Under Construction

As I think about growing up in Salem I can hardly gloss over some of the challenges but can't forget the great times either. From fishing at Montauk with my buddies to getting into fights at the Junior High. These things were all apart of me growing up. The Bible in 1 Samuel 2:21 says "the boy, Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord." Growing up comes natural but growing up in "the presence of the Lord" comes by intention. Of course outside of the soverignty of God do I say this but a parent must look to the architect and follow the drawings that have been given. The scriptures teach us in Ps 127:1 "Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain." Dads we must be very intentional in following the drawings or the plans that the architect has given us for the building of young lives. Why? So that "Christ is formed" in the lives of our children and they grow up in the "presence of God" in our homes. What plans and from what architect are we following in the raising of our children? They are a gift from God, Ps.127:3 says, and are like "arrows" that have to be pointed in the right direction by dads and moms so they will hit the target. Growing up isn't easy but we survived and even the books on our heads couln't stop us from growing. Growing up "in the presence of God" is not something that just happens, it again happens as we are intentional in the raising of our kids.