How to Raise Kids Who Don't Walk Away from Jesus, with Elizabeth Urbanowicz and Laura Booz

Young people are walking away from the church in droves. How are parents to respond? Guests Elizabeth Urbanowicz and Laura Booz share practical ways parents can help their kids embrace truth and apply it to challenging situations in their lives. 

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Episode Notes

"A Prayer Meeting That Lasted 100 Years" article

Foundation Worldview website 

"A Mom's Impact Through Prayer" video

Register for True Woman ’22

True Woman ’22 Teen Track 

Songs for Saplings 

Seeds Family Worship

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Portia Collins: 66% That is a number that you need to know this morning. I'm Portia Collins and this is Grounded.

Erin Davis: Uh oh, starting with numbers on a Monday morning. That's a little bit of a stretch for me. I'm Erin Davis, and we are here every Monday with a singular mission. We want to give you hope and perspective. And that means that often we have to share the bad news before we get to the good stuff. 

So, here's that bad news: 66% of American young adults (now this isn't necessarily reflective of the world, but 66% of American young adults) who were regular church attenders in their teen years drop out of the church between the ages of 18 and 22.

Portia: I cannot imagine

Erin: I know, it makes my stomach hurt. 

Portia: It does. I can imagine because when I think about my wayward years between 18 and 22 . . . 

Erin: You boomeranged.

Portia: I did. I did. 

Well, I know you come to Grounded so that we can fill your tank, but I'm gonna give you some homework this morning. 

Erin: Alright, teacher P. 

Portia: I'm ready. I want you to write down the names of five young people who you went to church with or you go to church with now. You can write them down on a piece of paper, or you can think of them in your mind. But I want you to give five people okay, you can even put these in the chat if you feel comfortable. Erin, do you got names? Anything coming to mind?

Erin: This is going to be easy for me because every day I drive the boymobile—that's our big van—to the middle school. I pick up my son's Eli and Noble (one a teenager, one just a few months shy of that teenage word). There's two, but I also pick up Lily who's an eighth grader and Landry who's a sixth grader, and Brock who's another sixth grader. 

So, in my vehicle every single day, I’ve got five young people that I don't ever want to see walk away. I pray for them as we go. They don't know that's my Sunday school classroom. I'm praying about it the whole time. But that does make my stomach hurt to think of any of them being outside of the church.

Portia: Yeah, same, same, same. Well, now you’ve got the five picture, now picture three of those people . . . This really makes it real y'all. Picture three of those young people dropping out of the church, sometimes for forever. 

Erin: Can't do it. 

Portia: Yeah, I'm thinking about my five, and I would be devastated. Hurt.

Erin: I don't want to see it happen. So, we hope you're wide awake now. We hope you are awake to the problem again, let me repeat it. 66% of American young people who are active in church in their teen years drop out and their young adult years, some might boomerang back, but some don't. 

So, I hope you're ready for a really challenging but also a hope-filled episode of Grounded, because that's what we do around here. Elizabeth Urbanowicz is here, and she says this, “It is possible to raise kids who don't walk away from Jesus. Laura Booz is also here. She's gonna help us get practical with that. It's lots of good news, so you might want to take notes. How do we raise kids who don't walk away from the Lord? 

Portia: I am ready. 

Erin: Me, too.

Portia: Okay. I'm rubbing my hands together because I got a little one. 

Erin: Give it to me, give it to me. 

Portia: But first, we've got some good news. I am ready to share it.

So, have you ever been to a prayer service that lasted an hour? How about one that lasted a day? Well, what about a prayer service that lasted 100 years? Okay, yes, it happened. I know you guys think I'm crazy, but just keep tracking with me, alright? 

It happened in Germany. And here's the backstory. We just crossed the 295th anniversary of the Moravian revival. One morning in 1727. God's Spirit moved powerfully in a little church. And the people who were there could hardly describe what God was doing in their midst. 

Get this. They said that when they left the church, they hardly knew whether they belonged to the earth or had already gone to heaven. 

Now listen, that sounds like my kind of churchin’ okay. 

Well, two weeks later, because of that revival, they launched a 24-hour prayer ministry. And it started with 24 men and 24 women who committed to pray for one hour every day. Well, surprisingly, that group grew and grew and grew. And soon, the children were praying for an hour a day. And they kept praying every hour of every day, for 100 years. But guess what, there's more to this good news story. 

