Raising Resilient ChildrenSample

A FAMILY INVESTMENT

Read

Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you...

Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

-Genesis 6:14-18, 22

Reflect

Logistics Specialist 1st Class Reagan Pescoso and his wife are investment experts. I have no idea how much money they have in the bank, but they invest where it counts—in their family. Asked about parenting in the military, Pescoso said, “The hardest part about being in the military is spending time away from my family.” When he is home from sea, he and his family cherish their time together. They invest time, energy, and resources in enjoying travel, playing board games, and finding interesting new places to eat together. The fulfillment and joy he finds in his family help him to cope when he is away. Twelve-year-old Lance Pescoso is proud of his dad’s Navy service. He said, “I think it’s cool he gets to go around the world helping people and supporting his country.”

Pescoso and his wife are making deposits in their family. “I hope my kids learn that their father did something big for our family by being in the military,” Pescoso said. “I hope they learn to be better people because of it. I hope they learn from me how to be strong, patient, and value the importance of time with family.”

Dare we call Noah’s family the first Navy family? As Noah prepared to embark on his voyage, he made an investment in time and resources. Genesis 6:22 says, “Noah did …” The words emphasize Noah’s obedience to God’s instructions—he did what God told him to do. Scripture is silent about the effort and investment of such an undertaking. Think of the time and energy it took to cut the trees, deliver the trees, form the trees into planks, fit the planks, and then shape the planks into the ark. The monetary investment would have been enormous to provide food for the many animals they would carry. Noah willingly made the investments, his family gathered everything they needed, and “the Lord shut [them] in” (Genesis 7:16).

God takes account of the investment you make in your family. Using God’s Word as the blueprint for building a strong family will give you the confidence to know you are making a wise investment that leads to the saving of your family.

Respond

What investments are you making in the spiritual lives of your children? How has military life made you more aware of your responsibility to make deposits into your family?

Prayer

Lord, equip me as a parent with everything I need to do your will. Work in me what is pleasing to you. Help my husband and me to invest our time wisely with our children. May the deposits we make into their lives produce love for you. Amen.