Here’s an encouraging thing Becky and I have noticed:
Early on in parenting, we realised that our children were going to get invited to birthday parties on Sundays. So, we decided that we’d say “no”, because, even if it didn’t clash with church, it wasn’t the best use of the day.
We expected our children would get upset with us for not letting them go. We anticipated times when ‘everyone else was going’ and we’d be seen as strange and mean.
Instead, what’s happened so far is this: our children’s friends tell their parents to arrange their parties for Saturdays because they know our children won’t be able to come otherwise! This has happened many times, for each of our children.
Most recently, Becky heard our daughters’ tap dance teacher telling another parent that she couldn’t organise the end-of-year tap show on a Sunday because there were some Christians who have church on Sundays! She later asked Becky if that was correct, which gave her a chance to talk about the lordship of Christ.
God hasn’t promised that if we’re principled, everyone will work around us, but he does say: “those who honour me, I will honour” (1 Sam 2:30). We didn’t know that saying “no” to birthday parties would mean others would adjust what they did, but in God’s kindness, that’s what’s happened.
I hope that encourages you when you have to make decisions that don’t look like they’ll play out well, but are based on the principles of God’s word.