From that little praying village, more than 300 missionaries were sent out into the world. Now that's remarkable in itself. Because this particular congregation, it never exceeded 300 people so they were able to send out more missionaries to serve than they ever welcomed into their pews. 

And those missionaries went to the ends of the earth. While that group of men and women and children who had experienced revival, kept praying and praying and praying. 

Now, while, this is good news. It's also not exactly breaking news, but we wanted to share it with you today. It's clear, and it's a fact that young people are walking away from the church in droves. I get a little lump in my throat when I think about that. 

Now, we can respond to this in one of two ways. We can fret and we can throw our hands up and we can cross our fingers that the kids we love will be among the 34% who stay in church, or we can do the same thing like these people I just talked about. We can hit our knees and pray and keep praying and keep praying even for 100 years if we have to. God's Spirit can draw our kids to Jesus, just like these children's hearts were stirred. God can do the same. 

And you know, we think that’s some good news, we'll drop a link to this sweet story. Just in case you want to check it out and share it.

Erin: Oh man, I love that story, Portia. Here's a little-known fact about Erin Davis. I was once a high school history teacher. So, you combined history, which I love, with church history, which I love, with hope, which I love. So, the news story did great. Thank you. Yeah, great news. 

Well, it’s time for grounded with God's people, with Elizabeth Urbanowicz. She was a teacher, too. She was serving as an elementary teacher at a Christian school. And she had an epiphany. I'm so glad that she did. Because out of that, she became the founder of a ministry called Foundation Worldview. I'm gonna say it again, because moms, grandmas, neighbors, anybody who loves kids, this is an organization that I need you to have on your radar screen Foundation Worldview. What Elizabeth does is she teaches parents like me how to raise kids who don't walk away from Jesus. So, I'm excited for this conversation. Welcome to Grounded, Elizabeth.

Elizabeth Urbanowicz: Thank you so much for having me on today. Erin.

Erin: Love your lamp behind you by the way. 

Grounded is a diverse audience. So many are moms but many are not moms. There are some who are watching who are empty nesters. There are some women who just never got married or had kids, some women who are too young to even be starting a family yet. So, before we go down this trail, I want you to answer this question for me. Why is the fact that so many young people are walking away from the church? Why is that everybody's concern this morning?

Elizabeth: Well, because we have been called into the body of Christ. Jesus makes clear in the New Testament, from the way that He cares for his mom, that biological family is important. But He also makes clear when His mother and brothers come to Him, and He says, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” those who do the will of my Father, or my mother and my brothers. Jesus makes clear that the ties that bind us most closely are not those that actually have physical blood, but those of the blood of the Lamb. So we are a body of Christ. 

And so, we are responsible for all of the children that God has placed in our care. Whether those are our own biological children or adoptive children or foster children or grandchildren or nieces, nephews, or just those within the body of Christ. Those are our responsibility.

Erin: I love that. I thought if I was Jesus's mom and I heard him say that, I would have been like, “I am your mama, boy.” But Jesus was making an important point that I love, that I hope the kids in my church see me moving towards them, wrapping my arms around them, loving on them, even if they aren't my biological boys. 

Well, tell us a story. You were teaching at a Christian school and you had a realization about your students. What was that realization?

Elizabeth: The realization is that even though they came from wonderful Bible-based Christian homes, I was giving them a biblically-based education all day long, they were fairly involved in a local body of Christ, they were still rapidly absorbing ideas from culture. 

And what I realized is that the Word of God is very clear that God is unchanging—praise God that He is unchanging. His Word is unchanging, it remains true forever. But what is changing is culture. And you know, the kids that God has placed in our care today, because of the prevalence of screens and the Internet, which is not always a bad thing. But because of the prevalence of those things. In one year of their life, they will be faced with more competing ideas than most people throughout human history have been faced with in their entire lives. 

And so, the prep work that we need to do to help to equip them to understand that God's Word consistently lines up with reality, you know, it is the true worldview, the work that we have to do to help them understand that is different than the work we had to do to show that to kids, you know, 30, 40 years ago. So, we have to understand how the unchanging truth of God's word can be shown as unchanging in this ever-changing culture.

Erin: And that's good stuff. I've had a paradigm shift in my own parenting a couple years ago, it was Pride Month. And I even as few as five years ago, that was something I could just keep out of my kids’ line of sight if I worked hard at it. Now, it's not I mean, it's everywhere. No matter how hard I work, I can't deflect all of those messages. 

