09 November 2011

Wednesday, November 09, 2011 - 6 comments

{God Is}...Rooting

For though I am absent from you in body, 
I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how disciplined you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.

  So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
~Colossians 2:6-7

My counsel for you is simple and straightforward: Just go ahead with what you've been given. You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live him. You're deeply rooted in him. You're well constructed upon him. You know your way around the faith. Now do what you've been taught. School's out; quit studying the subject and start living it! And let your living spill over into thanksgiving.
~The Message - Colossians 2:6-7

I love this picture.  I love this scripture.  I love this young man!  
For several years our boy struggled to fit in.  That period between elementary school and high school is such a challenge not only for the child but also for the parents.  We as parents want to let our children begin to spread their wings and learn to fly on their own.  We watch helplessly sometimes to see them fall or be knocked down.  For me I couldn't stand to see the turmoil my son was going through and then watch him choose a path that wasn't healthy.  Immediately I stopped giving him multiple choices and only offered one.  

God.

The fight was a good one for many, many, many months.  I cried a lot.  He hated me...a lot.  I didn't know what I was doing, let alone know God well enough to tell my child that was his only choice now.  He wanted nothing to do with God and everything to do with what was now.  We dropped him off at youth group meetings only to have him beg not to go back.  I took him to church with me watched him practically fall asleep on my shoulder.  But he had no other choice or offers and he knew the path he was on wasn't going anywhere....he was watching his friends languish in their lives and he was beginning to see things anew for the first time.

Soon he was begging to go to youth group, to church, to activities with new friends and doing a bible study with some amazing mentors.  Life began to change...not only for him but for me as a person.  I was watching my child change and become rooted in God.  In his faith.  Then this last summer he took the leap of love and accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior.  He came home from a busy summer and shared it all with us.  He glowed.  He seemed rooted.  Solidly rooted.  He then told us that he threw his iPhone into a pond while at camp...he said that it was the last thing blocking his relationship with God.  I blanched.  Not because of it's loss but because he was right...we've become so used to looking down at what is in our hands and not up at what is blessing us.

Our boy has shown us in so many ways the rooting love of God.  He has taught me SO much and has guided me in my own relationship with the Lord.  He doesn't judge.  He doesn't regret.  He is only looking forward now and follows a new friend, The One who loves him for all that he is and all that he isn't and knowing that fills our son completely.

God is rooting.  
Rooting in love.  
Rooting in grace.
Rooted.

6 comments:

I so understand what you are saying here! I am so happy that your boy found his way and that my boys did too. God Bless your wonderful young man.

beautiful post. beautiful mom and son. Can't wait until next Wednesday.

lea
xo

This is beautiful.

LOVE this. What a beautiful story. What a wonderful young man and a devoted mommy. You are a blessing.

~Sis
http://adoption-thecrookedroad.blogspot.com

Kayce, you are such a good mom for shoving J down that path! So many other parents would have given in and given up. With his roots, he now has wings.

Throwing the iPhone in the lake was an awesome thing to do! What commitment!!! :)