagine kids had marriage. 08:40 And these were the people like the grandma 08:41 types. Right. And you know some said well the 08:44 old generation was real egotistic and they 08:47 condemned everything. So they have proved 08:48 otherwise. I haven't seen that. All the things 08:52 that I've been through in my life, 08:53 now some people might have been condemned 08:55 here and there and maybe people whisper 08:57 about our family you know they say, 08:59 well if Dick was the kind of parent he ought 09:00 to be this wouldn't have happened, 09:03 you know he must have made a lot of mistakes. 09:06 But Kathy, I've had people come to me and 09:11 say Dick, we know what you're going through. 09:15 And we're watching you and you give us so 09:17 much hope. And so I think that this is where 09:22 we're at today. We're, we want hope and so 09:28 I'm not looking for, for the perfect parent I mean. 09:32 But when Betty came inn with the glasses on. 09:34 No she was just saying that she felt she ought 09:37 to wear glasses, because she was so ashamed. 09:38 Oh I'm sorry that's right. But when 09:40 she was feeling that way. 09:41 What do you think she was feeling? 09:43 Well she was feeling guilty, and I think that, 09:47 I would like to discuss this in this program 09:50 because, because when our children start 09:54 you know doing these crazy things, these. 09:57 Choices of their own. And their heart wrenching. 10:01 See there was a time in which parents did things 10:07 to their children and now children are doing 10:08 thing to their parents. Now we're gonna discuss 10:12 this a little bit I'm sure, but nowadays it's 10:15 common that are, you know the mistakes that 10:18 the children make these days back when 10:20 you and I were kids. Big mistake was chewing 10:22 gum in class, right, right. Getting out of line 10:26 you know. Throwing spitballs, throwing 10:27 spitballs, passing notes to your girlfriend, 10:30 but now we're talking about drugs, 10:32 pre-marital sex, and killing, and murder and 10:36 so suddenly here, here, here we are, 10:39 we're middle aged people and out there it's 10:43 not uncommon that a child will come home and 10:45 say you know my marriage just broke up, 10:46 here's my child raise it. And expect that. 10:49 And really expect it so, and so though the sins 10:52 of the fathers are being visited on the children. 10:55 The sins of the children these days are visited 10:58 on the parents. And so what you get out 11:01 of that guilt, guilt I did it wrong. If I had 11:05 done it right. It wouldn't be happening to me. 11:08 And then I think even in my own life Kathy 11:11 with guilt comes anger. Yes. Because I can 11:16 tell you at times I was angry. And I don't 11:20 think it was an anger that springs from, from, 11:24 this is gonna sound really crazy. 11:26 Is there an anger that springs from love, 11:28 there is an anger that springs from hate. 11:31 Yes, I think so. But because I could never. 11:33 Some call it indignation. I could never say 11:36 that through this all I didn't love my son. 11:40 But there were times I remember he's big 11:42 and handsome and you know it was never 11:45 between us. It was never like being dead or 11:48 going at that, it was like he was doing 11:50 something and even in the worst of it, 11:53 he would come home and he walks in the 11:55 door. He learned this in South America, 11:56 but you know in South America you know when 11:58 the young people meet the adult they give 12:00 them a kiss on their cheek. And through this 12:02 whole thing. He had come in the door and he 12:05 come and hug me and I didn't wanna talk to 12:09 him. Did you ever say that? No, no, no, 12:12 but I feel that way, you feel it, 12:14 I feel that way, don't touch me. 12:16 If you really love me you wouldn't be doing 12:18 this to me. And Kathy, I don't know if I've 12:23 told you this before. I went through a time in 12:28 which I think I suffered, I grieved like he was 12:30 dead. I didn't wanna watch old family pictures 12:34 anymore, right, and when we would watch the 12:36 slides from when we were missionaries 12:38 overseas. Little boy was gone. And I, exactly 12:41 that little boy that would get on my back 12:43 and with curly hair. We would go and jump in 12:46 the swimming pool and we'd go under the water 12:49 and I would look at that and I say he's dead, 12:52 he's dead, well what's this? I don't know want 12:55 that is. This is another something or other. 12:59 And so these feeling that you have and like 13:02 Betty we're to blame, we're guilty of this and 13:05 then the anger. What are you doing about that. 13:09 How did you deal with it? I ask you. 13:12 I said to you do about it? Do you ever, 13:16 does your carrying ever, ever make you feel 13:18 guilty? Oh of course it does. I don't, 13:22 I've said here while you're saying that and 13:24 even when I read your book, that I, I felt 13:28 those very things I haven't gone through 13:29 exactly the same thing, but I felt that don't 13:32 touch me. Why are you doing what you're doing? 