So, I've had to realize, yes, I do some sheltering of my kids as age appropriate. But I have had to shift gears into this equipping that you're talking about. Frankly, it's more effective and works. So, give us the basics. I think we as Christians, we use that word, worldview, but I'm not sure we necessarily know what it means. What is worldview education, and why do we need it?

Elizabeth: Yes, I love that you asked that question, because I think sometimes words such as worldview can just become buzzwords that become meaningless. 

Erin: Right.

Elizabeth: And so when I say the word worldview, I explain it to kids this way. A worldview is kind of like a mental map of what we believe is true about life and the world around us.

Erin: I love that definition. 

Elizabeth: It affects the thoughts, the words we say, the things we do, yeah, just to have that understanding of that. When we think of the biblical worldview, what we're talking about is not just one or two isolated verses. We're talking about when we look a topic that any worldview has to answer, how does the Bible as a whole answer this question like, for example, one of the main worldview topics that's front and center is what does it mean to be human? As we look at the biblical narrative as a whole, what does it teach about humanity? The first chapters of Genesis teach us that we are created in God's image, that a part of being made in God's image is being made distinctly male or distinctly female. 

And then, we're told our job is to steward creation, that we’re to rule and to reign over God's creation here on earth. But we don't do that perfectly. Why? Because of Genesis three, because of the fall. And then we look throughout the whole biblical narrative. And we see that God has this grand plan to redeem us that we're constantly going to be fighting against our flesh, because we're born with a sin nature, and we choose to sin every day. 

But God had this grand plan to redeem us by sending His Son. Once we are reconciled in our relationship to God, then we are freed to love God through doing good works through living as we're supposed to. 

And so, we think of how the entire biblical narrative speaks to humanity, that's just one example. So, when we talk about a biblical worldview, we're talking about all the big questions like, who is God? What is truth? How did life begin? What does it mean to be human? How can I tell right from wrong? You know, what is real? How do I do things? How does the Bible answer those questions as a whole?

Erin: I love that it wasn't timing you. It didn't take you long to walk through that really important piece of our worldview, which is that identity piece. We've talked some about this before on Grounded, catechizing our kids. This is an old-fashioned word. I think it's just intentionality. I want to steer the messages my children are hearing, instead of just feeling like a victim, like, “Oh, my goodness, the culture is so far gone. What can I do?”

Parenting is so hard. It's realizing, they're my kids. God's given them to me to steward, and I have responsibility.

I want to hear about your own family, because it seems like you grew up in a Christian home and didn't have that breakaway period. I hope that's right. What were some of the ways your parents really sewed that Christian worldview into you as you we're growing up?

Elizabeth: I talk about this frequently, because we're one of the few families that we know of where all the kids in our family are faithfully seeking and serving Jesus. I'm not currently married, but my brother and my sister are. They are married to believers, and they're raising their kids in Christian homes. 

And so, our parents did so many things. But they prioritized the right things. They prioritized God and His Word. Above all else, we knew that God's Word was the highest authority and that my parents prioritized the relationship with God above all else. 

After that, they got the rest of the priorities right as well. They prioritized their marriage. We always knew as kids that we were loved, but we weren't the center of the universe. And the reason for that is not because they were so madly in love with one another, which they do love one another deeply. It was because they knew that marriage is a picture of Christ and the Church. And if they were not investing in their marriage, they were not portraying that picture, you know, that Paul talks about in Ephesians 5 of Christ and the Church.

They also were intentional about making sure that we were involved in the local body of Christ. I think, especially for those who are watching and listening from the United States, we tend to have a very individualistic mindset. Like, it's me and my family and Jesus, and we can do this. The family is important. It's the basic building block of society. But Scripture is very clear that we're not independent of one another in Christ. So therefore, we're united with one another in a very real way. 

My parents just lived in a way where we just always knew that spiritual family was family because they practiced biblical hospitality. I think that's something that's so key in this very individualistic age. 

It really showed us the importance of the Church, which you mentioned pride month before. So many people in our culture are claiming alternate identities that are not true identities. But even sometimes people within the church might struggle with same-sex attraction or feeling like their biological sex doesn't match their inner feelings. 

If we're just sectioned off and little isolated family groups, people that experience those things are very much marginalized. Where if we're living as the family of God, they're welcome. Everyone is welcomed in. So those are two of the things that I think my parents did just very, very well, prioritizing the right things, God in His Word, above all. Their marriage came before us as kids, which actually benefited us in so many ways. Then really making sure that we were actively involved in the local body of Christ and knowing this is our family.

