Parent Devo - Camp Day 1

As your student leaves home for camp, you don’t have to unplug from involvement in his or her spiritual condition. Pray for a life-changing week, but prepare for a life- changing home when your child returns in a few days.

By the sheer fact that you sent your child to summer camp, that reveals your concern over your child’s spiritual formation. Pray that this week is life-changing in your child’s life, but don’t shortchange yourself either. God has called, equipped, and positioned you to make the most spiritually transformational impact on your child. More than anyone else, you have the opportunity to display a daily example that will change your child’s life forever. The most critical spiritual environment for your child is the one in which he or she lives.

“The most critical spiritual environment for your child is the one in which he or she lives.”

Psalm 127 reminds us that our children are “indeed a heritage from the Lord, offspring, a reward” (Ps. 127:3). Your child is a gift. Even on days when parenting may feel like a burden, your child is always a blessing! A parent is like an archer, shaping and sharpening the arrow that is your child (Ps. 127:4).

• How are you sharpening your child?

• To which target are you aiming?

Every parent is sharpening a child for some purpose. Every parent is aiming a child toward some target. Are your efforts aligned with God’s? If not, you might be working in vain.

As you think about your child’s return home in a few days, what are some things that you could prepare to do differently to sharpen your child?

PRAY

An archer understands that the arrow can go further and faster than he or she ever could. If you want your child to be launched out into this world to go to battle for a King and His Kingdom, how will you do your part in this preparation phase?

Take some time to pray for your child to have a life-changing week, but also pray that you can help provide a life-changing home for their return.

This devotional is adapted from FUGE’s Parent Devotions. You can find the complete resource here.