13:34 Well if you really love me. And then dealing 13:37 with myself I haven't to be, to be civil and 13:40 kind and Christ like and to remember those 13:41 things at that time, so that's not always 13:44 easy to do. In fact you don't always conquer it. 13:47 Well and you see I think the one of the 13:49 things that we need to grips with and I hope 13:52 that our viewers can go with us on this, 13:54 and that is am I responsible for what my 14:02 growing children are doing. In other words 14:04 they're getting, their homes are breaking up. 14:08 Are you to blame. Yeah, yeah am I to blame 14:10 for that. Well we've talked about that even 14:12 before we were doing the program. 14:14 I want you to help me to distinguish the 14:16 difference between whether I'm 14:18 accountable or responsible we were. 14:20 Well see, see we've got the text and excuse me 14:23 for putting it this way. You know we got 14:24 the text that's in our face you know how 14:26 we use that part of expression. 14:28 Raise up a child in the way he should go and 14:31 when he's old or she, he will not depart from 14:34 it, and so here we raised up our children 14:38 and at somewhere along the line maybe they 14:40 leave the church. And I remember at one point 14:45 and the kind of the worst of it, my son 14:48 married a girl who wasn't a Christian. 14:52 She began to be interested in spiritual 14:54 things and his response, I don't want my 14:58 woman get into religion. And he wanted to 15:00 scream. You know here this one that you 15:05 have raised to love the Lord, right, 15:06 is not only gone himself from it, 15:09 but he blocks it, somebody else from 15:11 getting into it. And so Betty and I were, were 15:15 lying in bed one night and we got talking about 15:17 this, this text. And I don't know. I really don't 15:26 know what that means. Because even you know, 15:31 even the one who wrote it didn't pull it off. 15:35 Yes, yes. It's the idea and I think that this 15:38 is where you and I in our discussion. 15:40 But we have to reach for the ideal. 15:42 We're gonna be working for the ideal. 15:43 In another words you know we can't say 15:45 I'm not gonna raise my children. 15:47 I think I'm accountable to God for the way 15:51 I am raising. Maybe you want to put this in 15:53 a present tense. Yes. I'm accountable for 15:56 the way, for what I'm doing, see, see, maybe 15:59 this is important and that is the God, God 16:02 looks at us for what we are, not for what 16:04 we were. Does that make any sense to you? 16:07 In other words God doesn't see me. Yes, yes. 16:10 He doesn't see me as father with little 16:12 children 'cause that isn't who I am. 16:14 I was that, so he's not gonna. 16:16 The repentance comes in. He is not gonna 16:18 wave that in my face, in another words 16:20 what he holds me accountable as, is a 16:23 grandfather with eight grandchildren and with 16:26 four grown children. And so, and so this 16:32 doesn't mean that, that, that I didn't 16:36 contribute to what my children, in another 16:37 words that I don't remember waking up in 16:40 the morning and saying, well I'm gonna mess up 16:43 their lives today and you know I just hate my 16:46 children and no I love them. I was probably 16:48 doing career you know, yes, but we still had 16:50 family worship, we had Christian education. 16:53 Read child guidance. And we read child 16:55 guidance, but still it didn't turn out. 16:57 It didn't turn out. Now the question is, 17:01 because it didn't turned out am I to 17:04 blame for that? Well, where does free well 17:06 come in. Well, see this is what I meant. 17:10 If it's true and I don't say if it's true, 17:13 but because it's true the scriptures teaches we 17:16 all are going to have to stand before the 17:18 judgment bar. So if this is true it sort of 17:22 makes a mockery of the judgment, 17:24 because it means when I go to judgment 17:27 I'm gonna say God don't talk to me, 17:29 talk to my dad. And my dad is gonna say don't 17:32 talk to me talk to my dad. You know we're 17:36 gonna keep passing that. But we see that 17:37 today in the justice system. Well we see that, 17:40 so obviously God's judgment is certainly 17:43 going to be more fair and true and just than 17:45 what we were seeing in the justice system, 17:47 because they're blaming all the parents. 17:49 Well and I think that you're saying that, that, 17:52 that though I contributed, my father 17:57 contributed to what I became later on, 18:00 but that somewhere along the line I have to 18:03 think that what I'm today. I am choosing to 18:07 be. And because of that, there is gonna be 18:11 a judgment God's gonna take it into 18:13 account where I came from it, 18:15 because scripture says that. 18:16 He takes into account where a man was born. 18:19 But yet we are all going to stand before 18:21 the judgment bar, which means that in a 18:24 wonderful way we are accountable for what 18:27 we are presently with our scars and with all of 18:31 our mess up, but this, this business and I 18:34 think you're referring to what they call 18:36 dysfunction, which says I'm not responsible. 