When we do that, we're giving our kids a true taste of eternity, because we're going to be with Jesus and united with one another for the rest of eternity. And so, I think those were just two things I'm so very grateful that my parents did in our home growing up.

Erin: I love that. There is a gravitational pull against that. My oldest are teenagers. So, I'm starting to experience the gravitational pull of activities of sports and other kinds of things we can do with our weekend. But we just have drawn a line ourselves. No, Sunday we go to church, if that means we have to miss a basketball game, if we have to sit on the bench because we missed a practice, then that's okay. That's the choice we've made. 

It hasn't always come easily. It hasn't always been well received by my boys. But that's just a line that we're just not going to cross. 

I can see that church membership, church attendance, being a part of a church family, is already bearing fruit in their little hearts. 

So, Jesus called us to be in the world but not of it. I'm not sure we have any idea what that looks like. What do you think that looks like practically? We can't just pull our kids out and put them in a little bubble, as much as we might like to. They are in the world, but they're supposed to be set apart? What's that look like practically in, say, an elementary school aged kids’ life?

Elizabeth: Yes, and I think the temptation for parents or for anybody raising children within the body of Christ, the temptation is one of two things. Either to shelter them so much so that we're putting them in a bubble and we're never exposing them to anything that is not of God, which, while we'd love to do that, that really leaves our kids very vulnerable. And then the other temptation is to say, “We'll just throw them in the deep end, and they'll eventually learn how to swim.” That leaves them vulnerable on both ends of the spectrum. 

And so, I would argue that the biblical view is very much in the middle of those two things. Yes, we are called to protect our children from certain things. There are certain things that they shouldn't be bearing at a young age. 

However, if we want to prepare them to faithfully follow Jesus in a secular culture and be a witness for Him, be a light for Him, they're actually entering into God's mission of reconciling the world to Himself. We need to make sure that we're exposing them to the ideas of the world. So that those ideas do not become tempting for them that they're not just mysterious and,”Oh, what's this? I've never heard of it.” So they're not just confused when they hear them. 

And so, I always like to give the example of hand sanitizer that when I first started teaching. I got very sick my first year like every first-year teacher does all the during your second-year teaching.

Erin: All the germs.

Elizabeth: Yes, yes, your second year of teaching, you're supposed to get sick a little bit less; third year, the charm, you're immune to everything. 

Well, my third year, I got sick so often. I was on eight rounds of antibiotics before Christmas break. I went to the doctor and said, “Okay, I need some help. Something is wrong.” 

He started asking me questions. And he said, “How often do you wash your hands?” 

I said, “Well, I teach in a mobile classroom. I don't have a sink. So I use hand sanitizer.” 

He said, “How many times?” 

I was like, “Probably, 50 plus times, like I'm a germaphobe.” 

And he was like, “Ding, ding, ding, ding, here's the problem. You know, washing your hands before you eat is a good thing, but when you use hand sanitizer all the time, you’re not only killing the germs, you’re killing the good bacteria on your hands. You're not allowing your body to get exposed to these viruses and bacteria in very small dosages. So then when you're exposed to them, your immune system has no immunity.” 

I stopped using hand sanitizer, just washed my hands before I ate, and I didn't get another sinus infection for five years. 

Erin: That’s crazy.

Elizabeth: I think it's the same way with our kids. When they're still within the safety of our homes and our schools and our churches, if we can expose them in very small dosages to the ideas of the world, we give them the skills that they need to carefully evaluate those ideas. Then they're going to be prepared when they see them in the world. When I started teaching the students in my classroom, just to recognize faulty ideas, like, follow your heart, we would actually talk through it.

Like, what might happen if we followed our hearts? One of the boys in my classroom raised his hand, “Miss Urbanowicz, I'm super confused. Like, what if my dad's heart tells him, I don't need any new toys, but my heart tells me I need a new video. What's going to happen?” 

I said, “Oh, so you mean our hearts are going to tell us different things.” 

Then it was so fun, because once I started teaching my students these alternate worldviews just in small dosages. Every time we do silent reading, there would be a line of students at my desk to come up and show me these false worldview ideas that they had found in books. And you know, over the weekend after they came in on Monday, they're like, “Oh, my goodness, Miss U, I saw this other worldview in this movie.” It was so exciting to expose them in small dosages and they're ready to understand the truth of the Christian worldview.

