Awakenings

My Little Children

by

Lawrence J. Caldwell

Copyright © 2008

Introduction

Years ago a co-laborer in our church youth program told me this story.  His daughter, now grown and married, told him one day about her days under my teaching when she was little.  “That Mr. Caldwell was so exasperating!  He would never tell us the answer to anything,” she lamented.  “But Daddy, he was right.  He made us think.  He made us turn to Jesus,” she continued.  That was the one and only time I was exonerated for all those years of hearing kids cry, “Just give us the answer Mr. Caldwell!”  Never.

So if you are looking for me to give you the answers in this book, then keep on reading.  Go all the way to the end.  They’re not there.  I won’t give you answers, just truth.  That is exactly the way that God also teaches us as a loving Father.

I have three sons ages eight, eleven, and fourteen.  Ben, my oldest, is shy and smart.  He loves all things academic.  Early in life my wife and I realized he would not be the sports star, the type-A driven all-around achiever.  He quietly and consistently remains at the top of his class, eager to excel, and desires one day the role of an aeronautical engineer.  He wants to design rockets that go to the moon and Mars.  Better yet, he wants to ride one of those rockets.  Ben was saved while still in his mother’s womb (more on that later) and takes his Christian life very seriously.

Ethan is the middle child but exhibits very little of the classic traits.  He was born big and continues to be a big, strong, healthy boy.  So everyone thought he would be the sports star.  He plays all the games and enjoys them all.  He excels at none but is a good team player contributing at a good level in every game.  But he won’t bring home the multi-million dollar contract just out of college.  His real passion is music.  He has accelerated past all his peers and other players in the grades above him.  He is at the top of the talent heap in the band.  He’s taking all the lessons we’re willing to pay for.  And his grades overall are just a little below Ben’s.  They are both straight-A students.  Ethan’s salvation is sometime’s in question.

Aaron is my youngest and he is little in almost every way.  He is innocent, loving, and a real charmer.  Before he was two, my wife and I knew he was different.  He has Aspberger’s Syndrome, a form of low-spectrum autism.  He loves patterns and routines.  Change any of these things and suddenly he transforms into a tornado.  He tends to respond best to me to bring him back to “normalcy”.  He loves to tell me on the phone when he gets all his smiley faces at school for being good.  Aaron loves Jesus with all his heart and prays every night at dinnertime.

Three very different boys.  More than likely, you are not like any of them at all.  In fact, of the hundreds of boys and girls I have ministered to over the years, you are all quite different from one another I am sure.  So again, if you are looking for answers in this book, read on.  You won’t find them.  I don’t give answers to my sons either.  Why?  Because I am not God.  And guess what?  God does not give answers either.  Here’s what He does do though.

There are two questions that every child wants God to answer.  The first is “Why?”  The second is “What should I do?”  These questions may come up at any time throughout life.  Proverbs 20:24 says, “Man’s goings are of the LORD: how can a man then understand his own way?”  These are two good questions to ask but all too often kids ask the wrong sources for the answers.  They ask teachers, parents, siblings, and friends.  I can assure you, none of these people know.  The wise among them will turn the child back to God.  The understanding among them will take the child and pray.  Those with knowledge will provide the child with God’s Word, the truth, the way, the life, Jesus, Who alone will provide answers that satisfy the child’s deepest desires.

But in all this, there are two great contingencies.  The first is the issue of salvation.  God treats the sinner and the saint very differently.  My little children and parents, you need to know where you stand with certainty on this.  The second issue is that of sin.  This time though, God treats the sinner and the saint who sins exactly the same, with one notable exception: the saint does not ever lose his salvation.

The rest of this book will talk about these two questions and their contingencies.  Parents, perhaps you will want to read Christian Mythology and The Remnant to gain a deeper understanding of these issues before treading into these waters with your children.  Do not enter lightly or with any doubting for at stake is the life and death, fruitfulness or destruction of your children.

Kids, go ahead and plunge in.  What you are about to read will shock you, confuse you, delight you, sooth you, and in all ways, show you the way to reality, freedom, and life beyond anything you can think or imagine.  But first, and you’ll be glad to know this: realize that what lies ahead is anything but normal. 

Now you’re probably wondering if you should go on because if there’s one thing in life you want right now, it’s to act and be seen as “normal”.  But see, I think my three sons are normal, and every kid I’ve ever taught is normal, even though they are all very different, ranging from the saved and unsaved, the smart kid to the poor kid strung out on drugs.  Forget “normal” and get ready to see this world turned upside down!

1. Everything You Wanted to Know
2. How Much is Enough?
3. Sticks and Stones
4. Smarter Than Your Teachers
5. Believing is Seeing
6. Perfect Parents/Perfect Children
7. Perfect Savior/Perfect LORD
8. Learning to Fear the LORD
9. Amusement
10. Stay Home
11. Disappointment