{"id":425,"date":"2011-06-01T23:51:26","date_gmt":"2011-06-01T23:51:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jolene-test.com.bishopcompsol.com\/?p=425"},"modified":"2011-06-01T23:51:26","modified_gmt":"2011-06-01T23:51:26","slug":"no-matter-what-forever-and-always-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jolenephilo.com\/staging\/no-matter-what-forever-and-always-2\/","title":{"rendered":"No Matter What, Forever and Always"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

Love bears all things, believes all things,<\/em>
\nhopes all things,endures all things. <\/em>
\nLove never fails.<\/em>
\n1 Corinthians 13:7-8<\/em><\/p>\n

The \u201cif onlys\u201d can get to a person, and they almost got to me the Sunday our youth pastor taught about how parents can help their children discover God. As he explained misconceptions to avoid and understandings parents should develop, I caught myself thinking, \u201cIf only we\u2019d known this when our kids were young.\u201d\u00a0 And when he got to the four application points –<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Help kids recognize sin and their need for Christ to overcome it.<\/li>\n
  2. Pray for God\u2019s grace in their lives.<\/li>\n
  3. Model your faith.<\/li>\n
  4. Look for signs of true transformation.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    – well, it was all I could do to not \u201cif only\u201d away the rest of the day.<\/p>\n

    But, what\u2019s past is past, and all the \u201cif onlying\u201d in the world won\u2019t change how we parented our kids. So I pushed away the \u201cif onlies\u201d and concentrated on a different thought: Did our years as parents yield other application points to pass along to help other parents right now?<\/p>\n

    Lo and behold, the answer was yes. This point is known to parents who faithfully followed numbers 1 – 4, but whose children haven\u2019t yet embraced God\u2019s grace –<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Love your child no matter what. Forever and always.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      My commitment to this step was tested when our son moved across country, converted to a denomination foreign to us, and later entered the seclusion of a monastery.<\/p>\n

      \u201cBut they\u2019ll only let us call him once a month, and we can only see him once a year,\u201d I wailed to a wise man who didn\u2019t use our son\u2019s choices to judge our parenting success. \u201cAnd he never gets to come visit us. What kind of relationship is that?\u201d<\/p>\n

      \u201cIt\u2019s the only one you\u2019ve got,\u201d answered our senior pastor, the master of practicality. \u201cAnd you nurture it by calling once a month and visiting once a year.\u201d<\/p>\n

      Following that advice, we loved our son. No matter what. Forever and always. One phone call a month. One visit a year. We also prayed for God\u2019s grace in his life. We modeled our faith. We looked for signs of true transformation. After six long years, God worked a miracle and our relationship with our son was fully restored.<\/p>\n

      But not every family\u2019s story has a happy ending. Some children remain estranged. Parents blame themselves for their kids\u2019 choices. Though they parented well and faithfully, they feel like failures. Hurt piles upon hurt. And still, they are called to love their children. No matter what. Forever and always.<\/p>\n

      Impossible, but for this truth. Christ died for sinners. And he would have done so had all mankind rejected him and refused his grace. Because a man\u2019s choice is not God\u2019s failure. God\u2019s love remains. His promises wait for sinners until their last breath.<\/p>\n

      He is a parent who loves his children. By his example, we can love our children. No matter what. Forever and always. Until our last breath.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things,endures all things. Love never fails. 1 Corinthians 13:7-8 The \u201cif onlys\u201d can get to a person, and they almost got to me the Sunday our youth pastor taught about how parents can help their children discover God. As he explained misconceptions to avoid and understandings […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[15],"class_list":["post-425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-church-newsletter-column","tag-1-corinthians-137-8"],"yoast_head":"\nNo Matter What, Forever and Always - Jolene Philo Staging<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"No Matter What, Forever and Always - Jolene Philo Staging\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things,endures all things. 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