18:40 My dad is responsible. Now maybe daddy did 18:43 some terrible things and now this brings 18:45 up a whole another subject. 18:46 Well I don't want, you know I'm not 18:48 responsible on the child side, but then there 18:50 is the, you know I'm not responsible on the 18:52 parent side. Somehow we have to have a right 18:54 blend of it and then an understanding 18:57 of it, so that we can move on with our 19:00 lives. So we get on with our lives? Right. 19:02 Well in fact this is where I think to me the 19:05 mistake of this generation is to blame 19:08 it's parents for everything, because though 19:11 our parents you know dysfunction and I think 19:14 sin is dysfunction. Am I right? Yes. 19:16 Sin is dysfunction, so did I have a perfect 19:18 daddy? No. Was I a perfect daddy? 19:21 No, so come on now you know, and so but 19:24 the issue is, the issue is I wish I have been, 19:27 yes, but I want to be as close to the idea. 19:31 I wanna be as perfect as close to being a 19:32 perfect grandpa as I can be. Yes. 19:34 I wanna be as close you know my daughter, 19:38 she called us the other night. Our oldest 19:40 daughter and when she, she calls us for advice, 19:43 believe it or not. She is calling, she's got a 19:45 teenager. Well if there was a relationship there 19:48 I can understand that. Now she is going 19:50 through, yes okay. And she's going through 19:54 I need your help. And that's the point, 19:55 but you see when she was a teenager, 19:57 no way. We were dumb and now she's got a 20:00 teenager, guess who she calls up. 20:02 And so, and so the other day we were talking on 20:05 the phone and she was giving us her concerns 20:08 for her son and her concerns and I think this 20:10 and I think that she said. And we were just 20:12 as calm and cool you know, she says 20:15 I think I wanna go back and be 20:17 born again into my new parents. 20:20 Oh I've heard that, oh because 20:21 now you're calm and cool. 20:23 Because now we're calm and cool. 20:26 If you've only been the kind of parents, 20:28 but we consider that a compliment. 20:29 Because what she is saying now and 20:32 you know, and she is saying you're just, 20:34 you're great, you're great. Aren't you thankful 20:36 for that? Well how many years, four years 20:38 later. I mean that's a lot of schooling. 20:41 It's a longtime before you can 20:42 raise an encouraging remark. 20:44 And I think this is the important thing, 20:46 important thing is that, that I really feel that 20:51 though I contributed to what my children 20:54 became. I'm in error, if I say that what they 20:59 are doing now is my fault. Okay, so then how 21:04 do we live? And so, and so I have to, 21:08 I have to, and I think maybe on next program 21:12 we'll talk about detachment I think what 21:15 we wanna do is to detach ourselves from our 21:18 children and so this begins by saying although 21:23 I contributed to what my children where. 21:25 That what they are now and they have 21:27 chosen to do. Chosen to do. This means then, 21:31 I've got a disengage my anger, because I've 21:34 got to realize that in their heads now, 21:39 they maybe getting even. But I shouldn't 21:43 take it personal. See, see this is what. 21:46 Because taking it personally makes you, 21:49 part of the problem, and yes right and unable, 21:51 unable to be affective in their lives. 21:53 Exactly right and use the illustration you know 21:56 if somebody is in the water sinking, you can't 22:00 go out you know in another words if I can't 22:02 swim, I can't go try to save somebody who is 22:06 drowning. If I'm in the same soup with them, 22:09 see. So I think if we're going to help our 22:12 children who are going through these crazy 22:14 things when they get be older, even and 22:16 we're talking about teenage up, that in some 22:20 way. We're gonna have to set aside anger. 22:22 We're gonna say though I'm a part of it. 22:26 I got to say what they're doing they've chosen 22:28 to do and it's not what I would chose. 22:31 But I've got to get it off my back. 22:33 Draw closer to Christ. And I've got to say not 22:37 take it personal. I've got to say I'm gonna 22:40 separate myself of this, so that I can deal 22:43 with it, so that I'm not furious, because you 22:46 just think here my boy, he puts his arm around 22:48 me you know when he's going through this 22:50 and I'm gonna say don't touch me. 22:51 Now if he had been in a, in a car wreck see I 22:55 would have felt different. Right. 22:57 And I thought of this many times Kathy that 23:01 when it's physical. You know if it was a 23:03 physical disability we would have just our 23:05 hearts you know been open all the time, 23:08 understanding, a car wreck, we'd have stayed 23:11 up day and night. It's one thing to be by the 23:13 bed of someone who has been in a car, 23:15 a car wreck. It's another thing when they 23:17 haven't come home till 2 O'clock in 23:18 the morning and they're drunk. 