Erin: I love it. I think the first time I had to defend my faith at all was at a sophomore level philosophy class in college. I literally shook. I had never had to stand up to an alternate worldview. I didn't know how to do it. I didn't do it well, but I did do it. But my children now who are in middle school, they're having those conversations. We're doing that coaching in the car. It's like Deuteronomy 6 tells us, it's a constant conversation. I've seen the Lord produce fruit. 

Well, Elizabeth, I could talk to you for hours. I wish that you could just be my personal parenting coach. I could take you out to lunch once a week. But when you think of the future of the church, the numbers are scary. Where's your hope for the future of the church?

Elizabeth: Well, my hope is where I think the hope of every Christian lies: in Jesus Christ, that He's unchanging. He's always in the business of saving, and saving people in every generation. I think one thing that I think is so encouraging, when you even think about it, this podcast that we're doing. There are people watching and listening, showing that they love Jesus, and they care about the next generation. 

And so, I get so encouraged when I see women and men who are intentional about saying, “I'm going to live my life to faithfully follow Jesus, and I want to do everything that I can, so that the next generation will know the truth and the goodness and the beauty of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Erin: Yes, amen. I'm not responsible for 100% of the kids in church right now. I'm responsible for my four. And if the Lord were to woo and win the hearts of those four, and they were to faithfully follow Him all their lives, that would be such a victory for me. So, the problem can be big, but I think we can think small.

Tell us a little bit more about Foundation Worldview as we say goodbye. What's that organization doing right now?

Elizabeth: Our goal is to equip parents and ministry leaders and Christian educators with the tools that they need to get kids thinking critically and understanding the truth of the biblical worldview. We do that in a variety of ways. 

The main way that we do that is we create curriculum. We have comparative worldview curriculums. We have careful thinking curriculums. We have basic Bible study hermeneutics curriculums for kids. 

We do them all through video. So, we do all the teaching for you. So as long as you know how to press print and play, you are equipped to teach the kids in your care how to think well, and how to think biblically. 

We also host webinars. We have podcasts and blogs, just trying to equip in any way that we can, those working with children to get them to understand the truth of the biblical worldview.

Erin: Okay, I'm gonna send it to our children's pastor at church; it's coming for you. And I want you to tell the people you know about it. We can all hit print and play. I love that. So, we're gonna drop the link so you can find out more about Elizabeth and Foundation Worldview. Thanks again for being on Elizabeth.

Elizabeth: My pleasure. Thanks for having me on, Erin.

Erin: We'll have you back. Before you start setting up on apologetics or changing the conversation you have with your kids, there's another step that we all need to take first. I want you to watch this short clip, and afterwards Laura Booz is going to be with us. She's going to help us get grounded in God's Word. So don't go anywhere. Watch this clip.

Fern Nichols: Prayer really is the most important thing that a mom and a grandma, anyone in the kingdom of God can do because God Himself says it's important. And Jesus proves it's important by continuing to pray for us as He is in heaven. 24/7 He is praying for us. And He wants us to join Him in prayer so that we can release God's mighty right hand and the things that we pray for.

Passion for prayer grows as we grow in our relationship with the Lord. I was raised in a Christian home where my mom modeled prayer. She had us kneel by our beds before we went to bed at night. We prayed before every meal. There would be times before we left the driveway that she would pray for protection. What she was saying to this little girl at that time was there is a living God who hears our prayers, who cares about every single thing in our life. 

I believed that because it was modeled in such a way that the reality of Christ's presence was real in our family because of my mom. One of the hardest things for especially a mom to continue in fervent prayer for her child is when she sees no answer to prayer, or seemingly no answer to prayer. We've got to trust our heavenly Father, knowing that when we pray according to His will, according to His Word, that He is at work, even though we do not see. 

That's why Jesus reminds us so beautifully in Luke 18:1, don’t get faint hearted, don't stop praying. He wants to encourage us: I am at work. I will release my will in My timing, in My way. And you know what's interesting about that is I think that God keeps us in the waiting room, if I could say it that way. He wants to do some sweet things in the mom's heart and the grandma’s heart. He so desires to have His will done on earth as it is in heaven. But His Bride needs to pray.

Laura Booz: Well, another gift that God gives us for our children's sake is singing. Singing God's Word is powerful. It will bless you in the moment. And then the song will return to you just when you need it most. 

