My Little Chick at Chick-fil-A

Maybe you have perfect children. I don’t. Maybe your children believe everything you say about God and have faith 100% of the time. Mine don’t. Can we be real with one another? This faith thing is a journey and our children will have questions and doubts along the way. That’s normal and, prayerfully, means they’re actually wrestling with their own beliefs so they’ll have conviction about who God is when they leave our homes.In my priority time recently, I was at the end of Deuteronomy where Moses is passing the baton to Joshua as he begins to lead Israel to the Promised Land. Moses knows he won’t be going on the journey and, like a father, gives final instructions,

And Moses commanded them, "At the end of every seven years, at the set time in the year of release, at the Feast of Booths, when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law, and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as you live in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess."(Deuteronomy 31:10-13)

Not only does Moses want to make sure that none of them forget God’s power, but he also wants all the little ones to hear. They were too small to know first hand what God did, so Moses wants to make sure they hear of God’s faithfulness and learn to fear the Lord.This may seem like a very Old Testament idea to appreciate, but as I reflected, this struck me as a very important practice to continue. As I journaled, I realized that God recently provided this opportunity for us.Annika’s fall break coincided with a trip that Chris was taking to Atlanta with some of our team. First on the agenda was to visit the Chick-fil-A where Chris had his priority time when God gave him direction to start Highpoint Church. At the time, Annika was about 5 months old in a pack-n-play at my sister’s house in Atlanta. Now, 16 years later, she would attend the video shoot and hear the story recounted umpteen times as they got footage from different angles. As she held up lighting equipment and patiently waited to get to the more exciting parts of the trip, her heart was hearing how God had been faithful. Not only was she able to hear the story, but she was also able to see how God has fulfilled His word over the last 16 years. My prayer is that when her faith is shaken and when she can’t see other prayers being immediately answered, the Lord will gently remind her of examples of His faithfulness so she’ll learn to fear the Lord.I want to encourage you to take the time to recount how God has been faithful in your life. As Moses instructed, gather people around you – especially the little ones – and be reminded of how God has protected, encouraged, provided, and directed you. Whether you see it in the moment or not, you never know how your willingness to speak of God’s faithfulness in your life will allow someone else to learn to fear the Mighty God we serve.