I was browsing through Beliefnet and I came across this article written by Marcia Ford, which I thought was pretty good, so kinda decided to copy and paste here... =)
"The year had been a particularly bad one for the parents in our church—the parents, that is, of children who were now adults. Many of the middle-aged and elderly mothers, in particular, shouldered burdens that kept them pretty close to the brink of despair. They have to deal with their children’s broken marriages and alcoholism and occult practices. The fear of the parents, who were trying so hard to trust God through all of this, was palpable.
One Sunday morning, our pastor interrupted his sermon on hope right after commenting on the fear he sensed among the parents in the congregation. “Those of you who have adult children that you’re praying for, children who have left the faith or never embraced the faith and are now living apart from God, I want you to stand,” he said. The rest of us sat and watched as these grieving parents stood, some hunched over with the weight they were carrying, some doing everything in their power to keep from crying.
The pastor’s next words, in which he encouraged those standing to never give up hope, seemed to offer little consolation.
But then he continued: “Now, those of you who were once wayward children, who in your adult years had strayed far from God but have since returned, I want you to stand.” As dozens of us rose to our feet—yes, of course, I was part of the second group—he said, “Moms, Dads—there’s your hope."
***
Sometimes when we’ve strayed from God, we keep right on straying because we’ve managed to convince ourselves that He is so displeased with us that we’re as good as disinherited. If the Father is that mad at us, there’s no hope of reconciliation, is there? So we sink deeper and deeper into sin.
But the truth is, he still considers us very much His children. He’s just waiting for us to return to Him, so He can enfold His loving arms around us once again.
Kennyster @
11:06 PM
The Unpretty
Kenny Loh
23
Formerly from Dunman High, VJC and formerly a proud member of the 2SIR 11th mono Alpha Company Apache warriors.
Currenly a 3rd year student at the Singapore Management University.
I'm into books, pool, soccer & conversation (by day), justice, honour & vengeance (by night).
Constantly on the lookout for crimelords, deformed megalomaniacs and women.
