I am honored and blessed to have Tim Fall writing for me today! Tim's blog is Just One Train Wreck After Another, where he writes about faith, family, books, and life as a Christian judge in California. Tim is known for his encouraging blog comments, and I hope you are as blessed by this post as I have been.
[My son K is 22 and recently graduated from UC Berkeley. My daughter J is 20 and a third year student at UC
How old were each of you when you first left the country on a missions trip? 9, 10? Something like that. We all traveled together to
And then you went overseas on your own mission trips. You still do.
K, you even went on one all by yourself without a missions team. Seriously,
J, those trips to western and eastern
So I said this was about what you have learned. Here goes:
You've learned how to take initiative: Mom and I never asked you to go on these trips, never even brought up going on overseas missions. You thought of it, you explored it and you figured out how to get it done. It may not have always happened the way you expected, but it happened. And you learned that God has some great plans for you, even better than your own.
Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the
Lord’s purpose that prevails. (Proverbs 19:21.)
So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10.)
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10.)
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your
own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him, and he will direct your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6.)
in all your ways submit to him, and he will direct your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6.)
When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my
heart’s delight, for I bear your name, Lord God Almighty. (Jeremiah 15:16.)
There's more of course, but I hope you've learned one more thing in particular. Mom and I are not only proud of you, but we are so pleased for you in your relationships with God and the people he has put in your lives. I told you when you were young and I'll tell you now:
K - you are my wonderful boy.
J - you are my wonderful girl.
And your wonderfulness has nothing to do with whether you've learned anything at all. Your wonderfulness has everything to do with the fact that you are blessings from God.
[For those reading this who aren't K & J, please know that your heavenly Father is even more pleased
with you than I am with my kids. He loves you eternally and without limit, and I hope that encourages your socks off.]
Tim is a California native who changed his major
three times, colleges four times, and took six years to get a Bachelor’s degree
in a subject he’s never been called on to use professionally. Married for over
25 years with two kids (one in college and one just graduated, woo-hoo!), his
family is constant evidence of God’s abundant blessings in his life. He and his
wife live in Northern California . Tim blogs here.
Jaimie, thank you for graciously and generously inviting me along to your site today. I hope this post is a blessing to you and those who read it.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Tim
As I've said, I'm SO glad to have you here today! Thank you for sharing this encouragement.
DeleteI just adore that they have traveled to hard places, especially Vietnam. I enjoyed reading this and love that they started working in missions early on. I regret not doing so, but my parents really didn't have much money at all and I didn't know about fundraising until I was in my early 20s and at that point I was away from God & His calling. This gives me a lot of hope for my own boys as I pray they will have loads of mission experiences.
ReplyDelete+Victoria+
Victoria, I have hope for your boys too, because they have parents who love God and want to serve him no matter where they are!
DeleteAwesome post. What could be better than reminding our kids of God's faithfulness in our lives, past/present/future.
ReplyDeleteGod's faithfulness is a wonderful reminder and such a comfort too, Jeannie.
DeleteI've learned a lot about encouragement from you over the past two years, Tim. Cool to see how it works out in your family.
ReplyDeleteThanks Nick. You've sure taught me a lot too, and I appreciate every word of yours I've read. It was fun blogging with you on your old blog The Radical Journey as well. That was such an encouragement when you asked me along.
ReplyDeleteTim, you have some amazing sounding kids, but reading your encouragement I can see part of the reason why. I really enjoyed this read.
ReplyDeleteLee
An A to Z Co-Host
Tossing It Out
Thank you so much, Arlee. As you can tell, I suppose, I really do think my kids are wonderful!
DeleteAbsolutely wonderful love letter to your children. A humble blessing!
ReplyDeleteHumble blessing is a great way to put it, Sarah. God has blessed me overwhelmingly in many ways, including the family he has given me to live in.
DeleteInteresting, it's been a good number of years since my DD was in college, and I don't remember any parent sending letters laying out what they expected or wanted them to do. I did write a letter once when my DD was at a church retreat, telling her why I loved her and how proud I was of her and the life she had chosen.
ReplyDeleteMaking my way through the road trip linky after the a-z challenge.
Oozing Out My EArs
I bet that letter was a blessing to you and to her both, Sandy.
DeleteTim
Tim, I love your words to your kids. And your idea to remind them what they've already learned rather than giving advice?
ReplyDeleteBrilliant. I'll be using that for sure.
Thanks for your encouragement, Emily. Feel free to steal anything here, with or without attribution!
DeleteThanks, Em. I bet you are already quite the encouraging Mom!
ReplyDeleteThis is so very true. I love everything about this post.
ReplyDelete