Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - May/76

Contributor - Mrs. Henry Van Essen

Title - Untitled

Topic - Women

"You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. And you shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise." Det. 11 : 18, 19

May is a month of many events. First of all, its a lovely month. May is like a doorstep to summer. We are out again after the long winter - out in the open, planting and seeding - enjoying the trees, I dressed in springtime green.

The second Sunday in May is mother's day. To commemorate this day there's a poem, called "To his mother", and on May 27 we celebrate Ascension day, an almost forgotten day in this country. The theme for this May issue is: Home and Family.

It isn't an easy job, raising a family these days. We have to stand strong in nurturing our children along. It has been proven that the influence of the home is the greatest single factor in forming children's minds. Our most important relationship begins at home, and it is from there where we go. Everything we say, do or respond to, leaves a deep impression on the minds and lives of our children. Christ is the focal point shining through us to our children. At an early age we have our children vaccinated against diseases. We teach the dangers of hot and cold, the difference between red and blue. They must also be taught right from wrong, love from hate, trust from fear, concern from disinterest. They will watch us; they will listen to what and how we say things and they will be shaping their own ideas through the years, as a result of these home relationships.

How good to know that He is there to instruct us parents also to guide us in our teaching, but He wants us to come to Him and ask for guidance. Still, no matter how well we do, it is by God's grace and Spirit that growth will come about. How dependent we are on Him!

But what if a child does not follow in the ways of the Lord, even though we tried? In connection with this question I read a sermon preached by a pastor two weeks after three of his sons were drowned. Me admits, that for some time his thoughts only circled around that sudden end and the question "are they saved" if I knew, that they are saved! He said: "This is misleading, because I wanted to know that, which God is keeping unto, Himself. I was seeking peace in the knowledge that my children are safe, and not the peace that I can find in God only. Then the question came to me: are you willing to trust Your children to God? or do you have to be sure about their salvation first, before you give them into the Lords hand? Then I found peace, because God promised His endless grace when they were baptized and sealed into His covenant.

Yes, I could leave my children with Him."

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