Thirty some years ago, after we started our family, I read Dr. James Dobson’s book The Strong Willed Child and loved it. It resonated with me—a balanced approach to parenting that was practical and worked.

 

Recently I saw a quote someone had posted from the preface of his latest book Your Legacy.

 

“For parents who believe passionately in Jesus Christ and anticipate His promised gift of eternal life, there is no higher priority in life than providing effective spiritual training at home. Unless we are successful in introducing our children to Him, we will never see them again in the afterlife.”

 

What a terribly sobering thought.

 

My years of daily parenting are done and I am so grateful that my children walk with the Lord. It’s amazing how quickly those windows and doors of daily hands-on influence closed.

 

But I love knowing that prayer transcends time and distance and God is always listening. I can take the names and faces of those I love to him at any time. And then he, in some unfathomable unearthly way, unleashes his power into our lives.

 

Never stop praying.   (1 Thessalonians 5:17)