Christian Parenting.

Hey friends.

I'm your host, Courtney Defeo, and we are on week 30 of praying together all school year long. And I'm really proud of us. Can you believe this? We have literally been praying every Monday together as a part of the mess community. And we're getting towards the home stretch. I don't know about you, but when it gets in the springtime, I'm just ready for summer. And y'all, I don't even do that much. And my kids aren't even around that much. But something about that reset and rhythm of just a summer break is good for the soul. And so I'm excited to have a little more time with Larson. And Ella's coming home. So I just feel like we just dropped her off. But yeah, we're picking her up May 1st, which is just crazy. But I want to reach all a DM and message

I got from one of you, Hannah, sent this to me. And it's about a prayer that we had prayed

together about generosity and just made my day. And I want it just to remind you all that what

we're doing matters and God is answering prayers. And sometimes we miss them. But I'm so glad

Hannah had the just wherewithal to like see God answering that prayer that day. And then message me, it made me feel so happy. So Hannah says, I had just finished listening to the generosity prayer for our kids. And my daughter came home the same day and says she wants to give her fidgets to a girl who needs them in class. And her daughter says, even though she yells at me, God told me to you. And it makes me happy thinking about giving it to her. So I know I should. So she went home, packed her bag of fidgets, and took them to school with her today. Wow. Same day I prayed, God spoke to her heart. So y'all, we're not just praying for fun. Like, we want these

specific things to happen in the lives of our kids. And I think God is listening. And we can be

very specific, like nudge her heart today and give her a generous moment to choose generosity

over herself. And so it happened. I'm so excited about it. But today we're talking about a big one. And I hope it doesn't stress you out because as a parent, you're like, really the only thing that matters at the end of the day is that my kids love you, Lord, and put your faith in you, Lord, and are going to heaven. And I know that that can feel stressful. For some of the kids, you bring it up and you think you're having this awesome talk. And then they start laughing about whatever, toots, frogs, whatever. And you're like, wow, this is going well. Or maybe you have an eight, nine-year-old, 12-year-old, 15-year-old that's just showing no interest. Or maybe some of your kids have walked away from faith and said they don't even want anything to do with it. And so this can be

a really complicated one. But I wanted to read, too, about the thief on the cross. Jesus was led to

his crucifixion. He was surrounded by two men on crosses next to him. All three of them were facing

death. One man was mocking and doubting Jesus, but the other man turned to Jesus in his final moments

and was promised eternity with Jesus.

It says, I'll note this I'm reading for our journal.

Although not much was shared on this interaction, the thief did proclaim Jesus was Lord.

And it's a powerful reminder that is never too late to repent and accept Jesus.

There's always hope. I want to read Luke

23, 42 to 43. It says, then he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.

Jesus answered him. Truly, I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise. And I love this part

of the journal. It says, as believing parents, our hope is that

there is more distance between our kids' salvation and their deaths, that there was for the

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