I could tell you about the incredible science of how God's design of music is the perfect mechanism for the human brain to process complex ideas, to remember, to meditate, to emote, even to feel unity with the people you're singing with. 

I could tell you that although a person may forget their own child's name, they will remember songs from the past. I could list verses encouraging us to sing to the Lord and to speak to one another in songs and hymns and spiritual songs. 

But this morning, I want to tell you a story about how one song of Scripture sustained me when I was a young mom with two little girls and I was pregnant with our third child. So, as you can imagine, I had Mom Brain. I was tired. I didn't have time to focus on Bible study. I never got through an entire church sermon. I wondered if I was even discipling my own little girls effectively. 

But one thing I could do when the children were playing or when we were driving in the car, I could turn on these little Scripture songs that we loved. It’s just music written with word for word verses from the Bible. 

Sometimes we would just listen. But often because they were so easy to sing, we would sing along. And then, of course, the songs will get stuck in our heads. There I'd be awake in the middle of the night with a song ever running through my mind. 

Now, these songs were great for my children. I loved hearing them sing along, but they were also a feast for me. They in the moment reminded me of God's character and His promises of His law in His grace of His will for my life and how He wanted me to treat other people. 

So, when I was short on time and short on energy and attention, those little Scripture songs were a feast to me. 

And one time one of the Scripture songs ministered to me in a very dark season. It was at our 20-week ultrasound appointment when we discovered that our third little baby had died. And in that moment that I heard the news, so many thoughts and emotions flooded my mind, shock and devastation. But there was one thought that was louder than all the others. And it was the song of Psalm 92:15 that I had sung in the kitchen with my little girls. He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.

That song just stuck in my head and it continued playing through my mind. From the moment that I heard that terrible news, through labor and delivery, through grieving and mourning, through weeks and weeks of readjusting life to life without Juliet. 

He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. 

Oh, how I needed those words. I was in the middle of one of the most intense storms of my life with big questions, big doubts, big sorrows, tossed and blown, the waves arching high. That simple melody thrummed the truth through my mind. God is my rock. The clinging to there is a place to gasp for air, there to heave my sorrows upon. I could throw my full weight on Him, and He would bear it. He would not slip away in the night and leave me to perish. 

The song reminded me that God is righteous though stillbirth felt so evil, so unrighteous. I clung to the truth that there is no unrighteousness in God. This helped me to see that Juliet did not die because God had a lapse in judgment. She didn't die because He was cruel or vindictive. God doesn't play games with our lives. He doesn't operate on superstition. He doesn't change. 

Instead, He is fettered by His own goodness and fully satisfied by Christ's death on the cross. He will never allow harm to befall me or my family unless He plans to redeem it for a good so glorious as to render past sorrows obsolete. 

And nothing, not even this tragedy, can snatch me from His hand. From that experience, I learned the power of singing His Word. Oh, how it was good in the moment in the kitchen when the sun was shining and we were dancing around, and how it came to minister to me when I needed it most.

You know, I cannot anticipate how God's true inerrant Word set to music, maybe through a sophisticated sweeping melody or a silly little children's tune, will nurture and sustain my children today and in the future, but I'm confident that it will. And I know that His Word and His song will sustain you and the young people that you love. 

So, sing Scripture, sing it to the Lord, sing it about the Lord in the middle of the night, sing it to your children, sing it with your children. And remember, you are held in the very capable hands of a heavenly Father who assures us of his love through singing. I'm going to leave you with the verses from Zephaniah 3:16 and 17. 

Fear not, O Zion;
let not your hands grow weak.
The LORD your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.

Back to you Portia.

Portia: Amen, amen. So, the entire time I caught a glimpse of myself on the camera. And I've been just over here smiling the entire time because I have been so encouraged by everything that you've taught us, and I can't wait to sing with Emi. So, thank you, Laura.

Laura: Oh, you’re so welcome Portia.

Portia: Well, before we send you into your week, we always want to equip you. And in case you didn't know, today is September 12. That means that True Woman ’22 starts in 10 days, woohoo. 

Well, we hope many of you are already registered. And if you're in Indianapolis, please be sure to come hug our necks and say hello. Or if you're watching on the livestream, get in that chat and say hi, let us know you're a Grounded sister. 

