It has been a very challenging six or seven months. My youngest son Matthew at 14 yrs old has gone from 5’9”, to 5’11” to 6’1” passing me in height by an inch. And he ain’t done growing yet. He is the first of my five children to grow taller than I. My whole “macho mojo” is in complete flux! I can’t stand it. Of course my wife finds humor in my frustration.
What I do realize is all children go through growth spurts. In fact, Matteo, (the Italian translation for Matthew) has also had a far more meaningful growth in his life over a similar time span. He finished his Confirmation Class the Sunday before Resurrection Sunday. Matteo accepted Christ as His savior and it shows in his daily life.
Matteo spent Sept 2009 through April 2010 attending weekly Sunday classes with a group of youth. Lead by our youth Pastor each of the youth were more fully introduced to a living relationship with Christ. They spent time learning and studying scripture. They discovered other denominations of Christianity visiting other churches. The pastor had them spend time in role play examining the many different obstacles they may face in their Christian walk.
This weekend Matteo and over 200 other youth from the greater Atlanta community spent Fri. and Sat. attending a Youth Explosion event themed “Boosting Our Worship”. The youth spent six hours on Sat. only attending workshops. The workshops covered Health and Wellness, Enhanced Diet, Financial Planning as well as Preparing for College. Each session had a spiritual focus designed to engage the youth through their individual walk through life keeping Christ at their side.
So as parents or mentors of children we must be prepared for the growth of our children and youth. They and we will experience their growth in size and proportions just like my son Matteo. However, we have a responsibility to help them grow in Christ, knowing He is always with them especially when we aren’t. My son is safe in Christ’s hands. Let’s all go be disciples and reach out to as many youth as we can!
Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Matt 28:19
See you next Sunday.
MJ