23:20 Well one is the choice and the other is not. 23:22 Well that's the fear, but then, then I think we 23:26 ought to realize that in a way that the devil is 23:29 after me. Another words we got to say, 23:31 see if we become angry at them, how can 23:33 we help them. If we're gonna say you're doing 23:36 this to me, then I'm not thinking of them, 23:39 I'm trying to think about how to clear myself. 23:41 Right. You know I don't wanna look anymore. 23:44 I'm fed up with you. And I think that this, 23:47 I've been there, that let me get on with my life. 23:51 I put you through Christian education, 23:54 I did everything I thought I was supposed to 23:56 do and look what's your doing to me. 23:58 Well parenting is not convenient is it? 24:02 And it's really not ease, we are not at ease 24:05 doing this, not if we're really doing parenting? 24:07 You know I should do this, I thought of doing 24:09 this for the program and I thought I won't do it, 24:11 but I'm gonna do it anyway. You know 24:12 sometimes. Do you have time? Oh no, it's an 24:14 illustration and I'm sure that our viewers can 24:17 go along. You know when our children were born 24:20 how we loved them, how we carried that 24:21 little baby from the nursery. Here goes. 24:26 If we had known what was gonna happen to 24:28 us down the line, instead of just carrying them 24:30 from the nursery like this we might have carried 24:32 them. You know what's gonna happened to 24:36 me. We had no idea. Isn't that awful, oh no. 24:41 I'm sorry. But just yet let me say this that 24:46 you know some people say well I don't wanna 24:47 have any children, if that's what it's like, 24:48 I don't wanna have any. And I, but I think 24:51 you know I'm glad that God let me share the 24:55 creative power with Him. And it takes your 24:57 selfishness away. Some people say well I 24:59 don't wanna, you know I'll raise dogs, 25:02 I'll buy myself a poodle, because you a poodle 25:05 will just sit in your lap and just love you and 25:08 you could do no wrong and a child won't do 25:12 that. But a child will love you sometimes, 25:17 other sometimes it will appear that they don't. 25:20 But I got to thinking about it Kathy I thought 25:23 I don't wanna be remembered. Now we 25:25 used to raise poodles by the way. 25:26 I don't wanna be remembered as a person 25:29 who raises poodles and I wanna be remembered. 25:32 For something better. As a father and as a 25:35 grandfather and as husband and though I'm 25:40 sure that God could create poodles in heaven 25:42 you know I can get my poodle there. 25:44 I can't take my poodle, but I have to take, 25:49 I have to take my children. You want to 25:50 take them. Well there is no other way to get 25:52 my children there. In another words you 25:54 can't buy children in heaven. God might bring 25:57 your poodle. He won't bring me a child. 25:59 It's the ones we have here and that's why I 26:03 prayed that day and I didn't mean to be 26:06 sacrilegious or disrespectful. I prayed 26:11 Lord, keep your mansion, you can even keep 26:14 your crowns, I don't need crowns and you know 26:17 and I'm not sure I need a mansion, 26:19 but please Lord. Save my children. 26:21 Save my children. So we need to get rid 26:23 of anger if we're going to be affected. 26:26 We must, we've got to separate ourselves in 26:28 some way and not take it personally that, 26:30 that the Lord and by the way you know if 26:33 we have raised our children successfully then 26:36 we will take the credit. Right. We are saying 26:38 now if you want to raise it's me. 26:40 But I'm convinced going through what Betty 26:43 and I have gone through and even what 26:44 we're going through now, because there is 26:46 the broken home thing, it's really messing us. 26:48 Messing our children up and that is when my 26:51 children are saved, notice I didn't say if. 26:54 I had the hoped, well, when my children are 26:56 saved it's gonna be Jesus who saves them. 26:59 We need help. Yeah. Well before we close, 27:03 we need to have a prayer for the folks, oh yes. 27:06 Because and we're gonna talk about other 27:08 things. We're gonna talking about detachment is 27:11 that right. Oh yes, we will do that in our next 27:12 program. But our Jesus is our hope and 27:15 let's pray to him. Yes let's do it. 27:17 Heavenly Father, Lord, we're thankful that 27:19 you shared with us your creative power. 27:23 And that you let us have children, 27:25 but Lord it's different in having children and 27:27 having poodles, because poodles are so 27:31 committed and so loving and children aren't 27:33 always that way, but help us to be like you. 27:36 Always committed and always loving. 27:39 And we know that someday you've promised 27:43 to prepare a place for us, but we want to be 27:46 there with our children and so we commit our 27:48 children wherever they're at right now to you. 27:51 And we're thankful that you're our heavenly 27:52 parent and help us to be faithful as parents, 27:56 in Jesus name, amen. |
Revised 2014-12-17