All children are our children: Introducing Ryan

        On Sunday Caz continued the series in Deuteronomy and talked about how we are called to pass down our faith through generations.  Deuteronomy 6:20 it says “⁰“When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What do the testimonies and the statutes and the judgments mean which the Lord our God commanded you?’ (NASB)  When our children ask questions like this, we are to respond by telling stories.

            Earlier in the chapter it talked about how we need to teach our children continuously “when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up” (Deuteronomy 6:7). This is about telling our stories to our kids. Those of you who were not there missed a tender moment when Caz brought his youngest child Auggie up as a visual reminder:

 

All children are God’s children. All children are our own children, and we need to tell them our stories. We need to tell them about how God has saved His people through the ages and how He has worked in our own lives. Caz said that we pass down faith through generations by being persistent (showing up!) and fighting for the hearts of our kids. I am about to witness a powerful example of this in my own family. After visiting from Ohio for Christmas, my brother Ryan decided to move to Austin to be more of a part of my daughters’ lives.  Not only is that a great testament to our parents passing down faith to us,  (I don't know many 25 year olds who have such a godly perspective) Ryan will be part of passing faith down to my daughters. He can tell them how God kept him safe in a car accident that totaled his car. He can tell them how God called him to Austin through a dream, 15 years after I was a called to Austin in a dream.

            Aside from the incredible blessing to my family, Ryan is being an example of passing down faith. God is calling all of us to do this, whether we uproot ourselves or not. We must actively teach our kids about our great God, at church and at home. In the morning and the evening! We are already blessed to be a church overrun with children. What a profound impact our children will be to the world if we take on this calling.

            Beth Kropf