“Five second rule!”

I grew up hearing that in my school and among friends as they scooped up some delicious morsel of food they dropped to the floor, and have done it repeatedly myself! The rule didn’t apply to foods we disliked, of course, and it generally didn’t apply to nutritious foods our parents expected us to finish (those morsels were simply destined for the trash). Raising my three sons, this was more like the five-minute rule. If the dog or someone’s shoe didn’t reach it first, it was still edible. It was just another way to strengthen the immune system, in my view! Of course, I say this in jest, but the struggle for us parents is real. Like so many mothers, I decided that my children were going to grow up eating nutritious, homemade foods that were vitamin packed, and I would not give in to their picky tendencies. Although some of this remained true, there were many times I gave in, because I quickly learned in my journey of motherhood that one must pick her battles carefully.

With Christmas around the corner, as we’re celebrating Advent, we read about someone named John in the Bible. He was called a “voice in the wilderness”, because he had the unique and incredible task of announcing the arrival of Jesus. However, he was not royalty or part of a noble family who we’d expect to be tasked with such a significant role in the scheme of history. In fact, he was quite a rugged man, someone we’d consider an ‘off-the-grid’ kind of guy who “…had a camel-hair garment with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.” With that kind of lifestyle, I imagine he probably ate other things as well that we’d be repulsed by. I had to wonder if his mother ever admonished him for putting things in his mouth that she found revolting..

I can say, with some level of experience now having raised three sons to adulthood, that what we feed our children is of absolute importance. Yes, feeding them fresh fruits and vegetables is important. Not giving in to unhealthy routines is key to building a healthy body and strong immune system. Feeding, however, is not limited to food. In fact, let’s face it, if we just wanted to keep our children alive, it wouldn’t require food of any major nutritional value. Low quality food products that provide calories and sustenance (but fail to edify the body) could suffice. So as important as food is, in the scheme of things, it’s really rather insignificant, no matter how high we elevate it (and, for the record, I’m a firm believer that nutritional food is, in fact, very important). However, there’s something we need to feed our children that is of far higher significance.

I’ve said around a few conversations lately, that if we (parents, grandparents) truly believed in the existence of Heaven and Hell, we would raise our children differently. We never waiver to warn our children of the dangers posed by our kitchen stove, drinking toxic liquids, the danger of crossing the road by themselves, and on and on. Why? Because we know the danger is real. We know that those decisions pose life-or-death consequences. What about what we believe about our children’s faith? If you’re a Christian, are you just one because it makes you feel “safe”, as in, it’s just the proverbial fire insurance from the pits of Hell? On the other hand, if you believe Christianity is a hoax, do you believe it strongly enough that you’d be able to demonstrate exactly why you believe it is that? And that if your child becomes ill to the point of nearing death, can you assure them that there’s absolutely nothing on the other side? Is the depth of what you believe as deep as the importance of feeding them their vegetables and sanitary food?

I’ve heard parents my entire life who are on both sides of this aisle. I recall being with a family friend when I was no more than 12 years old who warned me against my family’s Christian faith, and as recently as a few weeks ago when parents said they couldn’t “force” their views on their children. While this is true, it is ultimately their decision, is your conscience clear that you’ve done all you can to ensure they will consider it seriously?

For the record, I don’t believe I’ve done all I can, or all “we” can, as parents. There’s always more we could have done. We try, we fail. They try, they fail. We hurt, they hurt. When I see my sons struggle with something, I immediately fall into the trap of blaming myself, for not saying the right things, not teaching them well enough, not being a good enough example. However, one thing I can say with absolute confidence. We exposed them to what we know to be the best thing in the world, and yes, to ultimately let them make their own decision, because we do believe John 11:25 where Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live.”

I do understand, however, that parents have their own struggles with matters of faith, God, Jesus. Ultimately, it’s impossible to teach our children to believe something we don’t believe in ourselves. That needs to be corrected first. There’s no trick to this. The Bible says, “…call to Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you – this is the Lord’s declaration.” (Jeremiah 29:12-14) He doesn’t hide from us. He yearns that we turn our hearts to an attitude of seeking Him…and He will meet us there. Those that struggle with us Christians being bad examples, well, I’ve failed myself so many times in my life that it’s embarrassing. However, my favorite analogy is that if you want to purchase your favorite new car at a dealership and the salesperson is awful, sexist, or rude, you’d never blame the vehicle for being unworthy. You’d simply go to a different salesperson or dealership because they just represented the dealership and themselves poorly. However, their behavior did nothing to diminish the product. We do often represent God poorly. However, that doesn’t diminish who He is.

So for those of us who are followers of Jesus Christ, do we truly believe that Hell is a real place? Do we think it’s as real as the hot water boiling on the stovetop? Or is it a concept that we don’t really trust either, so it’s not worth scaring our children with. I’m suggesting that for many parents, it’s the latter. I also suggest that the importance of what we put into our children’s hearts and minds is far more important than the occasional unsanitary or unappealing food that goes into their bodies. Let’s face it, statistically speaking, none of us is getting out of here alive (physically). But Jesus said, “I came that they may have life, and have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10) If we believe that, our children will know it.