One thing you may not realize is that there is a special teen track—like a conference within a conference just for your daughter or your granddaughter. And she's gonna be sitting under solid Bible teaching from Dannah and Erin, and others like Kelly Needham, and Staci Rudolph. And so, we want to help your girl or girls get grounded in God's Word. So, there's still space, you can still register today. Maybe you can surprise her with a last-minute godly girl’s weekend, we'll drop a link for you to register.

Erin: I’m going to be there. I hope that your girls are going to be there. I can't wait to point your daughters or granddaughters to Jesus. That's my highest privilege. 

I love Laura's message for us. I was thinking of two tools that I use with my own boys that you might just want to grab on to practically. One is called Songs for Saplings if you can get the music on your iTunes or you get the CDs actually—the CD player is in my car so that's what we use. They’re also on YouTube. And that's what she was talking about those songs that are straight Scripture. 

So, we pray songs from Songs for Saplings most mornings at my house. But I've also recently been introduced to Seeds Family Worship, and my family is currently listening to Seeds Family Worship on I think it's Proverbs. It's the trust in the Lord with all your heart verse. And so, she's on to something. As you go as you drive to school as you drive to church as you drive to the grocery store. A lot of those conversations can happen in the car. So, there's a couple of practical things to hold on to. 

Portia, there's a lot going on in the chat. I don't want to escape past this moment. There seems to be a couple of threads. One is mamas who can look back on the years when they are raising their kids with some regret, who did their best. I think every mom is doing their best. Even if we're failing miserably, we're often doing our best, but they can look back with regret. 

And so, I want to acknowledge you mamas as you're hearing this episode and going. “I wish that I had been more intentional in discipleship.” 

The other is moms who have seen their children walk away. Roshanda, if you don't mind, I'm gonna have you be our poster child for this. This grabs my heart Roshanda said, “We've raised our kids in prayer, grace, and love. We have the family meetings, we homeschool, we had the family devotional, we had the hard talks, and three out of four of my children have walked away from the church. I am in the waiting room of hope. When I entered, there was despair. But I know God hears me. I know He loves my children more than I could ever. So, I trust Him.” And then she said, “Heaven rules.” 

So, Mama, whether you're feeling the guilt, or you're in the waiting room, or maybe you can praise God that your children are walking with the Lord, I just want us to pray together. So, imagine moms, grandmas, women all around the world. Right now, if we could hold hands, I would sure love that. Joining together and praying for the next generation. Let me pray for us. 

Jesus, Your Word says You're faithful from generation to generation. So, the generation of children and young adults that we love and know right now, it's Your intention that they would know Your love. They would surrender their lives to You; that they would walk out the blueprint You give us in Scripture. But our natures are broken. We all run like sheep who have gone astray away from You. 

I pray for the children and young adults represented by the women hearing my voice right now. How many could that be? Is it tens of thousands? Is a hundred of thousands? Is it millions? Only you know, God, but I pray that You would do something supernatural in their lives. I'm gonna pray boldly that all of the children and young adults represented by the women hearing my voice right now, with live faithful lives to You, that all of the children and young adults would surrender or re-surrender themselves to You; that all of the children and young adults would become a part of the body of Christ and be active in church. God, we can't do that. Even our best efforts as Roshanda shared aren't enough to change our children's hearts forever, but You can do it. So, I pray that You will. I pray for any woman listening to this who's feeling attacked by guilt or shame right now. I pray that You would take those off of her and show her a way she can respond that is rooted in what You want for her life. It's in Your holy, holy, holy name I pray. Amen.

Portia: Amen. Amen. You know, I'm reminded that there is hope. I am the poster child for hope. 

Erin: You are. 

Portia: I had wayward years like you probably would have thought that I was not going to come back from that. And the Lord brought me back. So for any mama who is watching right now, know that there is hope for your baby.

Erin: P, did your mama keep praying during those wayward years? I think I know the answer. 

Portia: Absolutely. And we're still praying now. I have a younger sister and you know some of what we've been dealing with.

Erin: Right.

Portia: Yeah, we're still praying. We're still praying. 

Erin: Keep praying, moms. 

Portia: Yep. Well, the next episode is gonna be a good one. We have Karen Ellis who will be joining us next week. She's gonna be talking about persecution, perseverance, and the key to sustaining faith. You don't want to miss it. 

Erin: I'll be there. 

Portia: Beat me there. Let's wake up with hope together next week on Grounded.

Erin: Grounded audio is powered by Skype. Grounded is a production of Revive Our Hearts callin women to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ.