I always try to find a title to my posts before I write them. Given the subject matter and the fact that my little boy, John, isn’t so little, I was hesitant, but it just wasn’t going away. So…
It is interesting to watch the different paths my children have taken in different areas of their lives. Christopher was the academic in school… still is. His gifts are in his mind with a smattering of athletic tendencies. He’s pretty introverted except when his passions are concerned… or bad drivers. Taylor wasn’t extremely academically inclined, but held her own… very smart, nevertheless. A little more athletically inclined, sometimes recklessly extroverted, but not about everything. When her passions are concerned, she is smartly measured, but just as extroverted.
John, my little boy, has been watching his older siblings for years. There are five years are between him and Christopher and one year between him and Taylor. Less academically inclined than Christopher, but more than Taylor. The most athletically inclined of all three. Historically, everything he has done has appeared measured… careful… as far as I know, anyway. I see it as him having learned from his siblings mistakes and tendencies. That being said, I believe he is the most passionate of the three children… about whatever he may be thinking about at the time.
Many years ago, John made a profession of faith and was baptized. In my Christian life, I have seen many people renew their commitment to God. Given the life John has led, I have no reason to believe that he wasn’t truly saved many years ago. However, faith and salvation isn’t about what dad believes, but about what the person believes. Faith and salvation are part of a small group of things, in this life, that simply cannot be reconciled by anyone except the affected and God.
During high school, I believe I was saved. I had an experience that, in retrospect, cemented my belief in God. I didn’t learn the logistics of salvation until years later when I was 22 years old. It was then that I made my profession of faith and was baptized. I wonder if my parents worried about my salvation. I wonder if they were ever afraid that I wouldn’t end up in Heaven. I haven’t been worried about that, for my kids, for some time. Perhaps I should have been. However, whether or not I was worried doesn’t really matter. What does matter is their personal relationship with God.
I want to formally mark January 15, 2018, on this blog, as the day that John was born again. His life is now in the loving hands of God and I could not be more proud.