The Way You Raise Them

Last night (Wednesday) our student group at BBC had a baptism service in the new Connection Center auditorium. The building isn’t finished yet so they used the protable baptistry on the concrete floor.

The cool thing about this baptism is that it was an answer to one of my prayers because Andrew Case, one of Matt’s friends for almost 3 years now, was baptized. Andrew accepted Christ during the fall retreat in November.

You worry about how you’re raising your kids. Being that there’s no manual for it and that they’re different from each other, you wonder if you’re doing it right. One of my prayers, as a father of boys, is that my boy’s positive influence would be stronger than the negative influences that are around them. As Andrew spent more time with us going to church and hanging out at our house, I prayed that he would eventually see how graceful and loving our God is. He did.

I thank God for Matt (my son) and David (our oldest) for the positive influence they have been on Andrew. I lift Matt up especially because he and Andrew are pretty tight. God used him and the “quantity” time they spend together as way to see Him clearer. I thank God for Debo (my wife), who along with me has treated Andrew like our third son. I thank God for Linc Taylor and Chris Blanton (our student ministers) for the way they are used by God to do what they do on a daily basis. I think God of Jared Burke for they way God used him at that moment to share with Andrew how much God loves him and how He is the only way.