Uphill both ways, barefoot, and in a blizzard! How else do you think I made it to and from school each day? Maybe your children or grandchildren have heard the same story about you. It’s always enjoyable sharing a story, or a “when I was your age” moment with our kids. My boy Luke is currently five and a half years old and LOVES video games whenever and wherever he gets a chance to play them. “Now-a-days” kids have endless opportunities to much more technologically advanced and quality video games. You can play more advanced games on a handheld device today than you could’ve when I was Luke’s age on a gaming system the size of Texas. Recently, I pulled out my Nintendo 64 and some of the gaming cartridges that were original to when I was gifted them over 27 years ago! I could recall the story so vividly… It took place “waaaaay back IN THE 1900s” as my kids would exclaim. It was my 5th birthday, and I never could’ve imagined the gift I was going to receive. My parents told me to “go look in my locker”, we had these plastic storage lockers for toys in our rooms and mine was branded with the Miami Dolphins team colors. When I opened the locker, to my surprise, a brand-new Nintendo 64 gaming system was in there. It wasn’t just a gift for me, but for the whole family! As I showed my kids the gaming system and told them the story of receiving it, they were intrigued and had so many questions and comments! They scoffed at the fact that each game cartridge only had ONE game on it. They were shocked at how bad and clunky the graphics on the screen were. They were appalled by the fact that the controllers had to be plugged in! When I told them you sometimes had to blow on the games to get them to work right, they looked at me like I was crazy! Nevertheless, I had a fun time telling them, and they thoroughly enjoyed the experience of being shown and playing on such an ancient device…not because it was better than theirs, but because that’s what dad played with.
The past is important, sometimes fun and exciting to share about, and often times our children (or grandchildren) are thrilled to hear about whatever it is we have to say about something from our past lives. In some ways, what happened in the past is just as much a part of them as it is a part of you and I. Take video games for example, I appreciate playing games with my kids from time to time because I remember just how fun it was beating my parents in a game as a kid. Although, I am admittedly a bit of a sore loser when my kids beat me, but I digress.
Sharing “stories” from the past with our children is more important than we think. The stories about what God has done in our lives needs to be shared with our children and grandchildren. It helps to give them an honest perspective on life and their own journey of faith. It’s important for our kids to know that we have failed, but that God’s grace is greater than our failures. For our kids to know that we are broken sinners who know they need the saving work of Jesus, has huge implications in their lives. The Passover Ceremony celebrated for hundreds of years was one that seared the importance of what God had done into the hearts and minds of the next generation. God rescued Israel from 400 years in slavery and passed over the homes protected by the blood of the lamb.
Your story and my story can have a generational impact! A huge part of my story is my mother’s story! I would’ve never gone to church, been in Sunday school, or been impacted by a challenging youth ministry if it was for the influence of my mother. For those things would’ve never been a part of my life if it wasn’t for God saving my mom! The story of what God has done in my life is intrinsically related to what God has done in my moms’ life. Of course, there may be parts of your story that are too old for your children to hear right now, but you can always be showing and sharing bits and pieces of what God has done and is doing in your life! So, parents, grandparents, and even great grandparents…go ahead, tell some stories, God brought you through them for a reason, and it’s nothing short of a miracle!
The past is important, sometimes fun and exciting to share about, and often times our children (or grandchildren) are thrilled to hear about whatever it is we have to say about something from our past lives. In some ways, what happened in the past is just as much a part of them as it is a part of you and I. Take video games for example, I appreciate playing games with my kids from time to time because I remember just how fun it was beating my parents in a game as a kid. Although, I am admittedly a bit of a sore loser when my kids beat me, but I digress.
Sharing “stories” from the past with our children is more important than we think. The stories about what God has done in our lives needs to be shared with our children and grandchildren. It helps to give them an honest perspective on life and their own journey of faith. It’s important for our kids to know that we have failed, but that God’s grace is greater than our failures. For our kids to know that we are broken sinners who know they need the saving work of Jesus, has huge implications in their lives. The Passover Ceremony celebrated for hundreds of years was one that seared the importance of what God had done into the hearts and minds of the next generation. God rescued Israel from 400 years in slavery and passed over the homes protected by the blood of the lamb.
Your story and my story can have a generational impact! A huge part of my story is my mother’s story! I would’ve never gone to church, been in Sunday school, or been impacted by a challenging youth ministry if it was for the influence of my mother. For those things would’ve never been a part of my life if it wasn’t for God saving my mom! The story of what God has done in my life is intrinsically related to what God has done in my moms’ life. Of course, there may be parts of your story that are too old for your children to hear right now, but you can always be showing and sharing bits and pieces of what God has done and is doing in your life! So, parents, grandparents, and even great grandparents…go ahead, tell some stories, God brought you through them for a reason, and it’s nothing short of a miracle!