My oldest is now 9 years old. One year away from the double digits. Having survived his birthday weekend, his mommy and I are more aware than ever of the extreme need to prepare him to make the decision to devote his life to Jesus. Having been witness to some of his school friends and talking with neighborhood parents, it’s clear that media and peer pressure are becoming more and more threatening to children’s faith.
While Jaden is very difficult to shop for (his only two loves are rare video games and Star Wars Stormtroopers), he is extremely grateful for any gift he receives. When opening presents, he smiled and gave very heartfelt thank yous to everyone… even though he still has not touched any of them in the three days since his party. Still, the lure of his games and the few friends he shares them with are very tender issues to him. For example, when told that a certain child would not be wise to invite due to that child’s extreme potty-mouth, Jaden could simply not understand.
This weekend has shown us that Jaden’s main stumbling blocks towards becoming a Christian might not be his material possessions or time or money, but rather the reasons he chooses his friends. If this is true, it’s even more critical to encourage him to have other pastimes besides blasting Stormtroopers so that he will have more in common with his church friends.
Still… all in all, he had a great time this weekend and was VERY encouraged by all his friends and family members.
